for better finger power Finger length linked to female sporting potential Wed Sep 27, 8:35 PM ET The length of a girl's ring finger could be an indicator of her future sporting potential, researchers at King's College London said on Thursday. In the largest study of its kind, hand measurements of 607 female twins aged 25-79 from the UK were compared with the women's lifetime sporting achievements. The findings, published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine, found that women with ring fingers longer than their index fingers had performed better at running and associated running sports such as soccer and tennis. In women the ring finger is commonly shorter or the same length as the index finger, while in men the ring finger is generally longer. The report said detection of sporting potential by examining the ratio between the index and ring fingers "could help identify talented individuals at a pre-competitive stage." The reasons for the findings were unclear, said one of the report's authors, Professor Tim Spector from the Twins Research Unit at King's College, who said he was originally sceptical about the link to sporting ability. "Previous studies have suggested the change in finger length was due to changes in testosterone levels in the womb", he said. But he said the unit had found in a separate study of twins that finger length was largely inherited, possibly explaining why sporting parents often have sporting children. "We found that finger length was 70 percent heritable with little influence of the womb environment," he said. "This suggests that genes are the main factor and that finger length is a marker of your genes." He said no specific candidate genes had been identified for the link and that multiple genes were probably responsible. Previous studies looking at the link between finger length and sporting ability have mainly focussed on men. A study published in 2001 of 304 English professional soccer players found they had a significantly larger ring-to-index-finger ratio than a control group of 533 other men. Other studies in men have shown the ratio of the ring finger to the index finger can be associated with varied traits such as sexuality, musical ability and vulnerability to certain diseases.
1 The grip. If you grip the racket incorrectly, your progress will be greatly affected. Just a simple thing like gripping the handle of a badminton racket can almost determine the future success rate of your badminton �career'. An incorrect grip will limit your stroke production capabilities, and there would be a loss of power in your shots. To test whether the grip is correct or not, do a forehand and a backhand flick as if you are retrieving a smash to your forehand and backhand. If you feel that your forehand and backhand flicks are approximately equal in power and quickness, then the grip is most probably correct. The whole idea of a good grip is that it must not lock your wrist when you hit a backhand or forehand shot. The wrist's fast cocking and uncocking greatly provides the acceleration of the badminton frame, imparting the power to the shuttlecock. You cannot play effective badminton without a good grip. So, young players, make sure that you have a good grip, otherwise you develop strokes which are awkward, with no power and deception. can somebody help me on this, what he meant about the test??? Im worried Im playing with a wrong grip for the last 8 years
The test is an interesting idea, but personally I would not rely on it. It's unlikely that you've been playing with completely the wrong grip, but your grip may be slightly wrong. In that case, adjusting will be easy Here is an extract from my new grips guide. The extract describes how to learn the basic grip (often called the forehand grip, but it's also used for many backhands): Hold the racket as though you are lightly shaking hands with the handle. Look at the gap between your thumb and first finger; it should form a shape like the letter V. Now adjust the angle of the racket so that the bottom point of this V is positioned towards the narrow diagonal bevel, bevel 2. If you are right handed, "bevel 2" is the diagonal bevel slightly to the left. If you are left handed, "bevel 2" is the diagonal bevel slightly to the right. These instructions would be much better with some pictures, of course....
The Chinese training dvds do not just show the correct grip; they show the various techniques of using different grip for executing different stroke properly. This is because a proper grip, if not executed properly, will have no power or worse still will have no speed or that crispy sound/feel. At the net the grips use more of the fingers. The thumb and the index finger are the power generating fingers, often used with what the Chinese called "turning on the tap and closing the tap" forearm movement and wrist snap. A more useful way of explaing the correct use of grips is to show the many ways the grips are actually used. There are many players I know who use the proper grip but many of them are unable to flick a return smash equally well on the forehand and backhand. Most have problem with the forehand.
Contrary to what some may say, the pinky or small finger does not generate power. It is used to have a good hold of the racquet end to allow a larger gap higher up between your thumb and index finger, which aids in the acceleration of the wrist when you uncock it. You know your pinky finger grips well when you cannot pull the racquet off from your hand whilst holding the racquet handle, with just that finger with a little help from the ring and middle finger, and with the thumb and index finger not gripping the handle. Without the gap there will be no wrist snap acceleration because there will not be enough room. This so-called pinky finger power, a misnomer, is very useful for all overhead shots-clears, smashes, and drops.
I have a question concerning the specific timing of the tightening of the fingers. Do you tighten them just as your racquet face is becoming flat, or earlier once you start uncocking wrist?
In my view, the finger tightening should be used to initiate and control the last part of the hitting action, where the racket face suddenly snaps round to present flat towards the shuttle.
It depends on the stroke. For delicate net shots, you start gripping with the last 3 digits first and then use the thumb and index finger to "squeeze" against each other on opposite sides of the grip. For similar shots that require a change in direction, you do the same with the last 3 digits and then use the thumb/index finger to turn. For overhead shots like clears and smashes you close with the last 3 digits, starting with the pinky finger first, followed quickly by the ring and middle finger, and then your thumb and index finger, just before impact. Prior to the impact your fingers should spread out, not bunched together. The closing grip follows a V shape (a very crude way to describe it), with the pinky finger at the bottom of the V and the thumb and index finger at the top of the V. That extra space between the top V, when you close your grip, accelerates the racquet to give added power, and with a strong wrist snap even more power.
Hi all, i do play with a high grip at times, but when the birdie is over my head, i let my Grip lose that the racquet goes a bit up,(just like the Flick mentioned, but the racquet slides up) the Smash is really hard then, anybody else tried this ?
i have tried this but even though there is a a lot of extra power, my hand would start to cramp up is that normal??
You cramp up whenever your muscles tire. Your fingers cramped up cuz you're using them that way for the first time. Just relax and concentrate on the shuttle.
Wait,so u just hold the racket tight with ur pinky and the rest of the finger will hold the racket lightly? i was thinking,what happen if ur pinky dun have enough strength to hold the racket? you're gonna send the racket flying no? but still thanks for putting this up gonna try it out some times
wow good thread, must say. Well I have couple of things to say, this might repeated like couple time on this whole thread, but; It's hard for defence is it? I do agree that yes with the little pinky the snap motion is quick, which will give u dramatic power for smash and clear. But comes in defence do you still use that type of grip or change it? This question is to whom ever use this technique of holding racquet thank you
Just Use It this has been a long thread. Let this song sum it up! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fOfSxOFGwl0&feature=related (CHORUS) GONNA USE MY ARMS GONNA USE MY LEGS GONNA USE MY STYLE GONNA USE MY SIDESTEP GONNA USE MY FINGERS GONNA USE MY, MY, MY IMAGINATION
Ok i tried this holding style for the pass 2 day,idk if is just me or my imagination , i do hit harder than usal ( not alot harder ) but when i start blocking, i am force to change grip right away cuz the pinky can.t afford all the pressure
yea really, I was thinking the same question. Using this technique require alot of changing grip, def and attack. Like wow.
I don't understand. You say to hold the grip lightly (except ur pinky and ring finger) throughout the smash? Do I TIGHTEN all of my fingers on the impact of the shuttle?
So does this grip still apply when we're doing pronation of the forearm when doing backcourt shots? Or is this strictly for the wrist snappers? So far, as i pored through this thread, most people talk about how it helps your wrist snap and stuff... so im kinda confused on if this applies to the pronation technique
