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I am getting 50 next month, I started to play tennis back in the 80s, when there was a totally different school. Since then I tried to develop my technique as tennis changed over the years. I never really managed to hit good enough forehand with western grip. Still today I am using something in between eastern and semi-western. I totally agree that this all comes down to muscle memory. Thanks for the videao Nick.
I adopted the western grip in a "click". In my journey to learn the game and the modern forehand, I was not getting good results no matter how much training I was doing trying to master the modern forehand. One day, however, I started doing nice groundstrokes all of a sudden. And then I noticed I was hitting with the our grip - and looked like everything "clicked" in place on that morning. Not sure this is the way our game evolves, but it really sucks going through these plateaus until these clicks happen...
I've gone back and forth over the years on semi-western vs. eastern. I played for years with an eastern grip as a junior. My coach talked me into changing my grip late in my high school career, but I never really felt it was an improvement. Still, I played with SW for many years. Took a long break, came back with SW, but then decided to try eastern again a few years ago and it's been a positive move. Perhaps because I am tall and older, but the eastern seems like the best compromise. I still get plenty of topspin, but find the eastern easier to use on low and defensive shots (plus it is adjacent to the continental for forehand slice shots and volleys). Perhaps I would feel very differently if I had started from day one with a SW, but that's my story:) I do think about revisiting SW at times, especially after videos like this, but playing with grips no longer feels like much of a priority.
As somebody who had a western grip throughout childhood and was plagued with advice to change to E/SW. I can tell you after two years of struggling with the forehand I wish I had my old swing back
I didn't start playing tennis until my mid/late teens but played on very high bouncing hard courts and naturally developed a Westerm grip on my FH. I've contemplated changing it due to struggling on lower bouncing and faster courts but, as Nik mentioned in this video, there were other technical flaws in my FH that made me struggle and I've worked hard to improve them instead of changing the grip. It's a long process but definitely worth it! 🎾 💪🏻
What timing Nik! After watching videos of myself hitting ‘ugly’ forehands, I was literally wondering whether to change my grip to Western as I was falling asleep last night. Guess someone upstairs is telling me no! 😂
Excellent video, Nick. Thank you. This is exactly what I needed …. I am 47 years old, have started learning tennis since 3 years and have put in a lot of effort to build a decent forehand using semi-western grip. BUT…. I met a guy last week who showed off his western grip and told me that it is better…. And I was tempted to switch to western; and thank God for this video - the message is very clear . It will be stupid of me to change what’s working so well and put in so much effort again.
I use a full western grip and found it to be the most comfortable for me. I tried other grips when first starting tennis. And found myself just being more comfortable holding the racket from the bottom. I’ve been told to change to semi western even when it doesn’t affect my game. Theirs just such a stigma against it, I don’t get it.
It took me about a year-an agonizing year-to change my grip to semi-western. I recently hit a few balls with a friend that started about the same time I did. But, he stopped playing for quite a while. He still hits with a traditional forehand and grip. Therefore, his forehands are much flatter. And, as you would expect, when he hits a really good flat forehand it's hard to return. But, his consistency suffers. Again, as expected. Going from flat to more spin is definitely worth the work, and the western or semi-western grip is worth the investment as you play better players.
Absolutely true, If someone has a game running a forehand grip change can kill every stroke, you find yourself as a beginner again, just much worse... Thanks as always
Nik true story: when I started getting coached 7 months ago I had a self-taught continental forehand grip. My coach got me to move round to Eastern. I went home and visualised using that grip - I didn't do any practising - and next lesson a couple of days later I could do eastern absolutely fine. My coach said she'd never seen anyone swap grips that fast. Not sure how unusual this is + those 2 grips aren't that far apart..? In mitigation I nearly went crazy trying to do the correct single hander backhand with topspin - it took me about 6 months to get it deep with moderate power and spin and its still only about 60% there. In further mitigation I'm left eye dominant but right handed which I understand makes the b/h much harder for me.
@@Batwam0 well imagine Continental is like an axe: racket head straight upright as an axe would be if chopping - my Eastern is that grip but tilted forwards to about 11 o clock - so I'm guessing your SW is tilted forwards to about 10 o clock..? Western I'd describe as flat/parallel to the ground so rotated round to 9 o clock. Does that make sense..? Its quite hard to describe grips even with photos.
Great video! I'm naturally semi, but the grip I always found the most intriguing is the "extreme eastern" that people would say Fed hit with. Don't know if that's a myth but the name sounds cool haha
@@extremehossinfinity7133 Rudeness aside, it's a grip between the eastern and semi-western. When I was playing a lot, teachers and coaches were saying Fed used this and called it an "extreme eastern".
You’re exactly right. I’m using the semi-western on my two-handed backhand. It’s been about 7 months. Still getting used to it, but it’s coming around.
You don't need to teach a new forehand to someone with a Western grip. That can be really frustrating. Just let the player hit many down the line-forehands and feed them low balls. Their grip improves gradually but naturally. Viele Grüße aus Deutschland, Coach Nick! *Ein ehemaliger Coach und jetzt Lehrer, der deinen Kanal richtig super findet !!!
For most players who play eastern or semi western, on western you have to go across your body more, like hitting a flat shot. On western this is your normal shot of equal top spin and power
Hi Nick! I change my grip depending on the height of the incoming ball... western above the shoulder to maybe continental if in the need to scratch the ball an inch above the ground. Anything else I use something in-between-grip.Without really thinking about it. Use a small grip with sharp edges to feel the actual hand position on the grip but at the end its widened with an overgrip (like Gasquet does it). Don't use my pinky on groundstrokes - it is airborne then. Use a heavy racket about 350 g at 98 sqrinch (Völkl C10) which is very stable and has no tendency to twist in the hand although holding the racket mostly very soft. Like a a little bird for example Also on returns, volleys and serves I use different grips. Do you think this is okay ? For me it works fine. 61 years old, recreational level Germany "Landesliga" or one above, playing since 1974. Had a year of injury and couldn't move on the court. Was restricted to standing hitting sessions for stroke training only. And looking for looseness, for kinetic chain etc. I developed this technique as most sufficient. First tournament match was successful all worked fine and was only breaking down at far distance balls due to lack of footwork (which was since then not included to the training). What are your thoughts?
@@IntuitiveTennis Can you explain why it's not optimal to change grips? I'm teaching my 15 yr old daughter to play and it seems like if you're (mentally and physically) able to quickly make the change depending on what shot is coming at you, you should make micro-adjustments to your grip. Is that forming a bad habit of some sort?
Nick. I had a parent who told me he would not suggest to his 10yr old to switch from a western to a semi because it came naturally to him. Problem is he doesn’t generate enough racket head speed to do much but put a ton of spin on the ball. We you start decelerating your stroke, western is a disaster and volleys and overhead take longer to learn properly.
Nick, back when the pros were using Continental grips, who or what prompted the shift in more extreme grips? Was it the racket technologies from the manufactures that recommended change?
What Nik said in this lesson seemed correct to me. In 1961, I checked out from my local library a book by Rod Laver that was autobiographical but also taught technique. Bought a racket and hit backhands and forehands with a continental grip. Wished I could build a court from ant hills. Maybe 10 years ago, I sat with a club pro watching folks having a good doubles match. I had practiced some with him on public courts. He remarked that I clearly still hit with a continental grip. Laver made me do it. In the late 1970's I had a match with a guy I recognized as a fine athlete. He had obviously taken lessons. He showed great form of strokes and court positioning throughout the match. Solid topspin drives from both sides. I won anyway. I would have like playing more with him but he didn't want to. After that match I practiced a good bit hitting with a full western grip. I could do it but didn't see much point adopting it for match play. Yeah, I knew the term muscle memory and didn't want to mess up my muscle memory. One reason I didn't change was that I like taking balls on the rise. Being able to do that helped me a lot against topspin players. Hitting on the rise sometimes gets me to the net. Around then I decided I would not let topspin players force me to hit balls from behind the baseline.
Laver didn't make me do it, but I learned to play during the same time period and also still use a continental grip. I stopped playing for many years and returned to the game 5 years ago. Things have certainly changed, but at my level I do pretty well. Using the same grip for serving, groundstrokes, and net play just feels right to me -- maybe one less thing to think about? Once the match starts all that matters is knowing which points are important and having the confidence to take them.
He Nik. Are the pros changing grip during the game? I mean someone who is playing with Eastern and sees a High ball. Is he going to change to semiwestern maybe to hit the high ball?
I hit with semi western . I’m comfortable with a western . But now you’ve told me about the Hawaiian grip . I’m going to have to try this today just to see how it feels . 😅
nearly all the videos go back to the same idea, what's intuitive for the player. this is one of the truly great things about tennis, how idiosyncratic styles can be. I used to play with eastern grip, but coming back to the game after 25 years, I taught myself the sw grip and modern swing path. turns out that i was always cheating over to sw as a kid anyway. pretty easy transition and fun to learn. only problem i have with western grip is that too often i see juniors use it to hit flat. this sort of defeats the purpose of the grip. not sure why this happens.
Most recreational players using that grip have difficulty flattening out the ball, so that's great if they can. It all depends on what you're trying to do on the court too.
Hmmm I want to switch from a semi-western to an eastern to hit more through the court for my doubles game. You’re right I’m finding it more difficult than I expected. Been playing for 20 plus years. Muscle memory like you said.
Western grip is a good grip but you are prone to wrist and elbow injuries. A lot of players who use western grip produce a lot of spin which reduces unforced errors. However western grips does not really poses so much power on their ground strokes.
i am self taught never having any formal tennis lessons. i gravitated to an eastern forehand and backhand as they felt most natural. having that grip makes it easier to switch to a continental grip to slice which i like, and there's less of a difference in the contact point as well. part of the reason why i think i ended up with the eastern grip is i never wanted to emulate clay court players, i liked sampras, edberg, becker and federer, who had serve and volley grass court based games so i ended up with a fairly traditional grip and a one handed backhand.
great video! I started playing tennis at a rec level 2 years ago in my early 40s. I wasn't even thinking about the grip I had at that time. I recently realized that it is a semi-western grip and now this video confirms it. What I want to say is that it has just felt the right way to hold the racket like that - totally intuitively. Every time I forget to place the racket on bevel 3, my shots are off. Thank you Nikola for an insightful video. Here is a question that relates to my issues at present - how do I fine tune the power with which I hit the ball? I often swing as hard as I can only to find my balls landing midcourt. Are there any drills to address that issue? Sve najbolje 😎
There should be a tennis RUclipsrs tournament tbh. Obviously there’s gotta be restrictions but there are a lot of good opponents like Tennis HQ. That would be an interesting match between Nick and Karue.
Western grip is better in handling the high bouncing topspin ball nowadays. The contact point would be about 3 to 6 inches more in front and higher. Actually not a very difficult switch if the player understands the concept.
I naturally have somewhere between a semi / full western grip (call it a northern kyushu grip), however on serve returns when returning fast balls where it’s more of a block, I use an eastern in that case as the western requires more of a larger swing path for me
let's say as recreational player you don't need to deal with high balls and lot of top spin balls. Therefore the players use other grips . Which are more convenient. So, players at competitive levels have to deal with high top spin balls. If you beginn at 4 and you have to hit the ball faster, you adapt your grip to generate more spin and power without losing control . And you have to avoid injuries at the same time. You can switch to another grip. The question is: How good you are, how much time and money you are ready to invest in:)
I think it's easier to switch from an eastern to a semi-western than the other way around. This is just my gut feeling and I have no proof what so ever on this xD
How about playing different forehand grips during the match?. e.g. 1) high ball -> western, 2) low ball -> eastern,/semi-western. Usually you have lots of time to change grip and play it with a western grip if it comes in high. Isn't that the way most pros also do it?
@@IntuitiveTennis why not, i do it since i have problems with high balls and i change grip to put away these short high balls. Most people struggle with volley grip change, cause you simple do not have enough time and forget about it
Is there any advantage (or disadvantage) to switching between grips while playing a match, even in the middle of a point? For example, going to a semi-western to help handle a moonball shot. Or should the player pick one and stick to that grip only? Another very helpful video, btw---thank you!
I used to do this, and when I asked about it during a lesson the coach said no, you should try to not change grips. So I stopped letting myself cheat on higher balls and eventually figured out how to deal with them just fine with my normal grip.
I think the correct answer would be: that depends. And here is where the coach's intuition, experience matters. There are many examples when coaches made significant changes on players. (Sampras from 2 to 1 handed backhand at age 14). Nobody really knows what will happen once they make radical changes. I dont think there is a recipe. Sport is a "that depends" science.
I have played with a full western since I was 12 years old. Playing on clay it worked so well for me, I could take it on the rise, play it higher up, etc etc... quintessential English players could not cope, however when it comes to playing on grass/astro it just does not work well.
I use an Eastern grip and my hand sometimes slips to a western when I hit the ball. Do you think it’s the Overgrip I’m using or is it because the size of my grip is too small? (1/4 #2). I hate it whenever this happens because I end up hitting the ball high, long, spinny and slow.
if you have a solution to low balls then the rest is not a problem. In the present game, the extreme spin and high bounce all which the western excels at. Players with western grips just never miss and can roll the ball endlessly. The angles they can hit are crazy.
What is the least riskfull grip? I have an small wrist injury and use the semi western grip. I am considering changing temporarily to an continental grip if that helps... but not sure if it actually does.
Long time ago continental grip was used almost exclusively and it was assumed you should never change the grip during the game. Right now it is a standard to change the grip between forehand and backhand. I wonder if tennis will come to point when switching forehand grips on the fly depending on the position, ball height and penetration will become a thing.
I mean we literally have no.1 with most badass top spin western grip forehand on womens side... I feel like in few years the new gen will try to emulate that even more...
I’ve tried switching from eastern to semi western and felt pretty good hitting against the wall but in my match it didn’t go well. Felt so weird switching grips forehand to backhand. By the second set I switched back to eastern. I wanted to switch to a semi western for high balls but just doesn’t seem worth it. In the match, on high balls I still struggled with a semi western. I figure if Sampras, Agassi, Federer, and Del Potro had eastern grips then there is nothing wrong with the grip.
I started out with an eastern grip and switched to a semi-western after 2 to 3 years. It took several month of hitting hundreds of self-fed balls every other night to make it work. I dumped so many balls short and low... but that's a decade ago and do not regret the change, but he's right to say it is a heavy investment to make the change. And you can definitely with an eastern grip. It's a little easier hitting flat and catching lower balls, so people who do tend to be more aggressive -- and I say aggressive, not hitting thinking they're Del Potro on cocaine. 🤣
Ha, ha, green iguanas are cool, but when they are invasive species, that is living outside its native region, they become a nuisance. That is the case in Florida and Puerto Rico. In both jurisdictions there are programs to try to control them.
I disagree with you that the best forehand grip is SW. It’s your opinion, and a matter of individual preference. Federer’s forehand is widely regarded as the best ever in the game and he uses an Eastern grip
@@IntuitiveTennis The vast majority of players have switched to a defensive style of play because of the peculiarities of this tennis era. If one is an ultra-attacking minded player, the eastern grip does more wonders for him
Loved the video, but half of it was telling us you don't have a problem with various grips. I personally can't stand coaches who keep yapping forever. Just something to keep in mind in the future, you might be inadvertently driving clients away.
I had a laugh, I made a friend change to semiwestern from continental. He was hitting killer forehands from day one... I advised him to talk to his instructor though because I was scared of him getting injured or ruining his technique. I am one of these juniors that in the 90s was early adopters of western grip
It's not easy switching grips. I started out with an eastern grip and played about 2-3 years with it. I ended up switching to a semi-western grip when I learned about its advantages and it took me several months to get used it. I figured I hadn't played that long and it's going to make a wide range of balls more comfortable, but the price was going out with buckets of balls and self-feeding a few thousand forehands per week. 🤣 And players can hit the ball very thin with any grip. When that happens, it's usually that I am not involving my whole body into the shot and just focusing on turning those shoulders usually solves it. Another cue other people might like is you point the butt cap at the ball when you pull forward -- and it should point forward again when you finish.
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some decent footwork on that iguana 😂
I am getting 50 next month, I started to play tennis back in the 80s, when there was a totally different school. Since then I tried to develop my technique as tennis changed over the years. I never really managed to hit good enough forehand with western grip. Still today I am using something in between eastern and semi-western. I totally agree that this all comes down to muscle memory. Thanks for the videao Nick.
I adopted the western grip in a "click". In my journey to learn the game and the modern forehand, I was not getting good results no matter how much training I was doing trying to master the modern forehand. One day, however, I started doing nice groundstrokes all of a sudden. And then I noticed I was hitting with the our grip - and looked like everything "clicked" in place on that morning. Not sure this is the way our game evolves, but it really sucks going through these plateaus until these clicks happen...
Great video. The iguana was awesome. So cool to see that thing just roaming around. The tennis stuff was good too.
I've gone back and forth over the years on semi-western vs. eastern. I played for years with an eastern grip as a junior. My coach talked me into changing my grip late in my high school career, but I never really felt it was an improvement. Still, I played with SW for many years. Took a long break, came back with SW, but then decided to try eastern again a few years ago and it's been a positive move. Perhaps because I am tall and older, but the eastern seems like the best compromise. I still get plenty of topspin, but find the eastern easier to use on low and defensive shots (plus it is adjacent to the continental for forehand slice shots and volleys). Perhaps I would feel very differently if I had started from day one with a SW, but that's my story:) I do think about revisiting SW at times, especially after videos like this, but playing with grips no longer feels like much of a priority.
As somebody who had a western grip throughout childhood and was plagued with advice to change to E/SW. I can tell you after two years of struggling with the forehand I wish I had my old swing back
I didn't start playing tennis until my mid/late teens but played on very high bouncing hard courts and naturally developed a Westerm grip on my FH. I've contemplated changing it due to struggling on lower bouncing and faster courts but, as Nik mentioned in this video, there were other technical flaws in my FH that made me struggle and I've worked hard to improve them instead of changing the grip. It's a long process but definitely worth it! 🎾 💪🏻
Wr
What timing Nik! After watching videos of myself hitting ‘ugly’ forehands, I was literally wondering whether to change my grip to Western as I was falling asleep last night.
Guess someone upstairs is telling me no! 😂
Excellent video, Nick. Thank you. This is exactly what I needed …. I am 47 years old, have started learning tennis since 3 years and have put in a lot of effort to build a decent forehand using semi-western grip. BUT…. I met a guy last week who showed off his western grip and told me that it is better…. And I was tempted to switch to western; and thank God for this video - the message is very clear . It will be stupid of me to change what’s working so well and put in so much effort again.
💯
I use a full western grip and found it to be the most comfortable for me. I tried other grips when first starting tennis. And found myself just being more comfortable holding the racket from the bottom. I’ve been told to change to semi western even when it doesn’t affect my game. Theirs just such a stigma against it, I don’t get it.
I am having the same forehand grip fully western grip
It took me about a year-an agonizing year-to change my grip to semi-western. I recently hit a few balls with a friend that started about the same time I did. But, he stopped playing for quite a while. He still hits with a traditional forehand and grip. Therefore, his forehands are much flatter. And, as you would expect, when he hits a really good flat forehand it's hard to return. But, his consistency suffers. Again, as expected. Going from flat to more spin is definitely worth the work, and the western or semi-western grip is worth the investment as you play better players.
Absolutely true, If someone has a game running a forehand grip change can kill every stroke, you find yourself as a beginner again, just much worse... Thanks as always
Nik true story: when I started getting coached 7 months ago I had a self-taught continental forehand grip. My coach got me to move round to Eastern. I went home and visualised using that grip - I didn't do any practising - and next lesson a couple of days later I could do eastern absolutely fine. My coach said she'd never seen anyone swap grips that fast.
Not sure how unusual this is + those 2 grips aren't that far apart..?
In mitigation I nearly went crazy trying to do the correct single hander backhand with topspin - it took me about 6 months to get it deep with moderate power and spin and its still only about 60% there.
In further mitigation I'm left eye dominant but right handed which I understand makes the b/h much harder for me.
@@Batwam0 whats your semi-western - is it quite a steep tilt/angle forwards..?
@@Batwam0 well imagine Continental is like an axe: racket head straight upright as an axe would be if chopping - my Eastern is that grip but tilted forwards to about 11 o clock - so I'm guessing your SW is tilted forwards to about 10 o clock..? Western I'd describe as flat/parallel to the ground so rotated round to 9 o clock.
Does that make sense..? Its quite hard to describe grips even with photos.
Such amazing content! Thank you for posting, sharing and educating.
Great video! I'm naturally semi, but the grip I always found the most intriguing is the "extreme eastern" that people would say Fed hit with. Don't know if that's a myth but the name sounds cool haha
Federer is closer to an eastern or continental grip wtf are you saying
@@extremehossinfinity7133 Rudeness aside, it's a grip between the eastern and semi-western. When I was playing a lot, teachers and coaches were saying Fed used this and called it an "extreme eastern".
@@extremehossinfinity7133Absolutely not. You are completely wrong. Roger is between Eastern and Semi Western grip.
You’re exactly right. I’m using the semi-western on my two-handed backhand. It’s been about 7 months. Still getting used to it, but it’s coming around.
You don't need to teach a new forehand to someone with a Western grip. That can be really frustrating. Just let the player hit many down the line-forehands and feed them low balls. Their grip improves gradually but naturally. Viele Grüße aus Deutschland, Coach Nick! *Ein ehemaliger Coach und jetzt Lehrer, der deinen Kanal richtig super findet !!!
There is a popular coach at a big club here. I don't have any respect for the guy because one of his long time student has an extreme Western grip.
Valuable piece of advice Nick, specially for coaches who want to children & rec players.
Who want to correct
For most players who play eastern or semi western, on western you have to go across your body more, like hitting a flat shot. On western this is your normal shot of equal top spin and power
Eastern forehand grip for me. I was in my mid thirties when i bought my first tennis racquet! The iguana obviously approved of your teaching.
Hi Nick!
I change my grip depending on the height of the incoming ball... western above the shoulder to maybe continental if in the need to scratch the ball an inch above the ground. Anything else I use something in-between-grip.Without really thinking about it. Use a small grip with sharp edges to feel the actual hand position on the grip but at the end its widened with an overgrip (like Gasquet does it). Don't use my pinky on groundstrokes - it is airborne then. Use a heavy racket about 350 g at 98 sqrinch (Völkl C10) which is very stable and has no tendency to twist in the hand although holding the racket mostly very soft. Like a a little bird for example Also on returns, volleys and serves I use different grips.
Do you think this is okay ?
For me it works fine.
61 years old, recreational level Germany "Landesliga" or one above, playing since 1974.
Had a year of injury and couldn't move on the court. Was restricted to standing hitting sessions for stroke training only. And looking for looseness, for kinetic chain etc. I developed this technique as most sufficient. First tournament match was successful all worked fine and was only breaking down at far distance balls due to lack of footwork (which was since then not included to the training).
What are your thoughts?
It’s not optimal to change grip, however you seem to be ok with it
I use the gasquet method as well ruclips.net/video/jXuOV3l1mg4/видео.html
@@IntuitiveTennis Can you explain why it's not optimal to change grips? I'm teaching my 15 yr old daughter to play and it seems like if you're (mentally and physically) able to quickly make the change depending on what shot is coming at you, you should make micro-adjustments to your grip. Is that forming a bad habit of some sort?
Nick. I had a parent who told me he would not suggest to his 10yr old to switch from a western to a semi because it came naturally to him. Problem is he doesn’t generate enough racket head speed to do much but put a ton of spin on the ball. We you start decelerating your stroke, western is a disaster and volleys and overhead take longer to learn properly.
Nick, back when the pros were using Continental grips, who or what prompted the shift in more extreme grips? Was it the racket technologies from the manufactures that recommended change?
What Nik said in this lesson seemed correct to me.
In 1961, I checked out from my local library a book by Rod Laver that was autobiographical but also taught technique. Bought a racket and hit backhands and forehands with a continental grip. Wished I could build a court from ant hills.
Maybe 10 years ago, I sat with a club pro watching folks having a good doubles match. I had practiced some with him on public courts. He remarked that I clearly still hit with a continental grip. Laver made me do it.
In the late 1970's I had a match with a guy I recognized as a fine athlete. He had obviously taken lessons. He showed great form of strokes and court positioning throughout the match. Solid topspin drives from both sides. I won anyway. I would have like playing more with him but he didn't want to.
After that match I practiced a good bit hitting with a full western grip. I could do it but didn't see much point adopting it for match play. Yeah, I knew the term muscle memory and didn't want to mess up my muscle memory.
One reason I didn't change was that I like taking balls on the rise. Being able to do that helped me a lot against topspin players. Hitting on the rise sometimes gets me to the net. Around then I decided I would not let topspin players force me to hit balls from behind the baseline.
Laver didn't make me do it, but I learned to play during the same time period and also still use a continental grip. I stopped playing for many years and returned to the game 5 years ago. Things have certainly changed, but at my level I do pretty well. Using the same grip for serving, groundstrokes, and net play just feels right to me -- maybe one less thing to think about? Once the match starts all that matters is knowing which points are important and having the confidence to take them.
Nick, thanks for the great video. Could you please do a video on the racquet drop on the 2 handed backhand?
He Nik. Are the pros changing grip during the game? I mean someone who is playing with Eastern and sees a High ball. Is he going to change to semiwestern maybe to hit the high ball?
Never
@@IntuitiveTennis So, basically, the pros are adapting to the ball while maintaining the grip.
@@IntuitiveTennis Federer does it.
I hit with semi western . I’m comfortable with a western .
But now you’ve told me about the Hawaiian grip . I’m going to have to try this today just to see how it feels . 😅
Don’t
Nic, very informative discussion. Thank you. I noticed you're not using your Orange string. Did you switch to something else?
Still using kirschbaum orange 🍊
nearly all the videos go back to the same idea, what's intuitive for the player. this is one of the truly great things about tennis, how idiosyncratic styles can be. I used to play with eastern grip, but coming back to the game after 25 years, I taught myself the sw grip and modern swing path. turns out that i was always cheating over to sw as a kid anyway. pretty easy transition and fun to learn.
only problem i have with western grip is that too often i see juniors use it to hit flat. this sort of defeats the purpose of the grip. not sure why this happens.
Most recreational players using that grip have difficulty flattening out the ball, so that's great if they can. It all depends on what you're trying to do on the court too.
Amazing Iguana! By the way I would love to have a private class next time I'm in Florida for vacations!!!!
Hmmm I want to switch from a semi-western to an eastern to hit more through the court for my doubles game. You’re right I’m finding it more difficult than I expected. Been playing for 20 plus years. Muscle memory like you said.
Nick, can you do a video on why tennis players don't hit their one handed backhand with a semi western grip?
Is it more dangerous for your wrist to play with a Hawaiian grip or to try to pet an iguana? I'm an intermediate player in case that's a factor.
Western grip is a good grip but you are prone to wrist and elbow injuries. A lot of players who use western grip produce a lot of spin which reduces unforced errors. However western grips does not really poses so much power on their ground strokes.
i am self taught never having any formal tennis lessons. i gravitated to an eastern forehand and backhand as they felt most natural. having that grip makes it easier to switch to a continental grip to slice which i like, and there's less of a difference in the contact point as well. part of the reason why i think i ended up with the eastern grip is i never wanted to emulate clay court players, i liked sampras, edberg, becker and federer, who had serve and volley grass court based games so i ended up with a fairly traditional grip and a one handed backhand.
great video! I started playing tennis at a rec level 2 years ago in my early 40s. I wasn't even thinking about the grip I had at that time. I recently realized that it is a semi-western grip and now this video confirms it. What I want to say is that it has just felt the right way to hold the racket like that - totally intuitively. Every time I forget to place the racket on bevel 3, my shots are off. Thank you Nikola for an insightful video.
Here is a question that relates to my issues at present - how do I fine tune the power with which I hit the ball? I often swing as hard as I can only to find my balls landing midcourt. Are there any drills to address that issue?
Sve najbolje 😎
I got a video coming soon on that issue
@@IntuitiveTennis thanks😎
There should be a tennis RUclipsrs tournament tbh. Obviously there’s gotta be restrictions but there are a lot of good opponents like Tennis HQ. That would be an interesting match between Nick and Karue.
What a great analysis.
Thank you
Really interesting. Now i understand how i came to my Western grip - and that there are probably other things wrong with my forehand.
Western grip is better in handling the high bouncing topspin ball nowadays. The contact point would be about 3 to 6 inches more in front and higher. Actually not a very difficult switch if the player understands the concept.
Exactly.
What about the extreme eastern... between SW and eastern. That's my go-to. My grip does turn to SW on red clay, though.
I naturally have somewhere between a semi / full western grip (call it a northern kyushu grip), however on serve returns when returning fast balls where it’s more of a block, I use an eastern in that case as the western requires more of a larger swing path for me
I’m in high school rn and I use a western grip. Never plan on changing.
let's say as recreational player you don't need to deal with high balls and lot of top spin balls. Therefore the players use other grips . Which are more convenient. So, players at competitive levels have to deal with high top spin balls. If you beginn at 4 and you have to hit the ball faster, you adapt your grip to generate more spin and power without losing control . And you have to avoid injuries at the same time. You can switch to another grip. The question is: How good you are, how much time and money you are ready to invest in:)
I think it's easier to switch from an eastern to a semi-western than the other way around. This is just my gut feeling and I have no proof what so ever on this xD
Who did call western grip bad at all? Western grip forehands can easily be just awesome and lethal.
Like Iga Swiatek
Hello ,I have a question.I have sometimes a little pressure and I gave up easily. And how to be confident?
Cici Bellis had to quit tennis at the age of 22 after several wrist and elbow surgeries. She was very talented.
Yeah, shame about Cici. She deserved a longer career.
What she retired?
@@poisson12376 yes unfortunately
@@poisson12376 Yes, 01/2022 according to her wiki.
Was it because of the wrist snapping she had to do for he forehand?
Wow...Cool Iguana. Get excited when I see a 10 cm lizzard where I'm from.Can't imagine seeing one of those.Thanks for showing.
How about playing different forehand grips during the match?. e.g. 1) high ball -> western, 2) low ball -> eastern,/semi-western. Usually you have lots of time to change grip and play it with a western grip if it comes in high. Isn't that the way most pros also do it?
No possible I don’t recommend it
@@IntuitiveTennis why not, i do it since i have problems with high balls and i change grip to put away these short high balls. Most people struggle with volley grip change, cause you simple do not have enough time and forget about it
Is there any advantage (or disadvantage) to switching between grips while playing a match, even in the middle of a point? For example, going to a semi-western to help handle a moonball shot. Or should the player pick one and stick to that grip only?
Another very helpful video, btw---thank you!
I used to do this, and when I asked about it during a lesson the coach said no, you should try to not change grips. So I stopped letting myself cheat on higher balls and eventually figured out how to deal with them just fine with my normal grip.
Iga Swiatek plays with the western forehand grip, and lethal 3000 rpm top spin
I think the correct answer would be: that depends. And here is where the coach's intuition, experience matters. There are many examples when coaches made significant changes on players. (Sampras from 2 to 1 handed backhand at age 14). Nobody really knows what will happen once they make radical changes. I dont think there is a recipe.
Sport is a "that depends" science.
I have played with a full western since I was 12 years old. Playing on clay it worked so well for me, I could take it on the rise, play it higher up, etc etc... quintessential English players could not cope, however when it comes to playing on grass/astro it just does not work well.
I live in Port Orange Florida my friend.
💯
I use an Eastern grip and my hand sometimes slips to a western when I hit the ball. Do you think it’s the Overgrip I’m using or is it because the size of my grip is too small? (1/4 #2). I hate it whenever this happens because I end up hitting the ball high, long, spinny and slow.
Current WTA No. 1 uses extreme western grip and she absolutely morders the rest
if you have a solution to low balls then the rest is not a problem. In the present game, the extreme spin and high bounce all which the western excels at. Players with western grips just never miss and can roll the ball endlessly. The angles they can hit are crazy.
Nice touch including the iguana!
Great advice 🙏🏻
I have a western grip and it does have advantages and disadvantages. My biggest challenge is consistent low speed rallying.
@@GershonBenYitzhak Yeah, I switch to eastern for half court warmup. The struggle is low/medium pace baseline for me though. High power no problem.
What is the least riskfull grip? I have an small wrist injury and use the semi western grip. I am considering changing temporarily to an continental grip if that helps... but not sure if it actually does.
Change rackets before you change grips. Do you use a babolat? Do you string with poly? Above 55 lbs? If any of these are a yes I'd start there
I am using a western Grip and I am struggling with low balls no other issue so any advice regarding this issue
Great video and love the iguana!
It took me a week to change my grip from eastern to full western
Do you have any player hitting full western? You showed one going Del Po. Anna, Shamir, Safin and Milan seem to hit SW, no? Any W player in there?
No western that i featured on YT
Long time ago continental grip was used almost exclusively and it was assumed you should never change the grip during the game. Right now it is a standard to change the grip between forehand and backhand. I wonder if tennis will come to point when switching forehand grips on the fly depending on the position, ball height and penetration will become a thing.
What is the point? Professionals are already slaughtering all those balls while not changing forehand grip.
@@stephanesurprenant60 The same could be and probably was told by coaches to students when only continental grip was used.
If western is ok for Iga...
I use the western group for almost 2 years, before switching to a semiwestern very hard switch to make.
where do you teach in florida?
You sir are so selfless. Nobody provides this kind of advice for free!
I mean we literally have no.1 with most badass top spin western grip forehand on womens side... I feel like in few years the new gen will try to emulate that even more...
For me use western forehand cause some difficult to transition to One hand eastern backhand.
thank you for filming the lizard
🦎 🙌
I have a Jamaican ganga grip
.. same grip Dustin brown uses
I’ve tried switching from eastern to semi western and felt pretty good hitting against the wall but in my match it didn’t go well. Felt so weird switching grips forehand to backhand. By the second set I switched back to eastern. I wanted to switch to a semi western for high balls but just doesn’t seem worth it. In the match, on high balls I still struggled with a semi western. I figure if Sampras, Agassi, Federer, and Del Potro had eastern grips then there is nothing wrong with the grip.
Not at all a problem. It’s the best forehand grip for an attacking player. You’ll hit a lot of winners with it
I started out with an eastern grip and switched to a semi-western after 2 to 3 years. It took several month of hitting hundreds of self-fed balls every other night to make it work. I dumped so many balls short and low... but that's a decade ago and do not regret the change, but he's right to say it is a heavy investment to make the change.
And you can definitely with an eastern grip. It's a little easier hitting flat and catching lower balls, so people who do tend to be more aggressive -- and I say aggressive, not hitting thinking they're Del Potro on cocaine. 🤣
I’m prefer an eastern grip cuz I can hit low to high balls with ease
I’m the first viewer. What an honor!
Ha, ha, green iguanas are cool, but when they are invasive species, that is living outside its native region, they become a nuisance. That is the case in Florida and Puerto Rico. In both jurisdictions there are programs to try to control them.
I disagree with you that the best forehand grip is SW. It’s your opinion, and a matter of individual preference.
Federer’s forehand is widely regarded as the best ever in the game and he uses an Eastern grip
No, vast majority of high level players use SW for a reason
@@IntuitiveTennis I will fire you as a coach if you tell me Western is ok for my junior. That's just laziness.
@@IntuitiveTennis The vast majority of players have switched to a defensive style of play because of the peculiarities of this tennis era. If one is an ultra-attacking minded player, the eastern grip does more wonders for him
Well said
Swiatek uses Western. Intresting is her half open stand with it...
Hawaiian grip = extreme western grip right?
yes, kinda it gives you more spin
Cool iguana.
woah, I use the western grip
Cute Iguana!!! I would probably give him/her a french fry.
Loved the video, but half of it was telling us you don't have a problem with various grips. I personally can't stand coaches who keep yapping forever. Just something to keep in mind in the future, you might be inadvertently driving clients away.
I had a laugh, I made a friend change to semiwestern from continental. He was hitting killer forehands from day one... I advised him to talk to his instructor though because I was scared of him getting injured or ruining his technique. I am one of these juniors that in the 90s was early adopters of western grip
thats a nice lizard
Najjace mi je kad ti i Milan igrate i onda govorite enegleski pa daj brate opustite se i pricajte naski da vas ceo svet razume 😃😂
🙌🙌
@@IntuitiveTennis to brate 👍👍👍😎😎zivio ti meni
@@boki1221 HVALA 🙏
It's not easy switching grips. I started out with an eastern grip and played about 2-3 years with it. I ended up switching to a semi-western grip when I learned about its advantages and it took me several months to get used it. I figured I hadn't played that long and it's going to make a wide range of balls more comfortable, but the price was going out with buckets of balls and self-feeding a few thousand forehands per week. 🤣
And players can hit the ball very thin with any grip. When that happens, it's usually that I am not involving my whole body into the shot and just focusing on turning those shoulders usually solves it. Another cue other people might like is you point the butt cap at the ball when you pull forward -- and it should point forward again when you finish.
Exhibit A - Iga Swiatek
Long answer short: No.
I played mixed doubles with a semi once... i was thrown off court!
Why r u at tennis court in afternoon . Too much sun. I wait till 7 pm
Why are you sitting on the ground when you can be manspreading on the bench … dislike
🙌🙌🔥😂
2much talk, 0 practice