If you are new to the game of badminton and want to play like professionals or looking forward to improving your skill of playing badminton, the first thing for you to learn would be holding the racket properly to get the best use of it. Basics of Gripping a Racket. Not only for playing like professionals, if you know the techniques you will learn the skills to avoid injuries. And your performance will get better after following the techniques.
Hold your racket like you are approaching a hand-shake. If you have a racket in your hand right now you will see that the racket handle is octagonal in shape, and it’s the same for every racket. These 8 sides of the handle are known as bevels and they allow you to grip the racket properly. In this article, we have covered one of the badminton rules, the techniques of gripping a badminton racket.
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Different Gripping Techniques
There are two types of gripping techniques that are mostly used by professionals. Forehand Grip and Backhand Grip. Both of them are useful. Better if you learn and adapt to both the techniques. And you can be a master of the game if you can switch between the techniques based on the shot requirement. When you can do both the techniques you will be able to play more shot variations.
Forehand Grip
From the 8 sides of the badminton handle, you will find 2 sides slightly wider in line with the face of the racket. You need to put your thumb to that wider side and create a V-shape angle between thumb and index finger and then you can adjust your hand position of the grip.
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The following video will be more helpful to understand. Note that you can adjust your fingers according to your comfort but the index finger will be the controlling position to push the racket.
Backhand Grip
The Thumb is the most crucial part in a backhand grip. There will be a gap between the palm and the handle and the index finger will be much closer than a forehand grip. The following self-explanatory video is easier to understand.
Switching between Forehand grip and Backhand grip
Once you know and are able to implement both techniques, you can try to adapt to switch between the grips according to your comfort to relax your wrist and fingers. You must avoid gripping the racket too tightly because it causes wrist pain and makes it difficult to switch.
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It’s better you can adapt to both techniques and switch between both. It’s not a difficult task, practice will make it easier and better. At the early stage you may get confused, but practicing it, again and again, will definitely be worthy of it. Other than these two you may try a few other techniques as well.
Do’s and Don’ts in Gripping Badminton Racket
Before moving forward we would like to inform you a few very basic Dos and Don’ts about holding a racket in your hand.
Dos:
- Hold the racket with fingers
- Keep your hands; especially wrists flexible
- Put your comfort in holding the racket on first priority.
- Hold the racket putting your palm at the base of the handle. It will allow you to play your shots with more power.
Don’ts
- Never hold the racket too tightly or too lightly.
- Do not grip the racket with palm
Importance of Gripping Correctly
In simple words, if you don’t grip correctly your certain movements will be restricted due to improper wrist flexibility and result in injuries. And your performance will not meet your expectations. Watch the following video to understand it better how to correct gripping helps improve your performance:
Conclusion
You shall hold your racket like you are approaching a hand-shake. Learn both techniques and use it properly to the requirement of the shot. You must avoid gripping the racket too tightly because it may cause wrist pain and make it difficult to switch. Flexible gripping is the key to master these techniques.
