Tennis Equipment Q & A - How to grip a tennis racket

Q. How do I grip a tennis racket? How do I hold a tennis racket?

A: There are 4 widely used types of tennis racket grips.

1. Eastern Forehand Grip: Most beginners are taught this basic, but classic, grip. Start by placing your palm on the side plane of the handle on a parallel plane to the strings and grip the racket. Keep your wrist straight but not stiff. Hold the racket out to your side, even with the hip, and notice that the face of the racket is vertical but ready to tilt (by rotating your wrist) for slicing the ball. With a classic swing style, the Eastern Forehand Grip works quite well for hitting topspin, lending versatility to this grip style. It should be noted, however, that the Western and Semi-Western grips have become more popular among pros.

2. Semi-Western Forehand Grip: This grip style is replacing the Eastern Forehand Grip on the pro tour thanks to its ability to create topspin and return balls with a high bounce. If slicing the ball is what you're after, you may find this grip to be a bit uncomfortable. The reason is that the plane of the strings assumes a natural down angle because you grip the racket handle on the lower slant 45-degree bevel. This forces you to hit the ball farther forward and more sharply upward in comparison with the Eastern Forehand Grip, resulting in natural topspin. Look closely the next time you view a pro match on TV and you'll notice how much topspin the players put on the ball.

3. Western Forehand Grip: Looking for a really big down angle to the racket face to create lots of topspin? Try the Western Forehand Grip. You actually grip the racket on the bottom plane of the racket handle so you are forced to swing upward in a fast, sharp manner, far out in front of your body as compared with the Eastern Forehand Grip. Some drawbacks to this grip are the inability to hit the slice and extreme difficulty to hit flat. Also, hitting low balls is tougher than hitting high ones with the Western Forehand Grip.

4. Continental Forehand Grip: The Continental Forehand Grip takes your palm to the upper, rather than lower, 45-degree bevel (basically the opposite of the Semi-Western Forehand Grip). Rather than tilt down, the racket face will tilt up, making it easier to slice the ball but difficult to place topspin on the ball. One drawback is that hitting the ball flat means you have to meet it farther back, putting you in a weaker position. Given the prominence of topspin in the modern game, the Continental Forehand Grip is less popular on the pro tour than it was when the US Open and Australian Open, in addition to Wimbledon, were played on grass - the ideal surface for the Continental grip.

Do It Tennis

May 28, 2008

Tennis Equipment Q & A - How to grip a tennis racket