Badminton involves extensive movement of almost all body parts from head to toe. But, there is a body part most important than others in terms of gameplay, it is the wrist of a player. Badminton can not be played without perfect and healthy wrist muscles and joints. Wrists affect the strength of hitting, the angle as well as placement of the shuttle. Holding a racket in the wrong way could cause serious injuries to your wrists. However, there is no need to worry about it because we are here to teach you how to hold a badminton racket so your gameplay, as well as body health, could be improved.
If you are curious more about the badminton rackets. Check out the following articles.
Fundamentals of gripping of the racket:
Before starting, it would be vital to discuss some fundamentals of gripping a racket. Beginners often make these mistakes and then complain about injuries. The following is a summary of the basic points of holding a badminton racket:
Firstly, it is important to understand how much strength the grip should have. Ideally, the grip should be loose as this helps in two cases.
1) When the grip is tight, the palms will sweat more and eventually cause trouble. The racket could slip from your hands due to sweat.
2) When the need arises to change stances and hands, it would be an obstacle. It is advised to only tighten moments before hitting the shuttle and then again recover to the original grip. Secondly, try to hold the racket in your fingers instead of palms and keep the racket’s end level with your palm. It would help you in hitting with more strength.
Thirdly, where to hold a racket is an important point. Try to hold the racket from below the grip. It will allow you to use more power in shots and to swing easily. You can move the hands up and down the grip as you want but be careful, never hold a racket from the shaft rather than grip. It is a disastrous mistake and would result in serious wrists injuries.
Now, let us discuss the different types of grips in badminton to fully understand how to hold a badminton racket. Following are the significant types to learn about:
Forehand Grip in badminton:
This is the most basic and universal grip in badminton that players use to hit most of their shots. Its area of use is when the player has to play a forehand or overhead shot. Talking about the position of the racket, it should be pointed downwards. The tightness should be at a minimal level.
Looking at the position of the hand and fingers, only the inner side of the thumb should be in contact with the grip and the index finger should form a V-shape with the thumb. Now, wrap all the fingers around the handle such that there is a slight gap between the fingers. Moreover, no finger should be placed along with the handle as it causes injuries to fingers. Now, the base of your thumb should not touch the handle. The forehand grip is ready and you can move hands up and down the handle according to the circumstances not changing the position of the thumb grip and fingers.
To play a net shot, everything else has to be the same but keep the racket in the edges of your fingers and rotate and swing the racket with your wrists rather than shoulders. The fingers should be lightly gripped here too.
Backhand Grip in badminton:
This grip is recommended to learn after the player has mastered the forehand grip. Now, this grip requires the players to place the thumb right on the side of the handle instead of aside. Then, the fingers need to be wrapped around the handle such that the base of the fingers does not touch the handle.
Moreover, for this grip, the racket needs to be tilted slightly. This tilt will depend on the type of shots you are encountering in play. Another thing to remember is to maintain the V-shape grip between the thumb and finger. Talking about the tightness, the fingers should be loosely wrapped. Also, the handle should be in contact with the fingers not your palms as this will result in a tighter grip. The area of use of this type of grip is mostly when players want to hit the shuttle in the back area of the court i.e. a long shot. The backhand grip is ready to use. Beware, it will take some time for you to master these grips so remember to keep practicing.
How to hold Smash Grip in badminton:
As the name suggests, the grip is used to hit smashes with more accuracy and strength. Mostly, the beginner-level players do not change the grips while attempting a smash shot which could result in degraded quality of shot in terms of strength, timing, and placement. This article is here to guide you on how to hold a badminton racket while smashing. The goal is to hit the shuttle with a flat face of racket rather than just flicking or slicing the shuttle. This grip is similar to the forehand grip but differs only in the position of the racket. In the forehand, the racket is vertically straight but in smash grip, the racket has to be tilted a little towards backward. This will enable the player to have a good swing, shifting all the power to the wrists and hitting the shot with more power.
Importance of proper grip in badminton:
After discussing the different types of grips in badminton and how to implement them. Let us discuss the importance of proper grip in badminton and the ability to change grips when in need. In badminton, the shuttlecock will force you to move across the courts. This means that you cannot play badminton only by the grip. You will need to change the grip from time to time. As an example, if the shuttle is in front of your face, a forehand grip would be useless in this scenario.
To counter this problem, you have already been advised to keep the racket in your fingers rather than your palm as this will help you in switching between grips. It is important to learn these grips as they will not only save you from wrist injuries. It will also improve your gameplay and make you more competitive in badminton. In the end, keep practicing as this is the only way to master how to hold a badminton racket.
