French and German are hand positions, not grips
In reading the responses, it seems there is a misconception to what a "grip type" is. Many responses mention hand positions, mainly in matched, as opposed to grips.
The only reason the French, American, and German hand positions were named, is that they originated far earlier than the drum set. The French was invented to play a set of two or three timpani, arranged in a horizontal array before the drummer, with wide dynamics. The German evolved to play powerful strokes on a carried drum, under fire, for long periods of time. One drummer, one drum!
But these positions are roughly the same with regards to grip and finger placement, and just represent extremes of wrist rotation!
When drumset playing evolved, with multiple playing surfaces at many angles, drummers naturally used the full spectrum of wrist rotation (for both hands in matched, and for the right in traditional). As teaching practices were refined, it became practical to isolate the two extremes, French and German, in practice. The American was just a name given to a position drummersnaturally go to, in between those two.
Neither the French, German, or American, are grips per se, just points in the wrist's rotation spectrum. In matched, if you have the facility, the left and right will dynamically and independently go through the whole rotation spectrum many times in a song!
In actual playing, if you stick to just one position, you will be doing nothing more than limiting your expression. Those of you that say you play "American" probably have not yet learned either the French or the German positions fully, and therefore your hands have limited options in the moment. If you think you are a "French" player, you have just put a limiting label on your hands. And the same goes for exclusive "German" players.
I write this to open up the thinking for those of you who have labeled yourself in a non-productive way. The goal for me is to empower everyone to practice hand positions isolated, and to play with full self-expression, unhampered by flexibility, or label issues!
Casper