Continental grip in pickleball: how to hold the paddle, why it makes backhands and dinks easier without regripping, and how tight your grip should really be.
The continental grip is the grip where the V between thumb and index finger sits on the top bevel of the paddle – as if you were shaking hands with it. It is the most commonly taught grip because you can hit forehands, backhands, dinks and volleys without regripping in between. That is gold in pickleball: at the net you often have only fractions of a second.
The honest answer first: no study shows that this exact grip is "the best". There is simply no research on grip type in pickleball. What exists is data on how tightly you hold – and it is clear. In a survey of 253 recreational players, those who gripped tightly on baseline shots had a 2.67 times higher risk of acute injuries to the upper limb (hand, arm, shoulder) [1]. Your grip does not decide talent, but it decides joint load.
With this guide you should be holding the paddle correctly in under ten minutes. Until the grip is automatic, expect a few practice sessions – that is experience, not a study figure.
Good to know: The rules let you hold the paddle with one or both hands, and you may switch hands at any time [2]. A two-handed backhand is just as legal as a one-handed one.
Hold the paddle vertically with the edge pointing up. Grip the handle like a handshake. The V between thumb and index finger sits on the top bevel, your palm stands vertical, not flat under the handle.
Imagine a scale from 1 (paddle falls out) to 10 (lemon squeezer). Target for dinks and volleys: 3 to 4. You may tighten briefly at contact, then release immediately. This is practice advice; what is documented is only that a permanently tight grip went with more acute injuries [1].
Ten forehand swings, ten backhand swings. The V stays on the same edge. Check in a mirror or on video: is the paddle face roughly square to the net on both sides?
With a partner, hit ten soft balls each on the forehand and backhand side. Milestone: you manage 20 balls in a row without regripping or correcting the paddle position. Then move on to the serve and later the dink.
For hard baseline shots this grip gives you a little less leverage. Many players rotate the paddle a hair toward an eastern grip. That is not a mistake as long as you do not sacrifice dink and backhand for it.
Allow ten to fifteen minutes: 2 minutes of shadow swings first, then 5 minutes of easy rallying against a wall or with a partner, then 3 minutes of dinks. Film yourself briefly from the side at the end. You check only one thing: does the V stay on the edge? This is an experience-based routine, not a study recommendation.
Test your grip with the "pen test". Hold the paddle so loosely that you can easily rotate it with your other hand. If you cannot, you are gripping too tightly. A practice trick without a study behind it, but an honest self-test.
Most courses teach the continental grip because forehand, backhand, dink and volley work without regripping. There are no studies on grip type; it is coaching consensus. What matters is that you can play your game with it without changing grip.
Yes. Under the rulebook you may hold the paddle with one or both hands and switch between them [2]. What matters is only that you have it in your hand when you hit.
Rather loosely: around 3 to 4 out of 10 for dinks and volleys is a common coaching recommendation. In one survey a tight grip on baseline shots was linked to a 2.67 times higher risk of acute injury [1].
Yes, because you only learn one grip. In return you lose a little leverage on hard baseline shots. For beginners that helps, since control at the net matters more than power.
With the continental grip usually not: the V stays on the edge, and the face points to the net on both forehand and backhand. If you still have to regrip, your grip has probably drifted toward western. This is coaching consensus.
The Volley Serve in Pickleball: Rules, Technique and a Safe Start