In this video, I want to explain the fundamentals of the different tennis grips to you.
The grip is actually a lot more important than most players realize because it influences
the angle of your racket face.
It influences how open or how closed your racket face is and it therefore influences
your ideal swing shape.
Now in order to describe the different kinds of grips, players and coaches often use terminology
like the Continental grip, the Semi-Western grip, or the Western grip.
What I found is that this terminology actually confuses people and there's a better way to
look at tennis grips.
Okay, so the grip actually has eight sides to it.
I've put some numbers on here and you can see the top bevels right here: number 1, number
2, number 3, and number 4.
Those are all the bevels we're going to worry about for now.
For the left-hander, it goes the other way.
Bevel number 1 is the same, number 2, and number 3 here on the side.
Now we need to measure the relation of our hand to the grip.
In order to do that, we're going to look at the index knuckle and the heel pad of the
hand.
Let's have a look at some forehand grips.
We're going to focus on the index knuckle right here as a reference point.
The index knuckle is the most important reference point and the one that I use most of the time.
Usually, if you get the index knuckle right, you don't have to worry about the heel pad.
What you can see here is that my index knuckle is on bevel number 3 which is often called
an Eastern Forehand grip.
If I moved down a little bit further, right now I'm on 3.5 which is the edge between 3
and 4.
Going down even further to number 4 and now what is often called a Semi-Western grip.
Anything further down is called a Western grip, 4.5 or even 5.
These are very extreme grips that I do not recommend any of you guys use.
Ideally, you want to stay in the 3 to 4 range with your forehand grip.
Anywhere in between there should be fine.
Okay, let's have a quick look at the grips for the One-Handed Backhand at the possible
ranges here.
The range is actually very small that I recommend.
As you can see right now, my index knuckle is on bevel 1.5 just between bevel 1 and bevel
2 on the edge.
This is the grip that I would that you guys start out with.
Now if you've been playing for a while, you can move over to bevel number 1 which is going
to help you deal better with topspin shots and high-bouncing balls.
Now let's have a look at the grip that I recommend for the Two-Handed Backhand.
As you can see here—my right hand—the index knuckle in on bevel number 2 over to
the right side of the grip.
Now I'm going to put the left hand here on bevel number 3, counting the other way for
the left-hander.
So the grip's going to look like this: bevel number 3 for the left hand going the left
way and bevel number 2 for the right hand.
Last but not least, let's have a look at the grip for the serve.
As you can see, my index knuckle is on bevel number 2.
This is called a Continental grip and is the grip that I recommend for the serve.
Only if you're a beginner, it might make sense to start it off a little bit further to the
right on bevel 2.5 or 3.
That's going to make it easier to get the ball in the court in the beginning but as
soon as possible, you want to try to move to a grip on number 2.
Alright!
So much on the basics of tennis grips.
Now, good grips are an essential part of good tennis strokes so go ahead and check out on
your own grips.