★Eastern Forehand Grip
The Eastern forehand grip is the classic grip most often taught to beginning students, and although it has been largely displaced on the pro tours by the Semi-Western grip, it is still used by many advanced players. It places your palm on the side plane of your handle, parallel to the plane of your strings. With your wrist straight and relaxed, the Eastern grip results in a vertical racquet face when your racquet is even with your front hip. For a classic swing style, this is the most natural and physically most secure relationship between body, racquet, and point of contact. The Eastern is also the most versatile forehand grip, because you can easily tilt upward for slice or keep the racquet face vertical to hit topspin. Many players find that they can hit heavier topspin and better handle the high kick of the opponent's topspin with the more western grips, though, which accounts for the reduced popularity of the Eastern at the pro level.
★Semi-Western Forehand Grip
The Semi-Western grip places your palm on the lower right slant bevel, the plane 45 degrees clockwise (for a righty) from the plane of the strings. To counteract the resulting natural downward tilt of the racquet face, you must meet the ball slightly farther forward (at a given height) than you would with an Eastern grip, and while it's possible to hit flat, you will generally need to swing upward more sharply, which encourages you to hit topspin. The average grip among the pros now is Semi-Western, primarily because of the importance of topspin in the modern, advanced game. The Semi-Western grip does well both at generating topspin and handling the high bounces from the opponent's topspin. It is not well suited to hitting slice, and it's less comforable on low than on high balls.
★Western Forehand Grip
The Western grip places your palm on the bottom plane of your handle, a full 90 degrees clockwise from the plane of the string bed. This makes the racquet face tilt downward severely, and you must meet the ball even farther forward (at a given height) than you would with a Semi-Western grip to get the string bed into a vertical plane. The most natural swing pattern with a Western grip is sharply upward and very fast, which explains why most Western hitters generate heavy topspin. The Western grip handles high balls much better than low ones, in large part because a higher point of contact need not be as forward. It is possible for some players to hit flat with a Western grip, but doing so forces your wrist into a very awkward position. Hitting slice Western is only for the true contortionist.
★Continental Forehand Grip
The Continental grip places your palm on the upper right slant bevel, 45 degrees counterclockwise from the Eastern. This makes the racquet face tend to tilt upward, which is especially appropriate for hitting slice. You can hit flat with the Continental, but you must meet the ball in a weaker position, slightly farther back, than with the Eastern. The Continental grip can be used for both forehands and backhands, but it's rarely used anymore for forehands, because it's poorly suited to hitting topspin. It was popular until the early 1970s, when the US Open and the Australian Open stopped playing on grass and left only Wimbledon to be dominated by the low bounces for which Continental grips are best adapted.
Q. Which forehand grip is best for topspin?
A. Players who hit with a full Western grip generally hit the heaviest topspin. The Western grip almost forces one to hit topspin, because without a sharply upward motion, it's hard to get the ball over the net. A Semi-Western grip has a similar, but milder effect, allowing flatter shots, if wanted, and better handling of low balls. It's possible to hit just as much topspin with the highly versatile Eastern grip, but the most natural swing with an Eastern grip does not whip upward as much. Hitting heavy topspin with the nearly extinct Continental forehand grip might be possible, but it would put uncomfortable stresses on your arm.
Q. Which forehand grip is most versatile?
A. The Eastern forehand grip is the most versatile, comfortable for slice, flat, and topspin shots and for low to moderately high balls.
Q. Which one-handed backhand grip is best for topspin?
A. The Western backhand grip is well suited to heavy topspin, but it's too awkward for most players. The full or modified Eastern backhand grips are usually the best choice for players who want to hit heavy topspin. One can hit topspin with a Continental backhand grip, but the hand is in a weaker position to support the racquet handle under the forces exerted by the topspin stroke.
Q. Which one-handed backhand grip is best for slice?
A. The Continental grip is better suited to slice than to other spins, so it is often associated with slice, but many players overtilt with it, resulting in a more floating, less driving slice. Some players prefer the Continental on extremely low balls, and many like to keep the same Continental grip for slice approach shots and all volleys.
The Eastern backhand grips are quite comfortable for driving slices, floating slices, flat shots, or topspins.
Q. What's the best two-handed backhand grip?
A. Any grip combination that's comfortable can work well for a two-hander, but the most versatile grip combination is to have the left hand (of a right-hander) in an Eastern or Semi-Western forehand position and the right hand in a Continental backhand position. Having the right hand in a Continental or Eastern backhand position avoids the need to switch grips when you have to use that hand alone to stretch for a low or wide ball. If you're not getting enough topspin, you might try moving both hands slightly more counterclockwise (clockwise for a lefty).
Q. Should I use a Continental grip for volleys or switch grips?
A. Physically, the easiest volley grip system is to switch between the Eastern forehand (photo) and backhand (photo) grips, and many players find that they can almost always switch in time, but the Continental (photo) is easier mentally. If you can get comfortable with the Continental grip, you'll have an advantage in never having to remember to switch grips, especially in quick exchanges at the net. For some players, the Continental grip is too uncomfortable, because it does not place the hand and wrist squarely behind the impact with the ball, especially on the forehand side. It's worth some effort to try to get used to the Continental, especially for advanced players, but it's not for everyone.
Q. What's the best grip for first serves?
A. Most players do best with a Continental grip (photo) for first serves. It's well suited to the mixture of topspin and slice that accompany the typical power serve, and it can hit flatter, too. If you want a heavier kick on your first serve, you might experiment with moving your grip toward the Eastern backhand.
Q. What's the best grip for second serves?
A. For the kick second serves favored by advanced players, a grip between Continental (photo) and Eastern backhand (photo) is usually best. A Continental grip works well for second serves with a larger element of slice.
Q. What's the best grip for overheads?
A. If you'll be meeting the ball between yourself and the net, which is ideal, use either a Continental (photo) or Eastern forehand (photo) grip, whichever feels better. If you want to spin the ball in or must do so because it gets behind you, a Continental grip will be easier.
Q. Should I grip tightly or loosely?
A. On groundstrokes and volleys, grip loosely between strokes, then tighter as you start your swing. If your hand and wrist are getting tired quickly, you're likely to be gripping too tightly between strokes. If your racquet is tilting unintendedly, you probably need to grip tighter as you swing.
On serves, you'll grip loosely through most of the swing, but part of the proper swinging motion is your fingers pulling the racquet into your palm as you strike up at the ball. This will naturally tighten your grip enough before impact to ensure that you hang onto the racquet and have directional control of your serve.
Q. On which part of the handle should I grip the racquet?
A. Hold the racquet so that the lowest part of your hand is roughly flush with the bottom of the handle. Choking up on the handle defeats the intended balance of the racquet and causes the end of the handle to hit your wrist on serves. Trying to get a little more reach by having half of your hand off the handle leaves you with too little control of the racquet.
