How to hold a pickleball paddle

How to hold a pickleball paddle

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Keep space in between your fingers

Regardless of who you are, this will help in just about every sport that you want to play in. In martial arts, the combatants often have their hands relaxed before striking their opponent. That is sure that they can be at their strongest when they are going to go attack. If your hands are constantly tight, you'll be a lot tighter.

Generally, this is a bad thing when you want to get good at a sport. Your hits in pickleball are going to be sluggish if your hands are always tight. Try to be relaxed as you play, even if it's a really tense situation. It's something not easy to do, but it will become more of a habit the more you play the game.

Taking care of your body is going to make you less nervous and become less of a problem. This is something that you have to do drills with to actually get good at. Make an effort to control that part of yourself so that your fingers are relaxed even intense situations. It's not something that happens naturally, but it will be well worth the effort of fighting against your instincts.

Pros

  • Be able to hit the ball as hard as you can on reaction

Cons

  • Not be able to react as instinctively

Hold the paddle at a 60 degree angle

Holding the paddle at this angle is going to make it a lot easier for you to hit the ball where you want it to go. If you were to hold it closer to a 90-degree angle, you would need more time to react. This is the equivalent of making sure that your hands are guarding your head during a boxing match. Generally, this a good practice for you to have if you are caught off guard. Any good player can find out where you are uncomfortable and strike where it hurts. The point of this is to make it easier for you to react to moves.

There are also similar practices in the sport of tennis. The reason for why they do things is a little more complicated, but the idea is the same. Also, in that sport, they have to apply more force to the tennis ball to hit it farther, creating more of an incentive. This isn't something that you have to do, but it is generally good practice, especially if you plan on contending with some of the better players. If you are just playing casually with your friends, you can hold it whichever way you want to.

Pros

  • Hit the ball wherever you want it to go
  • Not have to put much effort into making sure you swing the paddle a lot
  • React faster with this method

Cons

  • Can't be consistent when it comes to swinging your paddle
  • Might accidentally start pushing the ball instead of hitting it.

Grip the very top

Gripping the paddle at the very top is going to make it easier to control at a high level. This techniques is used all the time when people fight with swords or fence. It allows more strength to go in your wrist. It's a great technique that makes it really easy for you to hit the ball faster than opponent can react. It can be hard to react to do when you do this at the hardest level. However, the exception is at the highest level when you have an opponent in a pattern and set up a good hit to catch them off guard. However, it can hurt your wrist if you don't stretch.

Pros

  • Have more control of the paddle
  • Hit farther than you would by gripping the middle of the handle

Cons

  • Potentially injuries if you don't take precautions

Use gripping tapes

Gripping tapes gives you a better feeling of making your hands secure than normal plastic. Sports like hockey and American football have gloves that make process really easy for them and what they grip doesn't need good texture. For people who play pickleball, they need to make sure that their hands don't slide while they are playing. Eventually, you will have to replace the tape, but it's really good for what it's worth. You can use them for many matches before they start to wear off.

We recommend a tacky and absorbant overgrip tape that can be used on top of, or in place of, your paddle grip.

This can depend on the state of how your hands are feeling, but this is generally pretty consistent. The plastic that is used on paddles isn't really good for your hands because they are two hard foundations coming together. However, most of these gripping tapes are pretty soft and creates a smooth experience when you you're trying to play the game that you love. These tapes are used in other sports but you're going to have to replace them more often because there isn't as much tape to work with.

Pros

  • Connect your hands better to the paddle

Cons

  • Will have to replace after a while

Hold the low end of the paddle

Holding the low end of the paddle is going to feel the most natural when you get a hit. Holding the paddle in the middle feels a little but uncomfortable but can work for some people. When you hold the grip high, you aren't really going to be concerned with where the ball decides to land. You are only really concerned with getting the hit as hard as possible. Whereas holding the grip at the bottom, you are going to have more time to react.

It also gives you more range and therefore, more options as where you want to send the ball. A lot of players just decide one grip and choose the playstyle that gets them the most amount of wins. Advanced players should switch grips based on their circumstances and adjust accordingly. The only benefit of a new player using this grip is that they would be given more range. An advanced player is going to know better as to where they can send the ball on the court.

Pros

  • Have more range and options as a player

Cons

  • Hard to use and requires a lot of discipline in your technique to make effective

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