Shortening the grip

[ReverseLunge]

Do any of you shorten your pistol grips? Does it make parry or reposting any faster or perhaps stronger binds?

[akaiyuki]

I don't know anyone who does that but my old coach saw pistol grips for better in-fighting purposes.

[DHCJr]

I have shortened handles many times, sometimes to make them legal (M.4.6.b). The one cavet is to make sure and cut a groove for the wires.

[wflaschka]

I've always chopped the front end off my bambino visconte handles. I also used to bend the back prong of the handle inwards a little bit, but I lost my nerve for that a long time ago.

I find that the shorter grip gives me more finger feeling. It lets me cram my hand around the handle, so there's air between the palm and the grip. I never noticed a loss of strength.

When a grip is too big, it fills the hand and the urge is to swing the weapon like a stick. When the grip is small, it's a constant reminder to work with the tip (and you can still still swing it like a stick if you want). For me, it feels like the tip is the tip of my forefinger... makes it easy to accomplish point-oriented work. I also get neat calluses on my forefinger, great conversation starter.

[peet]

I've always had to cut my grips down a bit. I was taught that no matter what grip you are using (french, pistol, etc.), when it is properly held, your thumb should come right up to the guard pad (basically putting your hand as close as it can be to the guard). Further back puts the weapon's center of gravity further from your hand, making it feel heavier, and handle more slowly.

So, with a pistol, that means cutting it down to fit your hand unless your hands are pretty big.

Or so they say.

-p

[The Armourer]

I have always used the 'thumb rule' as descibed above AND made sure I cut a slot for the wire. Our old coach used to advise that when shortening the grip, the cut should respect the set (cant) of the blade i.e. cut at a slight angle rather than perpendicularly across the grip. This he believed made for more area of the grip end being in contact with the handle upon tightening making it 'seat' better.

[Grasshopper]

I second the small grip = nice hand theory. Nothing like a little grip to force you to make tight actions.

[daveappr]

I've seen fencers who saw off the rear portion of the their Visconti grips, making them more like a Zivkovic grip. I found it to be too awkward for my personal tastes.

[Purple Fencer]

When I cut my foil grips down I started landing shots I would normally miss. because my hand was actually incontact with the back of the guard, the foil became more an extensikon of my arm rather than a long stick on a gimbal mount (that being my hand)

[acaba]

I also cut my grips down. As others have pointed out it puts my thumb and first finger up against the bell pad. When other people try to use one of my weapons for the first time they usually complain that they cannot get their hand around the grip. Upon further inspection I find that they are trying to 'pinch' the grip between the thumb and the middle bone of the first finger. Having them pull the first finger back so they are pinching between thumb and last bone of the finger lets them grip the handle properly.

When cutting is is also important to cut/file the end of the grip to respect the cant of the blade. On non-FIE blades, I've seen a nice tang cant straightened when the flat grip end is screwed down tight.