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Grip Guide - A Grip on Your Game

Ed McGro gan

Fluid, powerful, and accurate strokes are the combination of many factors. But it all starts with how you hold the racquet. No matter how much time you spend f inding the perf ect f rame to beef up your game, the most important part of your racquet just might be your gripnot what the handle is made of , but how you hold it. Although theyre largely overlooked, grips are the f oundation of all the strokes in tennis. Where you position your hand on the eight-sided handle has a huge impact on each ball you hit. Your grip af f ects the angle of the racquet f ace, where you make contact, and ultimately the pace, spin, and placement of your shot. T he dif f iculty with grips is choosing the right one f or a particular stroke. T he f act is, there is no perf ect grip; each has its advantages and limitations. But some are clearly better-suited f or certain strokes and styles of play than others. T his guide will help you to (1) learn to grasp the racquet f or each grip correctly, and (2) determine the best uses of each of the common grips. FINDING T HE GRIPS T here are various ways to explain how to f ind a certain grip, but the simplest and most reliable is to use the base knuckle of your index f inger as the main ref erence point. T he diagrams f or each grip show the bottom view of a racquet handle (where the butt cap is attached), which has f our main sides and f our narrower bevels between the sides. CONT INENTAL GRIP T he Continental is the one grip that you can use f or every shot, but that hasnt been standard practice since the days of long pants and skirts. T he Continental is used primarily f or serves, volleys, overheads, slices, and def ensive shots. Find the Continental by putting the base knuckle of your index f inger on bevel No. 1, which puts the V created by your thumb and f oref inger on top of the handle. Lef ties put the knuckle on bevel No. 4. PLUS: Hitting with the Continental grip on the serve and overhead is standard, as it allows your f orearm and wrist to naturally pronate through contact. T his results in a more explosive and versatile shot with the least amount of stress on the arm. Its also the pref erred grip on volleys since it provides a slightly open racquet f ace f or underspin and control. Since you need quick hands at net, having the same grip f or f orehand and backhand volleys is also crucial. As mentioned, your grip af f ects the angle of the racquet f ace. T he more closed the f ace, the higher and f arther in f ront of your body your strike zone should be f or proper contact. Since the racquet f ace is relatively square on a Continental grip, f or ground strokes the strike zone is low and to the side of the body. T hats why its helpf ul f or def ensive shots, low balls, and wide balls that youre late on. MINUS: You can hit f lat or with slice using the Continental, but its tough to put topspin on the ball. T hat means hitting with power and keeping the ball in play requires you to aim the shot just above net level, leaving you little margin f or error. And without that saf ety spin, returning a ball out of your strike zone can be dif f icult. So lack of consistency is of ten a problem.

EAST ERN FOREHAND GRIP Place your hand f lat against the strings and slide it down to the grip; put the racquet f lat on a table, close your eyes, and pick it up; or shake hands with the racquet. T hese are just a f ew of the tricks you can use to f ind an Eastern f orehand grip. T he more technical way is to hold the racquet in a Continental grip and then turn your hand clockwise (counterclockwise f or lef ties), so that the base knuckle of your index f inger slides over one bevel. PLUS: T his is generally considered the easiest grip f or learning the f orehand. Its versatile, allowing the player to brush up the back of the ball f or topspin or f latten out the shot f or more power and penetration. Its easy to switch quickly to other grips f rom the Eastern, making it a wise choice f or players who like to come to net. MINUS: T he strike zone is higher and f arther out in f ront than with the Continental grip, but its still not a great option f or returning high shots. An Eastern f orehand can be very powerf ul and penetrating, but because it tends to be a f latter stroke it can also be inconsistent, making it dif f icult to sustain in long rallies. Its not the best choice f or players looking to put a lot of topspin on their shots and outlast their opponents. SEMI-WEST ERN FOREHAND GRIP Moving your knuckle one more bevel clockwise (counterclockwise f or lef ties) f rom the Eastern f orehand grip puts you in a semi-Western grip. T his has become a prevalent grip f or power baseliners on the pro tours, and many teaching pros encourage their students to use it. PLUS: T he semi-Western allows a player to apply more topspin to the ball than the Eastern f orehand grip, giving the shot greater saf ety and control, especially on lobs and short angles. Still, you can drive through the ball with this grip to hit a f lat drive f or a winner or passing shot. It also af f ords a player the option of taking a bigger swing at the ball since the topspin will help keep it in the court. With a strike zone higher and f arther out in f ront of the body than the Eastern f orehand, its good f or controlling and being aggressive with high shots. MINUS: You can run into trouble returning low balls. Since the grip naturally closes the racquet f ace, f orcing you to swing up f rom underneath the ball, it can be dif f icult to return lower shots. T his, along with having to make a signif icant grip change to get to the Continental f or a volley, is why so many power baseliners are uncomf ortable coming to net. WEST ERN FOREHAND GRIP From a semi-Western grip, shif t your knuckle one more bevel clockwise (counterclockwise f or lef ties), and youve got a f ull Western grip. Looking down at the racquet, your knuckle should be on the very bottom of the grip. T his puts your palm almost completely under the racquet. Clay-court specialists and players who hit with heavy topspin f avor this grip.

PLUS: T his is an extreme grip that puts a lot of action on the ball. T he positioning of the wrist f orces the racquet to whip up the back of the ball severely, generating tremendous topspin. You can hit the ball well above net level and it will still drop into the court. T he resulting shot will usually have a high and explosive bounce, pushing your opponent behind the baseline. T he strike zone is higher and f arther out in f ront than all other f orehand grips. T he ability to handle high balls is what makes this grip so popular with clay-courters and juniors. MINUS: Low balls can be murder. T hats why prof essionals with this grip generally dont do well on f aster surf aces, where the ball stays low af ter the bounce. Also, you need tremendous racquet-head speed and wrist strength to generate adequate pace and spin. Otherwise, your shots will land short and your opponents can attack them. For some, its also dif f icult to f latten shots out, so putting balls away becomes a problem. And just as with the semi- Western, transitioning to net and hitting an ef f ective f irst volley is a major challenge. EAST ERN BACKHAND GRIP From a Continental grip, shif t your knuckle one bevel counterclockwise (clockwise f or lef ties) so that its on the very top of the grip. If you drilled a nail through that knuckle, it would go right through the center of the grip (just dont try that at home). PLUS: As with the Eastern f orehand, this is a versatile grip that provides good stability f or the wrist. You can roll the ball f or some spin or hit through it f or a more penetrating drive. Some players can slice with an Eastern grip, but if not, a subtle grip change over to the Continental is easy enough to do. T his grip also can be used f or a kick serve, and it makes the transition to net f or volleys a relatively smooth one. MINUS: While solid f or handling low balls, an Eastern backhand grip is not ideal f or hitting topspin shots f rom around the shoulders. It can be dif f icult to control these balls, and many times a player is f orced to slice them back def ensively. You see this most of ten when players return kick serves that jump up high in the strike zone. EXT REME EAST ERN OR SEMI-WEST ERN BACKHAND GRIP T he backhands answer to the Western f orehand (a reason some ref er to this as a semi-Western backhand), the base knuckle of your index f inger moves one bevel counterclockwise f rom the Eastern backhand (clockwise f or lef ties). Its an advanced grip that only stronger and more accomplished players tend to use. PLUS: Just as with the Western f orehand grips, this is a very popular choice with claycourt players. It naturally closes the racquet f ace more than a regular Eastern backhand and moves the strike zone higher and f arther out in f ront of you, making it more conducive to handling high balls and returning them with topspin. Some of the most powerf ul backhands in tennis are held with this grip.

MINUS: Its limitations are similar to those of the Western f orehand. Its not well-suited f or low balls, and because its a rather extreme grip its dif f icult to make quick changes f or a transition to net. Players with this grip usually have long, elaborate swings and pref er the baseline. T WO-HANDED BACKHAND GRIP T heres no doubting the popularity of this grip, but there is some debate about the ideal way to position both hands. One of the most accepted ways is to hold the racquet in your dominant hand with a Continental grip. T hen take your nondominant hand and put it above your playing hand in a semiWestern f orehand grip. PLUS: T his is an excellent choice f or players who arent strong enough to hit a one-handed backhand. A more compact stroke than the one-hander, the two-hander relies on shoulder rotation and an ef f icient swing to provide power. T hats why its particularly ef f ective on the return of serve. Its also good on low shots, and the extra arm lets you power through on balls that are at shoulder level. MINUS: Because both hands are on the racquet, the two-hander limits a players reach. So doing anything with wide shots can be tough, especially since its dif f icult to rotate your upper body when stretched. Also, two-handers can become dependent on topspin. Hitting an ef f ective slice calls f or extending through the shot with a steady f ront shoulder. T his is unnatural f or two-handers, who are taught to open their hips and rotate their shoulders. Taking the nondominant hand of f the racquet to hit the slice or volley is also troubling f or many twohanders; its the reason why theyre generally not comf ortable at the net.