The purpose of this guide is to help beginner and intermediate players learn how to hold the racket. Even at good club levels of play, there is much confusion about the subject of grips. I am far from an expert level player, but I hope that my ideas about grips will be useful to you.

1) Some general observations about grips
Badminton books typically give long descriptions of the basic forehand and backhand grips, together with basic line illustrations or unclear photographs. These are of limited help in ensuring that you hold the racket correctly. The best way to learn is to get a coach to show you the grips, and to check that you can copy them correctly. In this guide, I provide an alternative method: each grip is illustrated with large photographs from more than one angle.
Badminton books also rarely offer any discussion beyond the basic grips. Indeed, some books even give incorrect advice about the grip used to perform an overhead backhand! If you are a complete beginner, then this approach works well. You should content yourself with learning to use the forehand and backhand grips. However, once you are familiar with using these grips, it is worth thinking a little more deeply about how you hold the racket - and why.

The reason for choosing one grip over another is that it allows you to play a more effective stroke. An effective grip may improve your power, your control, your ability to react or your reach. Often you will have to compromise between these elements, because no one grip offers an optimal solution.

The main difference between all the available grips is the angle at which the racket is held in the hand. For example, the forehand is a 90 degrees rotation from the backhand. The reason for changing this angle is to allow you to present a flat racket face to the shuttle on each side of the body. If you always use a forehand grip on the backhand side, for instance, you will slice under the shuttle and lose both control and power. With different body positions relative to the shuttle requiring a different hitting action (forehand/backhand, underarm/overhead....), the grip needed in order to present a flat racket face will also be different. This means, for example, that you cannot use the same grip to hit a backhand overhead clear as you would for a backhand lift. Why not? Surely they are both backhands? Well, the standard backhand grip does not present a flat racket face when used to hit an overhead shot. Try it - turn around, facing away from the net as if to hit an overhead backhand; with a backhand grip, stick your arm straight up in the air and observe the angle of the racket face. If your body position is correct, it will be pointing out to the side of the court. Now try a forehand grip instead; you should find that it points straight down the line (hitting with the “back” of the racket face). This is why top players tend to use a forehand grip or even a panhandle grip for this shot.

Another important difference between the available grips is whether they are long (held towards the bottom of the racket handle) or short (held closer to the shaft). In general, a long grip will provide more power and reach, whereas a short grip will allow quicker reactions, better control and more maneuverability.

Finally, there are subtle differences in the exact positioning of the fingers. Normally it the thumb that can be moved. In the backhand grip, the thumb provides power from behind the racket when using a tap hitting action (a whip action is ineffective for a backhand shot). In the panhandle grip, the thumb can be extended along the side to inhibit the wrist movement even further.

If you look carefully at photographs of professional players in action, you will notice that they seem to break many of the “rules” concerning grips. For example, they may retrieve on the backhand with a deep lunge at the net, using what looks like a forehand grip to play a high lift or a cross court net shot. They might get ready to receive a smash using neither a forehand nor a backhand grip, but something in between. Without trying to analyse each case separately, we should observe that professional players are highly flexible and adaptable in their choice of grips. Unlike the relative beginner, an expert player uses a wide range of grips; an expert player has a more subtle understanding of when to use which grip, and moves fluidly between grips. Once you have mastered the basics, experiment with using different grips in different situations - but always remain aware of why you choose a particular grip.