Hey everyone, I'm a male player who focuses on footwork, good technique, and accuracy. My playstyle is attacking. Recently, I decided to switch to a panhandle grip, for singles. It seemed too difficult for doubles. The timing is different for smashes, drops, and the accuracy is somewhat different for most shots. I have a tournament coming up in a few weeks (low level), but I haven't been training recently, so I am starting to train for it. I intend to stick with the panhandle grip for singles because in person, my style is very women's singles-ish. Anyway, I guess this could be a general question for switching grips, but how would you train for this tournament? I was thinking of mostly shot repetition in the beginning, with some footwork and footwork/feeding drills, and getting closer to the tournament, probably more footwork and footwork/feeding drills. What do you all think?
Switching to panhandle for singles a big no no IMO, it will limit you. You'll have to get behind the shuttle on every shot. Your clears and smashes will be weaker and the pressure on covering the court will be a lot more. Advanced women players don't use panhandle anymore than men do. In fact male players being more stronger can get away with using panhandle better than women.
All grips have advantages and disadvantages depending on the gameplay situation at that point. Can you clarify when do you intend to use the panhandle grip?
You can change your grip in a day if you're highly dedicated to it. What I did was do clears for like ever for almost 8 hours of course some breaks. This was done have court.
I intend to use only the panhandle grip when playing singles, is what I mean. I think my playing style matches those who use the panhandle grip- but I can't be sure, so I guess I'm just trying it out, but I think it'll be a good change for me.
Using pan handle is limiting your potential in my opinion. When I use panhandle I could not learn proper strokes or anything. The habit could come to your doubles play as well but good luck!
I know one person who uses a panhandle grip for many of his shots. He plays quite well but he has some obvious weaknesses. Hitting to his body and his backhand forecourt area creates a lot of opportunities. He doesn't change his grip during the course of a rally.
Not sure why you think switching to panhandle grip would be easier in singles? Like all who replied here, I am not for using the panhandle grip for all shots. Out of curiosity, I tried the panhandle grip for all shots and have to say it's a bad experience overall. It isn't exactly very effective except for flat shots. You may want to find a sparring partner or your coach and spar with him using the panhandle grip throughout to experience for yourself and decide if it's worth pursuing this idea. Changing your grip throughout your games is much more ideal than being fixed to a specific one.
Why the heck would someone want to stick with one single grip during a game? Is the hand stuck onto the grip with super glue or something? And especially in singles, there's so much time to switch grips if need be. I just don't comprehend. As Cheung says, all your opponent has to do is hit onto your backhand side all day to win easy points. And if I were your opponent, all I would do is hit clears to tire you out.
bit of a deja vu feeling... of course adopting a full on pan handle grip for all/many shots is ridiculous. Have fun at your tournaments, though!
Maybe I should have thought about this longer I suppose I haven't observed the pro-players close enough. When WYH or Zhang Beiwen play, what are the situations they use the panhandle grip in vs. the situations they don't use the panhandle grip? I noticed dropshots are more difficult.
She plays with it too? I apologize; WYH is my favorite and I watch her far more than WSX Of the two, WYH is my favorite because I can see that she challenges Li Xuerui's style. It must be quite frightening when Wang Yihan is in good form.
Panhandle for forehand kills, maybe some forehand drives if you are taking the shuttle well ahead of you, and backhand clears when the shuttle has passed behind you. Certainly using it for every shot is something only beginners would do as they don't know any better.
i know 2 guys who play very very awkward, but still are better than me i think they play panhandle, not sure tho, they dont move well too, but they play fast drives alot i have a lot of respect for them being above my skilllevel with such horrible looking technique do you have more tipps how to make their life hard than those you already mentioned?
they play both but im talking about singles they play a lot of tournaments, as i do so we might play very soon and i wanna look better than last time, theyre not out of reach (im working on improving in general obv, but maybe a few tactics can be useful in this special case and the thread reminded me of them )
Make sure your basic technique and consistency are good. Since they are experienced players, they would have developed coping strategies. Look for patterns in their replies when you play fast drops, smashes and clears. As mentioned, take a careful look at their backhand forecourt (and mid court) areas and see if the shots they play are predictable or poorer quality. I would test their strokes. Panhandlers tend not to do overhead slice shots from the rear court. But they might be quite strong on overhead reverse slice. I like to low serve to their backhand - the reply can be even more predictable. Test which backhand serve are they weaker in replying to - a faster one that drops quite far into the service box or one which drops near the service line? They don't switch to backhand so easily - a tactic I particularly favour in rally is to play it patiently waiting for an opportunity. Then, after they have played a few forehand shots, change the pace and do a quick smash to their left hip/shoulder area. By doing this, they have got comfortable in the panhandle and have difficulty adjusting the grip. The reply, if they get it back, will very likely be to the net, which you can anticipate.