{"id":1340,"date":"2026-11-09T11:23:42","date_gmt":"2026-11-09T11:23:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thedropdrive.com\/?p=1340"},"modified":"2026-11-09T11:23:42","modified_gmt":"2026-11-09T11:23:42","slug":"three-grip-fixes-continental-handshake-pressure-3-4-out-of-10-hand-in-the-middle","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thedropdrive.com\/?p=1340","title":{"rendered":"Three Grip Fixes: Continental Handshake, Pressure 3\u20134 Out of 10, Hand in the Middle"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"entry-content-asset videofit\">\n<div class=\"jetpack-video-wrapper\"><iframe title=\"Why Your Grip Is Ruining Your Pickleball Game \u2014 Complete Fix\" width=\"720\" height=\"405\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/tJikSNhpLMc?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<h2>Summary<\/h2>\n<p>Universal Rackets\u2019 complete grip fix starts with three problems: the frying-pan grip (flat palm on the back of the handle \u2014 the forehand feels fine, but you can\u2019t square a backhand and the ball sprays or pops up), the death grip (squeezing like you\u2019re hanging off a cliff so every ball trampolines off the paddle), and holding too high or too low on the handle (no leverage for drives, or too flimsy to block).<\/p>\n<p>Fix one is continental \u2014 the handshake or hammer grip. Hold the paddle with the edge pointing to the net as if you\u2019re hitting a nail; the V between thumb and index finger sits on the top edge of the handle, and the index knuckle sits on the bevel just to the right of the top for a right-hander. Use that same grip on both wings so you don\u2019t have to switch at the kitchen: palm forward on the forehand, knuckles forward on the backhand, like a fishtail swimming side to side \u2014 no flipping. Fix two is pressure. On a 1\u201310 scale most kitchen players squeeze at an 8 or 9; for dinks, drops, resets, and drop volleys you want a 3 or 4 so the paddle absorbs instead of pops. Cue: wiggle your fingers on the handle before every point \u2014 if you can\u2019t, you\u2019re squeezing. A useful drill is to toss a ball up and catch it on the paddle (a tight grip trampolines it). You can also squeeze your dominant wrist with your other hand, or hold with just index finger and thumb, to feel a looser grip. Fix three: park your hand roughly in the middle of the handle, with about a finger-width of handle below the pinky and above. Think of it like a steering wheel \u2014 a little higher for control and angles, a little lower for whip and drives \u2014 but club players should live in the middle. Extra: tilt the face down for topspin and open it for slice; loosen more on slower balls and firm up when you need to block or counter a fast one. The coach\u2019s line: to gain control, you have to give up control.<\/p>\n<h2>Key takeaways<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>Continental\/handshake: V on top of the handle, edge to the net; same grip on forehand and backhand (palm forward \/ knuckles forward)<\/li>\n<li>Soft-shot pressure 3\u20134 out of 10 \u2014 wiggle your fingers; a tight grip trampolines pop-ups<\/li>\n<li>Hand in the middle of the handle; slide up for control\/angles, down for whip\/drives<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Action items<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>Before each point for a session, check V-on-top + finger wiggle + middle of the handle<\/li>\n<li>Do 20 toss-and-catch-on-the-paddle reps, then forehand\/backhand wall work without changing grips<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<div class=\"tdd-newsletter\">\n<p><strong>Get the 5 best pickleball tips every week<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/subscribe-forms.beehiiv.com\/v3\/loader.js\" data-beehiiv-form=\"0e5f3fe0-e4d3-4036-8d7f-c33b311980b2\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/thedropdrive.beehiiv.com\/subscribe\">Subscribe free<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Universal Rackets\u2019 complete grip fix starts with three problems: the frying-pan grip (flat palm on the back of the handle \u2014 the forehand feels fine, but you can\u2019t square a backhand and the ball sprays or pops up), the death grip (squeezing like you\u2019re hanging off a cliff so every ball trampolines off the paddle), and holding too high or too low on the handle (no leverage for drives, or too flimsy to block).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":730,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_kad_post_transparent":"","_kad_post_title":"","_kad_post_layout":"","_kad_post_sidebar_id":"","_kad_post_content_style":"","_kad_post_vertical_padding":"","_kad_post_feature":"","_kad_post_feature_position":"","_kad_post_header":false,"_kad_post_footer":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_hide_featured_image":false,"_jetpack_featured_image_duplicate_dismissed":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[220,18,381,192],"tags":[1128,730,93,702,1379,424,76],"class_list":["post-1340","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-dinks","category-resets","category-technique","category-volleys","tag-continental-grip","tag-dinks","tag-grip","tag-grip-pressure","tag-handshake-grip","tag-resets","tag-universal-rackets"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/thedropdrive.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/03-low-dink-at-the-net-scaled.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thedropdrive.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1340","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thedropdrive.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thedropdrive.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedropdrive.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedropdrive.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1340"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/thedropdrive.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1340\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedropdrive.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/730"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thedropdrive.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1340"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedropdrive.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1340"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedropdrive.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1340"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}