Hi guys, After playing last night i had a slight pain in my hand, however upon waking this morning it was a little worse. It feels like I've bruised the bone or something. Is this a case of not bulking my grip enough? I was using a new racket and the grip is a little thinner than i'm used to. Pic attached of area affected. Is there a doctor in the house?
Only use smaller grip if it fits your hand or if your grip technique involves more finger power. In your case, I think grip is too small for you.
I think the grip size is a main factor. If u happen to use a size other than comfortable range, u might just grip the racket too tightly w/o even notice. This will over-stress ur muscle, which results in muscle soreness or even serious injuries.
Of course, but he did state that the grip of his new racquet was a little thinner than he's used to. We could assume that his problem started after using the new racquet, until/unless he indicates otherwise.
Yes indeed! So many UK club players have given me advice to add another one, two, or even three (!) layers to my grip. They all have massive grips, like the racket handle is swollen from an infection I just smile and ignore them
MJ, Can you take a picture of you doing like an OK symble wiht your hand? Where your thumb and index iner max an 'O' as in 'OK'? Then put the grip in the racket in the middle (the grip). That way we can tell if its too big/small for your hand. Matt
They usually do have big hands. I agree that the grip diameter may not be large enough. Another explanation is the grip technique itself maybe less optimal. e.g. the hand muscles may be gripping the racquet too tightly at inappropriate times.
I think most players here have experiment with different grip size. I was doing it when I pick up the game again a few years ago. Nobody ever told me to relax my grip or how much to relax... all these I find on my own via internet and this forum. My highschool coach basically told me how to hold the racquet for most basic shots and nothing beyond. During these times, I too have experience what mjwhitfield and others have experienced. Having a comfortable "fit" does relieve the racquet hand from unnecessary pain. Anyway, Cheung is right about most players not having the optimal grip technique... after I found out about fingerpower and tried it, I got no more pain on my hand. My hold became more relaxed and grip size actually shrunk. This part I didn't touch too much on because it's harder to get others to adopt new ways when their 'habits' are already well-entrenched. It's much easier for the person to change their grip size than re-vamp their grips. In time, perhaps new concepts would be accepted.
I would tend to agree with Cheung You are used to a thicker grip on your normal racket, your shots work at that grip diamiter. With a thinner grip you will probably be over compensating for the lack of girth in the grip by gripping too tightly and the result is pain in the hand, sometimes it goes up into the forearm and feels like a slight shock wave when you impact with the shuttle. Why do players in the UK tend to have thicker grips? Failing that you could always get a new hand from the second hand shop, sorry couldn't resist