Which badminton grip for drives and pushes?

Drives

Drives from the rearcourt

Forehand drive from the rearcourt

In the rearcourt, you will be hitting drives with the shuttlecock beside you (neither in front nor behind). You will also need more power for these drives, because they travel a longer distance.

Using the basic grip or the bevel grip allows you to hit the shuttlecock straight. These badminton grips also allow you to get plenty of power from arm rotation.

Using a long badminton grip will usually be better here.

Drives from the net

Forehand drive from the net

At the net, you will hit drives with the shuttlecock well in front of your body. You don’t need much power for these drives.

In order to hit the shuttlecock straight, use a panhandle grip for forehands and a thumb grip for backhands. Use a short hitting action for accuracy and quick reactions.

In doubles, the grip will normally be short. In singles, the grip should be long for maximum reach.

Drives from the midcourt

Half-court drive

The technique for these drives will vary a lot depending on where the shuttlecock is. Most often, the technique will be a compromise between the rearcourt method and the net method: the badminton grip will be somewhere between those extremes.

These drives are often called half-court drives.

Adjust your badminton grip so that you can hit the shuttlecock straight. For a forehand, it will vary between a basic grip and a panhandle grip. The farther in front the shuttlecock is, the closer you should move towards panhandle.

For a backhand, it will vary between a basic/bevel grip and a thumb grip. The farther in front the shuttlecock is, the closer you should move towards a thumb grip.

As a general rule, you should use a shorter hitting action the closer you are to the net. Remember that you must always compromise between power and quickness: a long swing gives you lots of power, but a short swing lets you react faster.

In doubles, you can also use a shorter grip as you approach the net.

Pushes