Grip Pressure

 So I'm watching this golf video and the guy, John Erickson, is talking about grip pressure.

The old saw in golf and pickleball is that it's a loose grip that sails the ship and if you're clutching the grip, it won't work.

Now John thinks this is wrong.  While the gentle grip might be correct if you hit the middle of the golf club face, it doesn't work very well if you miss the sweet spot, aka in the real world.  He has video to prove his point.  I could run on and on for a couple of paragraphs about the the club twisting and the ball angle being much worse with a loose grip.  John is on YouTube and you can look it up if you are inclined, but the differences are dramatic.

I was thinking about this and wondered if PB paddles would match some of this phenomenon.  One of the things I don't like about PB paddles is the size of the sweet spot.  Shots that are out at the edge of the paddle will cause it to twist and the energy transfer goes way down.  Might this be the reason for a lot of netted shots?  Quite possibly, a short dink with a small swing, and top it off with a miss-hit and then have a loose grip and we are talking about an "in the net error!"  I don't know about you all, but I hit the fringes of the paddle quite often.

I mentioned this to Tony, who is visiting the Downs from Mexico and he pointed out that a loose grip was good for softening up shots and let me talk about that for a moment.  If you are blocking a hard shot and want to hit it back deep into the court, then a firm grip will provide more speed and thus depth.  But loosen the grip and now you kill the shot and can turn your opponent's drive into a drop.  This is a useful tool.  Hand pressure thus acts like a pressure moderator for a hit.

I haven't played with this too much, but I'm thinking that a firm grip might be useful for a lot of shots and might save an error or two.  So give it a try and see what works for you.