Grip for game racquets

A handle design for game racquets such as tennis, racquetball, squash, etc. which handle is contoured to produce a more balanced use of the two main groups of forearm flexors and the hand muscles so as to minimize tendonitis and bursitis in the elbow and shoulder of the user. The handle is contoured on three of its sides by providing concavities to accommodate the region of the hand known as the hypothenar eminence and to accommodate the shorter second and fifth digits.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
The current shape of all standard racquet handles is uniform from the 
proximal to the distal aspects of the grip surface. When configured in 
this fashion, the circumferential size of the grip may be too large for 
one part of the hand and yet simultaneously too small for another part, 
while being "correct" for only a small portion of the hand. When used in 
this standard configuration there is one portion of the gripping surface 
that is too small for optimal grip force capacity, due to the greater 
dimension of the longer middle fingers of the human hand. As such, 
effectively this "small" sized grip does not allow the user to deliver the 
maximal amount of the power the muscles are capable of producing. However, 
it does provide improved control of the racquet by providing a 
circumferential, enveloping grip by the hand. This is in contrast to using 
a racquet that is large enough for the greatest dimension of the hand, 
where, due to the smaller dimensions of the index and little fingers, 
there is likewise a portion of the grip that is "too large". As related to 
the "anatomical size" of the user's hand, the "too large" portion of the 
racquet head occurs near the end of the handle where the small fingers are 
too short. The "too small" portion exits at the middle and forward end of 
the grip surface which is enveloped by the longest finger. In the standard 
configuration the maximal grip force obtainable for the smallest portion 
of the hand may be suboptimal. This results in an inequality in the 
optimal forces obtainable by the user from the different parts of the 
hand. 
Such inequalities in forces applied on the racquet may result in the hand 
not being able to adequately prevent twisting or loss of control of the 
racquet when a ball is hit off center or in an undesirable fashion. There 
unequal forces are applied in differential fashion to the muscles on 
either side of the forearm of the radial (lateral) aspect of the hand as 
compared to the ulnar (medial) aspect of the hand. This is due, at least 
in part, to the unbalanced forces exerted by flexor carpi radialis on the 
lateral aspect of the forearm and the flexor carpi unlaris muscles along 
the medial aspect of the forearm. The current design of the hands or grips 
on racquets produces unbalanced forces on the hand and forearm when a ball 
is struck. 
In a well developed athlete, the strength of the normal hand muscles are 
able to compensate for the mechanical disadvantage placed upon these 
muscles by the demands of the object they are gripping, such as a racquet. 
The forearm muscles exert considerable force in the function of gripping, 
and they act in conjunction with the intrinsic hand muscles. However, if 
there exists an inequality of the intrinsic hand muscles, there is 
typically also an inequality of the forearm muscles since there must be a 
concerted action between both sets of muscles. In an attempt to rectify 
this inequality of use, there may develop subsequent muscular hypertrophy 
resulting in a gain in contractile effort (or "power" capacity) of 
selected groups of muscles. This hypertrophy allows the user to manipulate 
inefficiency with brute muscular force, but unfortunately may lead to even 
greater hypertrophy. Whenever there is an inequality of strength and power 
of antagonistic muscles operating across a common joint, a high likelihood 
of muscular and ligamentous strain can occur. 
Thus, when there is repeated inequality in the utilization of the flexor 
bundles, tendonitis and/or bursitis is quite likely to develop in the 
muscle group that is under the greater strain. Persons who play racquet 
sports such as tennis, racquetball, and squash frequently develop bursitis 
or tendonitis in their joints, especially at the elbow. The exact cause of 
"tennis elbow" as this infirmity is commonly called, is not completely 
known, but one major factor is the inefficient use of complimentary, or 
agonistic, muscles which leads to unequal force exertion and excessive 
strain across the joints subserved by the muscle groups involved. 
The design of the racquet handle of the invention should minimize the 
occurrence of this malady since the design of the invention will produce a 
more equal and balanced use of the two main groups of forearm flexors and 
of the intrinsic hand muscles. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
The optimum situation is to custom-fit each racquet to the user's hand, but 
this is impractical from a cost standpoint and would not permit the user 
to change his or her grip for different strokes used during play. Although 
a precise fit to the hand of the racquet user is not necessary, the closer 
the fit, the more the forces will be equalized on the hand and forearm. 
Therefore, it is the principal object of the invention to design a racquet 
handle and grip that approaches the optimal situation of a custom fit 
while permitting a standardized grip to be used, thus minimizing the 
likelihood of a player developing tendonitis or bursitis. 
The racquet handle of the invention is provided with an area near the end 
of the handle that is narrowed by a concave cut on two opposite sides of 
the handle, one larger than the other. The larger cut is designed to 
accommodate the hypothenar eminence and the smaller to accommodate the 
terminal digit of the smallest finger, and in some hands the fourth finger 
will fit as well. The handle is also provided with a similar concavity on 
that portion of the handle that is transverse to the sides where the 
handle is narrowed, with this concavity being so produced as to provide 
space for the proximal phalanx of the small or fifth finger. These 
properly placed concavities in the handle of the racquet will tend to 
substantially equalize the forces applied to the muscles of the hand and 
forearm.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT OF THE INVENTION 
Referring to FIG. 1, there is illustrated a tennis racquet which has a head 
frame 10 that holds the strings 12 in a common plane. Connected to the 
head frame 10 is a handle 14 that extends in the plane of the strings 12 
and terminates in a grip 16 that is normally covered with leather or some 
other suitable material so as to provide a soft, nonslip surface for the 
hand 18 of the user. 
The grip portion 16 of the racquet that is illustrated in the preferred 
embodiment is octagonal in cross section. The grip portion 16 therefore 
has two opposite sides 20 and 22 which are parallel to each other and 
parallel to the plane of the strings 12. Sides 24 and 26 are also spaced 
apart and parallel to each other and are in planes that are perpendicular 
to the plane of the strings 12. Sides 20, 22, 24 and 26 are joined by 
sides 28 to complete the octagonal shape of the handle. Although an 
octagonal shape is shown for purposes of illustration of the preferred 
embodiment, since this is a commonly shaped grip for tennis racquets, the 
principles of the invention are clearly applicable to grips of any cross 
sectional shape whether they be round, oval or of any other shape. 
On side 22 there is formed near the end of the grip 16 a concavity 30 for 
receiving the hypothenar eminence of the hand 18. On the opposite side 20, 
there is a concavity 32 that is slightly smaller than concavity 30 into 
which concavity the terminal digit, which is the smallest digit, is 
received. Also, the fourth or ring digit is also received in this 
concavity 32. On the side 26, there is formed near the end of the grip 16 
a concavity 34 to provide space for and receive the proximal phalanx of 
the terminal or smaller digit. A second, less prominent, cancavity 36 is 
also formed on the side 26 of the grip 16 to accommodate the proximal 
phalanx of the index finger. 
The foregoing described design is based upon the principle that the ulnar 
and medial aspects of the human hand and forearm do not grip with equal 
force in an isometric contraction around the circumference of an object 
that is of uniform dimension throughout its length, such as the standard 
racquet handle. In the handle design described herein, the concavities 30, 
32, 34 and 36 compensate for this inequality and thereby take advantage of 
the total strength available in the hand. Another factor that is quite 
important is that the inequality of the contractile effort of the ulnar 
and medial aspects of the hand muscles is also present in the muscles of 
the forearm. The forearm muscles exert considerable force in the function 
of gripping, and they act together with the intrinsic hand muscles. 
Consequently, if there exists an inequality of the intrinsic hand muscles, 
there is typically also an inequality of the forearm muscles since there 
must be a concerted action between both sets of muscles. Because of this 
inequality of use, there may develop subsequent muscular hypertrophy 
resulting in a gain in contractile effort or power capacity of selected 
groups of muscles. This would normally occur in the medial group of the 
flexor muscles of the forearm. Whenever there is an inequality of strength 
and power of antagonistic muscles operating across a common joint, a high 
likelihood of muscular and ligmentous strain can occur. Thus, when there 
is repeated inequality in the utilization of the flexor bundles, 
tendonitis and/or bursitis is quite likely to develop in the muscle group 
that is under the greater strain. The design of the racquet handle of the 
invention should minimize the occurrence of this malady since the design 
of the invention will produce a more equal and balanced use of the two 
main groups of forearm flexors and of the intrinsic hand muscles. 
In the invention, concavities 32 and 34 allow for the fact that the second 
and fifth fingers are shorter in length than the other fingers which 
limits their circumferential grip capacity. Thus, by accommodating these 
differences in the physical structure of the hand, a more balanced and 
equal use of the muscles of the forearm and hand results. In this manner 
the racquet handle design will minimize tendonitis and/or bursitis that 
frequently results when the standard racquet handle design is used. It 
should be noted that the concavities formed in the grip portion 16 of the 
handle 14 are superior to placing individual finger grips, since the 
smooth taper of the concavities provide for hands of different sizes as 
well as providing for fine adjustments to be made by the individual using 
the racquet. In other words, the concavities allow the user to find just 
the right degree of concavity for that particular individual's anatomy. It 
is also of importance that the concavities allow a comfortable shift by 
the user from a forehand to a backhand grip as well as any other modified 
grips developed by that particular user. With most users, very little 
adaptation is necessary to adapt to the feel of the placements using the 
racquet handle of the invention. In fact, studies up to this point suggest 
that the backhand grip is benefitted more than the forehand grip in terms 
of resistance to twisting or shearing forces. Moreover, it appears that 
both the forehand and backhand grips will be more powerful than with 
conventional racquet handles. 
Although there is a slight alteration in the position and angle of attack 
of the racquet head when using the handle design of the invention as 
compared to a conventional racquet handle, this should not affect the 
strokes of the user, and in preliminary studies, instances of 
exceptionally rapid improvement of ground strokes has been noted with use 
of this invention. The slight elevation of the racquet head is due to the 
concavities formed in the surfaces 26 and 24, and also appears beneficial 
to one's strokes. 
The only disadvantage, if any, when using a racquet that employs a handle 
constructed according to the invention, is that the racquet must always be 
held with the same side forward due to the assymetric nature of the 
concavities. However, this has not yet proven to be a cause of excessive 
or premature string wear, or racket frame failure. 
Having thus described the preferred embodiment of the invention, it will be 
evident to those skilled in the art that various revisions and 
modifications can be made in the particular design disclosed in the 
preferred embodiment without departing from the spirit and scope of the 
invention. Obviously, minor variations in the shape, absolute and relative 
size, and placement of the concavities might be made. It is my intention, 
however, that all such revisions and modifications will be included within 
the scope of the following claims.