The moment of inertia of an object about a given axis describes how difficult it is to change its angular motion about

that axis.

Your hand position is the (approximate) axis of rotation. When you use a shorter grip, you are repositioning the axis of rotation. Using a shorter grip reduces the moment of inertia.

A lower MOI means less difficulty in changing the angular motion. In other words, a shorter grip lets you get power from a short swing: it takes less effort to get the racket moving. Because its easier to get the racket moving, you also experience a sense of increased control: there is less drag from the racket head.

This does not imply that short grip = more power. Angular momentum of the racket is converted into linear momentum of the shuttlecock: its not only about how fast the racket is rotating, but also about how long the lever is.

When two racket swings have the same angular velocity, the one with the longer grip has more angular momentum. Consequently, the one with the longer grip will make the shuttlecock fly faster.

Heres another way to think about it: in order to achieve the same shuttlecock speed, you need to m ake a faster swing with a short grip. A long grip can achieve the same result with a slower swing.