Different Tennis Grips and When to Use Them
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Choosing the right grip is one of the most important aspects of playing tennis. It can be the difference between winning and losing. This blog post will teach you the different grips and when to use them.
Tennis Grips
Tennis is a racket sport that can be played individually against a single opponent (singles) or between two teams of two players each (doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket that is strung with cord to strike a hollow rubber ball covered with felt over or around a net and into the opponent’s court. The object of the game is to maneuver the ball in such a way that the opponent is not able to play a valid return. There are different grips that can be used in tennis, and each has its own advantages and disadvantages.
Continental Grip
The continental grip is the most popular grip for serves and volleys, as well as for backhand strokes. The racket is held so that the palm of the hand covers the base of the handle, with the thumb and first two fingers extended. This grip gives you more control over your strokes and helps you put spin on the ball.
Eastern Grip
The Eastern grip is the most common grip in tennis. With this grip, you hold the racket in the same hand you write with. The Eastern grip gives you a good deal of power and spin on your shots. It’s a versatile grip that can be used for all strokes, but it’s especially good for topspin forehands and backhand volleys.
You can use an Eastern grip on all strokes, but it’s especially good for:
-Topspin forehands
-Backhand volleys
-Overhead shots
Western Grip
The Western grip is one of the most commonly used grips in tennis. It is often favored by baseline players who have very powerful strokes. To execute a proper Western grip, place your hand on the racket so that your index knuckle is on bevel two. Your thumb should be opposite your middle finger, and your other fingers should be curled around the handle. This grip gives you a lot of leverage for powerful strokes such as topspin groundstrokes and serve.
When to Use Different Grips
In tennis, there are four main types of grips that players use: the continental grip, the eastern forehand grip, the western forehand grip, and the two-handed backhand grip. All of these grips have their benefits and drawbacks, so it’s important to know when to use each one. Here’s a quick overview of the different grips and when to use them.
Continental Grip
The Continental grip is the most versatile of all the tennis grips and can be used for all strokes. It’s called the Continental because it’s most commonly used by European players. For a Continental grip, the player holds the racket in his or her left hand and wraps the index finger around the second bevel from the top of the racket (as opposed to resting it on top of the bevel). The other fingers are then wrapped around in a continental fashion.
Why Use It: The main advantage of using a Continental grip is that it gives you more options when strokes. For example, you can hit a topspin forehand with a Continental grip, whereas you can only hit a slice forehand with an Eastern forehand grip. You can also hit all different types of serves with a Continental grip (including topspin, slice, and flat serves), whereas you can only hit flat and slice serves with an Eastern grips.
Eastern Grip
The Eastern Grip is the most popular grip for professional tennis players. The Eastern Grip gives you more control over your strokes and is best suited for a baseline game. This grip is also known as the Continental Grip. When using this grip, your hand is rotated so that your palm faces perpendicular to the plane of the racket strings. The v shape that is formed by your thumb and first 2 fingers should be pointing to the right side of the body if you are right handed (left if you are left handed).
To execute a backhand stroke with an Eastern Grip, simply rotate your hand clockwise so that your palm faces the shuttlecock at impact. For a forehand shot, rotate your hand counterclockwise so that again, your palm faces the shuttlecock at impact.
Western Grip
One of the most popular grips in tennis, the Western grip is used by many of the game’s top professional players. It gets its name from the fact that the knuckles on your dominant hand point to the “western” horizon when you hold the racket in this grip.
The Western grip is well-suited to using topspin, and it’s often used by players who hit a lot of flat, hard groundstrokes. It can be difficult to generate topspin with any other grip, so if you want to hit with topspin, the Western grip is a good choice.
If you have trouble hitting high balls with your current grip, try switching to a Western grip. The added wrist action that this grip allows can help you get under the ball and hit it with more power.
