Guest Post – Lack of Grip Strength Loses the Game
Here is a guest post from Shane Swing. Recently he caught a college football game in which Grip strength pretty much became the deciding factor in the win. Here’s what he had to say:
- “Leading by 1 point with just seconds left to play, all Texas Longhorn cornerback, Curtis Brown, had to do was grab Texas Tech’s wide receiver, Michael Crabtree, wrap him up, and fall down to allow his team to retain their #1 ranking. As fate would have it, Mr. Brown apparently is not a grip enthusiast, thus his grip failed miserably and his team lost the game. As a grip enthusiast, it was clear as day to me what caused the loss. It wasn’t coaching, curses, hot weather, or home field advantage, as pundits predictably tend to bicker over. Lack of grip strength lost the game, plain and simple, and it should immediately become part of the Texas Longhorn’s training program. Will it? Who knows. Grip training lacks the respect it deserves. Hell, even my buddies that I’ve known since high school constantly rib me over my grip training, yet, they begrudgingly had to admit that lack of grip strength lost the game for Texas. Sweet vindication for me, bitter pill for Texas I guess. Time will tell if they wise up…and Diesel Up.”
Shane Swing
Grip Enthusiast, Maryland
Thanks Shane.
Check out this clip. Don’t worry about having to watch the whole thing. I’ve got it set up to start playing right from the spot where the pivotal missed tackle takes place.
Never ignore the importance of Grip Strength!
-Jedd-
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November 20th, 2008 at 9:01 pm
I remember thinking something along the same lines when I saw that play. There were two or three times where jersey tackles were broken for big plays in that game. It’s about time college strength coaches start to pay more attention to the grip!
Good post Shane.
November 20th, 2008 at 9:47 pm
Excellent Post!
November 21st, 2008 at 9:46 am
The pleasure was all mine Diesel Crew. I got tired of yelling at my television. Blog posts are much more therapudic. And being (correct me if I’m wrong) the 1st guest blog post for Diesel makes it even sweeter.
November 21st, 2008 at 9:51 am
He had him,no excuse there except for…..weak hands
November 22nd, 2008 at 5:40 pm
I second that. Great Post! Grip strength is also over looked in the law enforcement, military and fire fighting community. It is time to change that.
November 24th, 2008 at 10:55 pm
Heck yeah – that receiver wasn’t gonna be denied there – Great post –
November 25th, 2008 at 7:23 pm
Not that grip strength isn’t important, because it very much is, the guy was out of position and falling backwards trying to tackle someone accelerating forward. There are a lot of people with good grip strength who will NOT make that tackle. Was he expected to grab him and whip him to the ground like a superhero? You could say that “Heavy lunges win game!” because the receiver had the strength to propel forward out of his grasp. Again, I don’t disagree at all that grip strength is very important, but I don’t know if I feel that better grip strength would of made that tackle. Just stating an opinon,
cheers,
pat
November 26th, 2008 at 9:27 pm
Pat,
I humbly disagree. The defender went high, and should have easily been able to pull him backwards and out of bounds with him.
Taking into consideration your argument about the receiver’s leg strength, though, at the very least I would have liked to see the receiver drag the defender into the end zone, with the defender still holding on.
Diesel on,
Shane
November 28th, 2008 at 6:03 pm
Having played football, and having good grip strength from my lifting pursuits from a young age, I will definitely agree that grip strength is sadly overlooked in football strength training. As we are all taught, if you can tough someone, you can tackle them, and I made damn sure my grip was strong enough to allow me to drag someone down, even if I only got a few fingers in his jersey. For the above, their is no excuse. Hopefully a lesson is learned.