The grip is an essential component of every player’s technique that should be worked on from the very first moment that a player picks up a racket.
A correct grip will give you the ability to move quickly between forehand and backhand, generate power, impart spin on the ball, control the weight of shot and hit the ball effectively to every part of the court!
In this video World renowned coach David Pearson shows you the correct technique for a finger based squash grip that allows you to hold & control the racket with ease & dexterity on both the forehand & backhand.
The squash finger grip differs from a tennis grip in that it is neither a flat, tight or uses the whole hand grip on the racket. It requires the racket to be largely held & controlled by your thumb & forefinger with the remaining three fingers supporting the racket grip, as the butt of the racket rests in your hand.
The butt of the racket should sit on the fleshy part of of your hand below your little finger. As you hold the racket, the bottom point of the V should be aligned with the inside line of the racket’s neck so that your hand sits slightly over the top of the grip.
As you grip the racket, your index finger should sit slightly away from your three supporting fingers, poised almost as if to pull a trigger. This will give you increased control of the racket head, and will prevent you from ‘clubbing’ the ball, which can be a common fault amongst amateur players.
Try to avoid gripping the racket too tightly, stay relaxed and firm the grip up as you start the swing. The harder you hit the ball, the firmer your grip will become. If you are looking to hit a ‘soft’ shot, you’ll generally use ‘soft hands’.
If you grip the racket correctly, you’ll open up a whole range of shot options that would simply not be there with an incorrect grip. Take the time to work on a neutral grip so that you can quickly move between hitting forehand and backhand shots with ease.
Jethro Binns – SquashSkills founder
Want to really master your grip?
Check out the series where Lee Drew takes us through everything needed to improve your grip, with in-depth demonstrations to help learn the best techniques to improve your game.
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