Imagine a handshake. If the racquet is facing straight down at the floor when you are "handshaking" the gripn of the racquet, you are panhandling. From the handshake position, you lift your wrist directly up (without pronating) and your racquet will be facing directly forward. If the racquet face is facing predominantly to the left in handshake grip, is is a forehand grip to varying degrees. In order for the racquet to face forward from this position whilst keeping the arm still, the wrist must move up AND to the right (right hander) to turn the racquet face. If you only move your hand straight upwards, the racquet will still face left. The latter action is clearly shown in your photos as the wrist is cocked to the side, not straight back. If he was panhandle, his racquet face would be pointing directly upwards, or even behind him, in the same direction as that formed from the elbow to the wrist.
Both those photos are clearly not panhandle -- not even close. There is some room for grip variation hitting overheads, both by player preference and situation (e.g. smash versus clear). But generally we are talking about small differences, less than 20 degrees either side of a forehand grip. To be clear: in my partial panhandle video, I show an example where the grip is 45 degrees off forehand. This is way, way too much for an overhead.
I would describe the left hand photo as a "forehand" grip - commonly used for smashing by many current doubles players, and the right hand photo looks like its a "basic" grip, which is the grip commonly used for smashing by many badminton players if you look back 10 or 15 years (and all grips further back than that) as well as by many many professionals in modern badminton (including TTY). Your so called "weakhandle" - which is a terrible name - is the grip used by Lin Dan for most of his overhead shots in this video: It is clearly not weak in any way shape of form, and from my point of view is preferable to a "forehand" grip for most overhead strokes. However, I will be the first to admit that the grip MUST vary based on context (the position of the shuttle in relation to the body) and intent (the shot I intend to play). So all grips similar to the basic and forehand grip will be associated with very good technique. If someone else rotates their body during the hitting of the shuttle more or less than me, they will probably require a different grip to me - its really that simple. I wonder how we can prevent grip discussions based on words that we all use differently. In this thread, the word panhandle may have been used to refer to a "forehand" grip. If you replace all instances of the word "panhandle" with "forehand grip", then I would probably agree with most of the comments. This is the flaw of invented terminology What does it really boil down to: if you are usually holding the racket in the same way as shown in those photos or videos, and steer well away from the actual "panhandle" grip, which involves an extreme grip rotation reminiscent of a "semi-western" forehand grip in tennis, then you are probably fine. Good luck y'all.
In Germany, the first one is often referred to as hammer grip while the second one looks like a basic grip. The hammer grip is often used for stick smashes (not limited to). It will let the racket rebound, so you'll be ready for the next shot immediately.
@MSeeley @speCulatius @Gollum @DarkHiatus Cheers for the clarification guys, the info much appreciated! On that note, does anyone have a reference photo for a panhandle grip , ie, what to avoid, to be cognizant of, etcetc.
Actually, that's probably not a good comparison as the variation in forehand grip in tennis is a lot higher than in badminton. There are clay-court specialists that play a forehand with a semi-western grip which looks awkward and unorthodox but it is part of the modern game now.
Just from my own experience, I am following Lee Jae Bok's smash grip, which is a neutral grip with a slight pan handle bias. Found that this gives me a bit more power and keeps my smash going straighter. Never go full pan handle though.. it will severely limit your options.
I would say Lee tends to go too much panhandle, particularly in his more recent videos. However, a very small shift to panhandle is suitable for smashes played in front of you. In his older videos, the panhandle style was less extreme. I think these were a better example. One thing to bear in mind when watching Lee: he is very emphatic. He prefers to exaggerate his points, perhaps with the idea of making them clearer -- and I think he particularly does this for an audience of beginners (or less experienced players). I wouldn't be surprised if his teaching style changed depending on the level of player. Certainly I found him a lot more nuanced in person, compared to his video style.
Agreed on the recent videos, hence why I would say to just apply a slight bias. It does help you to focus on the hitting. Overall I find his teachings to be helpful. Sent from my vivo V3Max using Tapatalk
