ATTN: Epee Flickers & German Grip Users

[chinbeard]

What are your preferences in grips?

Initially, I preferred the Belgian grip, but I've become less fond of it since my flick developed. I just tried the Zivkovic Z, and it seems like it takes a helluva lot of finger strength to pull off flicks with that grip. My current favorite is the Visconti.

I'm also thinking about trying out:

The weird Belgian-meets Visconti seen here: http://www.fencepbt.com/pbthome3.nsf...c!OpenDocument

the German grip, and the LP style Hungarian grip.

I don't see many people with the German grips, but I'm thinking that the extended wrist protrusion must have some kind of function. Is it just for people with weak wrists? Or can I use it to my advantage?

[noodle]

standard uhlmann visconti

[trafl926]

Ziv B or BII

[Rick Shellhouse]

Ok...

As one of the more vocal proponent of the Zivkovic handles I get asked this alot.....to the point Ive talked to Ben about making instructional videos...

To sucessfully flick with a Zivkovic (primarily the B-K-G and the different sizes of each)

1. Take the handle and hold primarily with your thumb and forefinger allowing the "paddle" to rest against your palm

2. get use to the feel of the paddle sliding back and forth across your palm

3. here is the secret...flick...at the point of contact you are going to grip with the bottom three fingers pulling the paddle into your palm firmly arresting its slide across your palm

email with any questions or i guess i could make a video...

R

[fencerchica]

The weird Belgian-meets Visconti seen here: http://www.fencepbt.com/pbthome3.nsf...c!OpenDocument

I used those grips for about a year when I was transitioning away from fencing foil with a french grip. I liked them at the beginning of my transition because of the similarities between the feel of belgian and the feel of french and because the PBT grip fit my hand better than a true belgian (for one thing because it's a fairly small grip). I switched away from the PBTs to viscontis because I eventually decided that the PBT grip had too much of a tendency to kind of bind my hand in place, whereas the visconti allows more freedom for finger play, IMHO.

[chinbeard]

standard uhlmann visconti

I was told that most viscontis are the same, but I haven't encountered an Uhlmann/Allstar one yet. How are they different?

[gatsby]

In my experience visconti's mainly differ in the definition of their contours. Using Uhlmann/Allstar as the standard, the house brand grips I've used tend to have less defined grooves, except for the middle finger one, which sticks way the hell out. Not sure why this is, but this is why I don't use TCA/BG/FP Visconti's. Absolute's vistonti's are almost exactly shaped like the Uhlmann's, except made of a different material. My favorite is the LP's, which are shaped very similar to Uhlmann's, but have sharper corners and a slightly bigger middle finger groove.

[DangerMouse]

It's not the grip. It's not the blade. It's the technique.

[fencerchica]

I guess that's why french grips are great for foil, right?