Grip (tennis)
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The grip, in tennis, is how the racquet is held in order to hit shots during a match. There are three primary grips, the Western, the Eastern, and the Continental. Some people recognize a fourth grip, the Semi-Western, which is midway between an Eastern and a true Western. Most players change grips during a match depending on what shot they are hitting. With the Continental, the grip remains the same, no matter what shot is being hit.
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[edit] The forehand
There are various grips for executing the forehand and their popularity has changed over the years. The simplest grip to understand, but perhaps the most difficult to master, is the Continental. With the racquet held so that the hitting surface is vertical to the ground, the handle is gripped on its top as if the player were shaking someone's hand or grasping a hammer. With the Continental, both the forehand and the backhand are hit with the same grip. With the Eastern grip, the racquet is slightly rotated so that the palm of the hand is now somewhat more on the larger side of the handle. The Eastern grip will hit a "flatter" forehand with less spin on it than the Continental. With the Western grip, the rotation of the racquet in the player's hand is even more exaggerated, to the point where the striking surface of the racquet is now parallel to the ground after being turned from its initial vertical position. Western forehands are generally hit with enormous amounts of spin. For a number of years the small, apparently frail 1920s player Bill Johnston was considered by many to have had the best forehand of all time, a stroke that he hit shoulder-high using a Western grip. Few top players used the Western grip after the 1920s, but in the latter part of the 20th century, as shot-making techniques and equipment changed radically, the Western forehand made a strong comeback and is now used by many modern players.
[edit] Backhand
The backhand can be executed with either one or both hands. For most of the 20th Century it was performed with one hand, using either an Eastern or Continental grip. The Continental grip for the backhand is the same as that used for the Continental forehand. For the Eastern backhand, the racquet is rotated slightly in the opposite direction from which it is rotated to form the grip of the Eastern forehand. In modern tennis, there are a few professional players who use a Western one-hand backhand. This shot is held in a similar manner to the Western forehand, and has more spin potiential than the traditional Eastern one-hander. This shot is very difficult to master, but is used by a few pros, like Gustavo Kuerten among the men and Justine Henin-Hardenne among the women.
The two-handed backhand is most commonly used with the forehand hand holding the racquet with a Continental grip and the non-dominant hand holding the racquet with an Eastern forehand grip. While this is by far the most common way to hit a two-handed backhand, there are players who use different ways of holding the racquet for a two-handed backhand.
Whether the one-handed or the two-handed backhand is more effective than the other is debatable. Two hands give the player more power and consistency, while one hand gives more variety and can generate a slice shot, applying backspin on the ball to produce a low trajectory bounce. Some players use two hands on a regular basis but switch to one hand occasionally to vary their shots.
The player long considered to have had the best backhand of all time, Don Budge, had a very powerful one-handed stroke in the 1930s and '40s that imparted topspin onto the ball. Ken Rosewall, another player noted for his one-handed backhand, used a deadly accurate slice backhand with underspin through the 1950s and '60s. Both of them used an Eastern grip. Currently, Roger Federer, is noted for having a backhand that can drive the ball, impart dramatic spin, slice it deep, or hit a deadly drop shot. He also uses an Eastern Grip.
The first notable players to use two hands were the 1930s Australians Vivian McGrath and John Bromwich. The two-handed grip gained popularity in the 1970s as Chris Evert and Jimmy Connors used it to great effect, and it is now used by a large number of the world's best players, including Andre Agassi and the Williams sisters. One reason is that most professionals have played tennis from an early age, when they were not strong enough to hit a one-handed backhand. Most professionals who use a two-handed backhand often return hard-to-reach balls with a one-handed backhand. They also often use the one-handed backhand slice in rallies as it is a comfortable shot. Agassi in particular has increased his usage of the one-handed backhand and hits an often unreturnable dropshot with it.
[edit] Serve
The grip for the serve depends on the type of serve. On the professional level, the flat serve (with little or no spin), is hit with a Continental grip. The server stands at an angle to the baseline, so that he can turn during the service and make contact with the racquet squarely on the ball.
On the professional level, the slice serve is most commonly hit with a Continental grip. The server tosses the ball a little to the right of his body (if he is right-handed) and cuts the ball at the side to impart spin. For a righthander, the slice serve curves to the left, and is useful in pulling the opponent out wide, or serving into his body. Many players, however, use an Eastern backhand grip for their spin serves; this gives the racquet even more angle as it sweeps across the ball.
The are two types of kick(topspin) serves; the pure topspin serve, and the American twist serve. The topspin serve is hit by using a Continental grip and the ball is thrown so that if it were to drop, it would land on the server's head. In the topspin serve, the racquet brushes across the ball to impart topspin. In the American twist serve, the racquet is held with an Eastern backhand or Continental grip. The twist serve has both topspin and slice, and, when hit correctly, bounces in the opposite direction from the slice serve. Both these serves are used to make an effective serve that nevertheless has a high safety factor due to the fact that they clear the net with a relatively high margin of space and use the topspin to pull the ball down into the service box.
