How to Hold a Pickleball Paddle (Without Hurting Your Hands)

A paddle should feel like an extension of your arm, not something you have to wrestle. For players with arthritis, tennis elbow, a weak wrist or hands that ache by the third game, howyou hold the paddle matters more than which paddle you own. Get the grip, the pressure and the sizing right and you take a surprising amount of strain off your hand and forearm — often the difference between finishing a session comfortable and icing your elbow that night. None of it is complicated. Here it is in plain English.

Start with the continental grip

The grip almost every coach teaches first is the continental grip, and it is the one to learn if your hands or elbow give you trouble. The quickest way to find it is to hold the paddle out in front of you and “shake hands” with the handle. Your palm settles onto the side of the grip and the paddle face sits perpendicular to the ground, like a small wall in front of you.

Why is it the default? Because it works for forehands, backhands and the soft dinks at the net without asking you to change your hand mid-rally. That single fact matters more as you age: when reaction time and finger mobility are not quite what they used to be, the last thing you want is to be fumbling a grip change while the ball is coming back. One grip that does everything keeps your hand calm and your shots consistent. USA Pickleball sets the standards a paddle must pass to be approved, but how you hold it is entirely up to you — and the continental grip is the friendliest starting point for a joint that complains.

How to hold the paddle, step by step

Work through these once slowly at home, then let it become second nature. Keep everything relaxed — you are settling the paddle into your hand, not gripping for dear life.

1. Shake hands with the paddle. Hold it out in front of you and grip the handle as if you were shaking hands with it, so the face sits perpendicular to the ground. That is the continental grip.
2. Check the V. Look at the V shape formed between your thumb and index finger. It should run straight down the top edge of the handle, not rolled off to one side.
3. Relax your grip.Hold firmly enough that the paddle will not slip out, but loose enough to keep blood flowing in your fingers — roughly a 4 or 5 out of 10.
4. Check the grip size. You should be able to slide a finger into the gap between your fingertips and the heel of your palm. Too small and you will end up squeezing.
5. Consider a two-handed backhand. If your wrist is weak, add your other hand for backhands so the load is shared across both arms.

Grip pressure is the biggest lever for sore hands and elbows

If you change only one thing after reading this, make it your grip pressure. Most players hold the paddle far too tightly, and a clenched, white-knuckle grip is the fastest way to send strain up the whole arm. The forearm muscles that control the paddle run right up to the elbow, and a death-grip keeps them firing constantly, shot after shot, with no chance to recover between rallies.

That matters because tennis elbow is an overuse injuryof exactly those forearm tendons — it builds up from repeated strain rather than a single wrong move, and the mainstay of getting better is rest, easing the load, and sometimes a counterforce strap. A relaxed grip is the on-court version of that same idea: it lets the forearm work only when it needs to. Aim for that 4-or-5-out-of-10 pressure, let your hand go soft between shots, and firm up only at the instant you strike the ball. Your hands will feel fresher and your elbow will thank you.

Grip size — and why too small is worse than too big

Grip size is the quiet partner to grip pressure, because the two feed each other. A handle that is too thin forces your fingers to curl up tightly just to hold on, and that constant curling is precisely the squeezing you are trying to avoid with arthritic hands. For sore joints, a grip that is a touch too bigis almost always kinder than one that is too small — the fuller handle lets the hand stay open and relaxed.

The simple check is the finger test in the steps above: with the paddle held, you should be able to slide one finger into the gap between your fingertips and your palm. If your fingers dig into your palm with no room to spare, the grip is too small. The good news is that this is the cheapest problem in pickleball to fix — an inexpensive overgrip wrapped around the handle builds the size up in minutes and adds a little cushioning at the same time. If you are not sure where you land, our grip size guide walks you through measuring your hand.

A two-handed backhand for a weak wrist

If your wrist is the weak link — from arthritis, an old injury, or just years of wear — a two-handed backhand is worth trying. Adding your non-dominant hand to the handle spreads the shot across both arms instead of loading a single wrist, and the extra hand steadies the paddle face so you do not have to muscle it with the wrist alone. Many older players find their backhand becomes their morereliable side once they add the second hand. It costs you a little reach on very wide balls, so plenty of people use two hands as their standard backhand and drop back to one hand only when they have to stretch. It pairs well with a lighter, more forgiving setup — our paddles for arthritis roundup covers the gentlest options.

Common grip mistakes to avoid

A few habits quietly undo everything above. Watch for these:

• Squeezing all game. By far the most common mistake, and the one that feeds sore hands and a cranky elbow. Relax between shots.
• The frying-pan grip. Turning the paddle flat like a hammer or frying pan feels natural to beginners but makes backhands and dinks awkward and forces compensations that strain the wrist. Come back to the shake-hands position.
• Ignoring a slick grip. When the handle gets shiny and slippery, you instinctively grip harder to compensate. A fresh overgrip fixes the cause instead.
• Playing through elbow pain.Because tennis elbow is an overuse problem, pushing through it tends to make it worse. Ease off, let it settle, and sort out your grip before you return — this is general information, not medical advice, so see a doctor if pain persists.

Fix the grip, soften the pressure, size the handle to your hand, and lean on a second hand when your wrist needs it. Those four small habits protect your joints far more than any single piece of gear — and they cost almost nothing to put in place.