“The illiterate of the 21st century will not be those who cannot
read and write, but those who cannot learn, unlearn, and relearn.
―
Alvin Toffler
I see the Irish situation on a daily basis and I see mature players with incorrect grips teaching other people, including juveniles, incorrect grips. I see players being coached with abysmal outdated strokes. I see international coaches doing the same thing. When novice players seek to learn, they mostly glean what they can from those around them. If their role models hold their rackets wrong, it is incredibly likely that the novices will do likewise.
So what is the correct grip? Well truly there are an infinite number of grips for the various situations that can arise, but broadly speaking they are divided into two basic types. No prizes for guessing that they are forehand and backhand.
Both grips are intended to do one thing; to impart energy into the shuttle. That is to hit the shuttle, with the racket, and ideally using the strings. The entire process of striking the shuttle utilises a process sometimes referred to as kinetic linking. Kinetic linking is basically channeling energy from one part of the body into another. In badminton, it is common to see people swinging their arms in order to make the shuttle go faster, for example.
Think about striking a shuttle with a racket. Which body part is involved with greatest frequency? The hand of course. At the most basic level, the hand stops the racket from falling on the floor. There is a saying that something is actionable if it is significant or recurring. Grip is crucial
Without getting too bogged down in preamble, there are two body parts that are crucial to the process. That is the hand and the forearm. Greatest use of the hand lies in its ability to grasp, with dexterity and power. This grasping can deliver a surprising amount of force, when timed correctly. The forearm has the capacity to deliver much power also. This is done through twisting; think of twisting a doorknob, turning a screwdriver, or using a corkscrew.
I was told there is a saying in Denmark that goes something like "Don't fire a large cannon from a small boat". If our grip is incorrect, that is what we are doing. The hand is the transfer mechanism that the body uses to transfer energy into the shuttle. It does this by converting the (kinetic) energy of the twist of the forearm into rotary motion of the racket and thus speed of the head of the racket head. It's not hard to imagine how a poor grip can lead to many injuries.
The forearm twists in two ways. One is called pronation and the other supination. In the standard anatomical position, humans forearms are in a supinated position. You can see it in the illustration below. The act of pronating the forearm represents the part that the forearm plays in striking the shuttle on the forehand. Let's look at this in more detail.
Like many simple machines that rotate, the forearm twists about a well documented axis. There are two bones in the forearm; the radius and the ulna. The radius is so called because it twists around the ulna. The two positions are shown below. Notice that the axis passes through the bone that has the smaller bottom part. That bone is the ulna. If we continue the axis through it starts to get highly informative for us.
Here's a picture that shows the back of the hand. The names aren't important really but notice the red line. That is the approximate axis of the rotation of the hand when the forearm rotates. In gripping a badminton racket, the trusty thumb joins the third finger to keep the racket from falling on the floor. That leaves the index finger furthest from the axis on the right hand side. That means that the index finger is pivotal ( sorry for pun ) in turning the racket...
Stay tuned for the grip trainer I have applied for a patent for.
