Which Grip is Best?

[ThatReallyHurt]

With all these conflicting names, why not just call it "pistol grip" and "french grip" ?

Call visconti, belgium etc a "variation"

Because sales would drop because people wouldn't be buying five different grips trying to find what fits perfectly...?

[LUDICROUS]

Point taken, but at least all the names could mean the same thing everywhere.

[Alain]

Point taken, but at least all the names could mean the same thing everywhere.

Get in there, lad. Before this thread I was only really aware of pistol, orthopaedic, and French grips. Didn't know the other ones existed...

I'll second Barry's request and ask for pictures - can anyone please post some photos of the different types of handle, for us un-educated Englishmen..? Thanks

[veeco]

http://www.amfence.com/html/foil_parts.html This page has a large number of the grips available in the US with pictures in front of them

[Alain]

http://www.amfence.com/html/foil_parts.html This page has a large number of the grips available in the US with pictures in front of them

Cool, thanks!

I reckon that the Visconti traditional - Part No. 311TM, to be precise - is the one for me. Most of us Brits'd call that a plain ol' pistol grip, though...

[LUDICROUS]

*click* I have a Visconti! Hmmm, so does everyone else...

[JohnK]

Boy, I'd wondered why Leon Paul had a limited variety of grips for sale....no Russians for example. Now I see England and the Commonwealth are lands of no grip variety :-)

I can't stand Viscontis because I have a somewhat deformed little finger on my fencing hand; doesn't quite fit in the form-fitting grooves. Love Russian grips.

[VERITAS]

My favorite is the traditional Italian grip, for foil and epee.

It gives me all the power I could ever want, even against the most heavy handed pistol-grippers. Also, with power the Italian school offers control of the blade superior to any other school, IMHO.

The sentiment du fer is unequaled, especially with the true ricasso blades, giving an excellent vehicle for point control.

It is also by far the best looking, and the rarest. Unfortunately, also difficult to obtain and pricey .


-charley

[VERITAS]

A question for those more knowledgeable than myself:


What difference do the different pistol grips make in your fencing?

Are there different styles associated with the variety of grips available, or is it purely personal preferrence?


Thank you,

-charley

[JohnK]

Other than the vast difference between French and all the other grips, I don't think people are choosing among the various pistol grips because of some logical thought-out process based on the style they want to fence.

At some point they pick up some grips and just pick the one that feels most comfortable.

As I said I was born with a somewhat deformed little finger on my weapon hand (It is corkscrewed, and I cannot straighten it fully) and the preformed grooves on Visconti style grips really are uncomfortable, so I greatly prefer Russian grips.

[Milo Dave]

i tried the italian and felt it involved too much wrist... i love the french because, when your wrist is properly supinated, it forces your to use only your fingers, making your blade actions economical and precise...wouldn't touch anything else

[ducdequenelles]

I learned to fence with a french grip, and I think it helped me. However, I now use a belgian grip. Not as good point control as with a french, but better than some pistol grips, and still has decent leverage. I dunno, I just prefer the feel of a nice belgian grip.

[I Miss My Car]

I use a Russian Grip that I have shortened to bring my fingers up closer to the gaurd as well as rounded off the corner where the nut goes in becuase it used to dig into my palm. I like the fact that the Russian lacks a bottom prong and indentations. My fingers aren't locked in to a specific spot on the handle, so I don't overlly use my wrist, but I still have power on beats. To me its like a good mid-point between french and pistol.

[ElMariachi]

I for one prefer the German long style grip. The tang gives push against my wrist which allows me to come into six without any worries of him forcing me out of the way, I'm a lefty.. don't do much infighting so the long tang doesn't bother me much on that end. Plus the feel of that extra long metal piece makes my epee feel more natural and stable as if it were a part of my arm. But I've only used three other grips in a tournament, visconti which was ok, the italian which actually felt kinda of small in my hand for some reason, and the french grip which doesn't really feel natural at all after you've had something which feels practically molded to your hand (maybe I'm just not used to using something which actually takes brain power to control). I also like the german grip because my dad is german..don't know if that's really a good reason or not..

[JohnK]

I use a Russian Grip that I have shortened to bring my fingers up closer to the gaurd as well as rounded off the corner where the nut goes in becuase it used to dig into my palm. I like the fact that the Russian lacks a bottom prong and indentations. My fingers aren't locked in to a specific spot on the handle, so I don't overlly use my wrist, but I still have power on beats. To me its like a good mid-point between french and pistol.

Yeah, I filed down that corner in the palm too on all of mine. Seems to be a fundamental design flaw of Russian Grips. I really like the lack of indentations as well, though.

[mackillian]

I recently switched from French grip to a Belgian Short grip. My muscle memory in my hand/arm/shoulder had me throwing out elbow and putting torque on my shoulder when I used my French grip (I hate bad habits). I was also getting disarmed at least one/twice a week while using the french grip, and found it annoying. So I tried a different grip (I forget what kind) and hated it. Then tried the Belgian short. My coach showed me how to hold it loosely and where to position my fingers so that I could get the same point control I had with my French grip. At the same time, using a new grip allowed me to re-form my muscle memory so that my hand is (finally) staying up and I'm not putting torque on my shoulder. I had a tourney yesterday and normally my shoulder would be burning with pain by the end and the next day would be useless (I also have chronic tendonitis). But yesterday, my shoulder didn't hurt at all, and today it feels fine. In that regard, with my hand and elbow finally going where they're supposed to, the grip switch DID make a big difference.

I made this observation to my coach. "This grip makes me keep my hand up."

His reply? "Duh."

>_<

But I never thought I'd switch to pistol grip as I loved the point control of the French and never had problems with finger strength. However, my shoulder told me otherwise.

[JonTong]

I use Cartel Wooden French Grip, it's wild enough but not too thick. It's lighter than rubber over metal and the rubber material at the surface provide excellent grip.

[smeric28]

When I get an orthopedic grip, I start modifiying...grind, sand, paint...get rid of that G.D. thumb horn...freakin' useless!!!
Zivkovic is the BEST I've ever held, it's a perfect fit...after I cut down that stupid horn!!!

non illigitimi carborundum

that "horn" is there for a reason. it has to do with rules for orthapedic grips. it can't be held in more than one way

[DHCJr]

that "horn" is there for a reason. it has to do with rules for orthapedic grips. it can't be held in more than one way

You might look at the rule book again, specifically M.4.6. If you were grinding or cutting something off, that would not be a problem, as you are not attaching anything. Because of M.4.3, you could not add tape or something else to an Epee grip, but you could paint it, unless it was very thick paint. The so-called American grip is just such an example. What is done is what most people in the US call a Belgium, the bottom prong is cut off.

[Barry Paul]

You might look at the rule book again, specifically M.4.6. If you were grinding or cutting something off, that would not be a problem, as you are not attaching anything. Because of M.4.3, you could not add tape or something else to an Epee grip, but you could paint it, unless it was very thick paint. The so-called American grip is just such an example. What is done is what most people in the US call a Belgium, the bottom prong is cut off.

So its allright to cut some thing off but not to attach anything.Clearly on some handles cutting some ridges off could indeed make the handle illegal. A perfect example of what wrong with the rules and this one in particular. As you cannot define all handles and you cannot know the size and shape of the hand using the handle you must leave it up to the referee to decide if a handle hand combination is legal or not, hence my continued rant about a handle called a gardere.