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forehand made a strong comeback and is now used by many modern players. With the changes in technology, the various grips have come to be used very differently from previously. First, the
Continental grip is used primarily to serve and to volley, not to hit forehand shots, or a backhand slice. The eastern grip is still used, though far less than in the past, and is used to hit very flat shots. It is excellent to hit low passing shots. The most popular grip on the tour is the Semi-Western grip. It gives a nice mix of spin and pace on the forehand, and offers ease to transition to the backhand grip. Finally the Western grip (and its extreme variations), are some of the most radical grips used on the tour, mostly by clay-courters, and are used to create massive amounts of topspin.
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grab, in order to achieve an
Eastern forehand. Advantages are this is one of the easiest grips for learning the forehand, easier (faster) to change to a Continental to do some volleying, or slice. The Eastern forehand grip became popular in the Eastern United States as grass courts were replaced by hard courts, causing balls to bounce higher. Notable players with this grip include
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There is also the kick serve, widely used for the second serve because of its great margin, ability to drop into the court, and for offsetting opponents because of its spin. For most, the topspin serve is hit by using a
Continental forehand grip (bevel #2) and some use an Eastern backhand grip (bevel
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The
Hawaiian grip is the most extreme forehand grip used to generate heavy topspin. Because of the extreme wrist position, it is not recommended to use because it may cause wrist pain and other joint problems. The nature of the grip is to generate topspin because of the closed racket face. This means
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Hence, the name "Shotgun". The
Continental grip is well-suited to slice shots, because it lends itself to positioning the racket face slightly upward. The name reflects its origins on the European continent at a time when grass courts were common and so balls did not bounce as high as on hard courts.
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to the ground, the bevel facing up is bevel #1. For the right-handed, rotating the racquet counter-clockwise (i.e. exposing to the ground more of the forehand hitting side) the next bevel facing up is bevel #2, and so on to identify all 8 bevels. Symmetrically, for the left-handed the bevel numbering
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To impart slice onto a serve, the server tosses the ball a little to the right of their body (if they are right-handed) and cuts the ball diagonally to create side and topspin. For a right-hander, the slice serve curves to the left and down in the court. This pulls players out wide or jams them into
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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 a Semi-western forehand grip. While this is by far the most common way to hit a two-handed backhand, there are players who use different
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potential than the traditional
Eastern one-hander. The Semi-western one-handed backhand grip makes it easier for a one-handed player to hit balls at shoulder height, but harder to hit low balls, and vice versa for the eastern one-handed backhand. The eastern one-handed backhand and its variants are
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For most of the 20th century the backhand was performed with one hand, using either a backhand
Eastern or Continental grip. In modern tennis, there are a few professional players who use a Semi-western one-hand backhand. This shot is held in a similar manner to the Eastern forehand. It has much more
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The Semi-Western backhand grip is achieved by placing the hand such that the base knuckle of the index finger is right on bevel #8. Compared to the
Continental grip, the blade has rotated 90 degrees clockwise. Although not as popular as the Eastern backhand grip, due to the naturally closed position
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The
Western grip is one of the more extreme forehand grips used to generate topspin. This grip closes the racket face more than semi-western and was originally used by Rafael Nadal growing up. This grip is great for maximizing margin and hitting deep, loopy balls. Notable players using this grip are
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The Semi-Western grip is an "advanced" form that most players either change to on purpose or naturally find through practice. This grip closes the racket face more upon contact, allowing for more topspin but is still able to generate pace. This grip is the most popular on tour and is used by several
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This grip is known as "the Shotgun". This is due to its strange nature of attack and pressure on the ball. Whenever it is used, the grip must be applied firmly, near the shaft of the racket to properly produce enough effect. This will cause the racket to come explosively on the ball, like a shotgun.
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The backhand can be executed with either one or both hands. As of 2023 less than 10% of the world's tennis players were estimated to use a one-handed backhand. Only 17 of the top 1000-ranked women used a one-handed grip, and only 43 of the top 1000-ranked men did so, with only 12 men in the top 100
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The basic Two-Handed Forehand grip, is obtained by holding the racquet in a regular Continental grip, then placing the left hand above holding it in a left-handed Eastern Forehand grip. Holding the racquet using two hands for the forehand is highly unusual, but some well-known top WTA players (e.g.
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The basic Two-Handed Backhand grip is obtained by holding the racquet in a regular Continental grip, then placing the left hand above holding it in a left-handed Semi-Western Forehand grip. This places the reference bevels of the two hands exactly opposite each other. Holding the racquet using two
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The Eastern Backhand grip is obtained when placing the hand such that the base knuckle of the index finger and heel of the hand are right on bevel #1. This grip allows for significant spin and control. The opposite face of the racket is used compared to the Eastern forehand. For someone who uses a
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The Eastern forehand grip is primarily used for flatter groundstrokes. In order to execute a proper Eastern forehand grip, players need both index knuckle and heel pad to rest on bevel #3. An easy way to implement this is to place the palm flat against the strings and slide down to the handle and
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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
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in order to hit shots during a match. The three most commonly used conventional grips are: the Continental (or "Chopper"), the Eastern and the Semi-Western. Most players change grips during a match depending on what shot they are hitting.
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This is essentially equivalent to the Semi-Western forehand grip. The same face of the racquet as in the forehand is used to strike the ball. No need to change grips if the forehand is played with a Semi-Western grip.
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Western forehand grip, on the other hand, the same face of the racket as in the forehand is used to strike the ball; no need to change grips if the forehand is played with a Western grip.
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hands for the backhand is very common, but there are many variations in the precise positioning of the two hands. This also varies between right- and left-handed players.
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In order to understand how to measure tennis grips size, it is important to know that the handle of a racquet always consists of 8 sides or, in other words, it has an
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doing so. However, even players who use a two-handed backhand usually play with only one hand for their backhand slice and their drop shot hit with the backhand.
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shape. A square shape would hurt the hand, while a round shape would not give enough friction to gain a firm grip. The eight sides of the handle are called
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that it is harder to drive through the ball, however, it is still possible. The most popular player to use this grip is
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in particular increased his use of the one-handed backhand and often hit an unreturnable dropshot with it.
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of the racquet, the Semi-Western grip allows for even greater topspin and can still generate pace.
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For a number of years during the first two decades of the 20th century the small, frail player
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A different face of the racquet than in the forehand is used to strike the ball.
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The player long considered to have had the best backhand of all time,
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The Semi-Western Two-Handed Backhand Grip (F: Bevel #2 + B: Bevel #6)
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used by most pros with strong single-handed backhand drives, like
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424:"Tennis Grips - in Depth Guide (March, 2023) - TennisReviews"
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410:"Discover the Perfect Tennis Grip Size: A Complete Guide"
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The Two-Handed Forehand Grip (F: Bevel #2 + B: Bevel #7)
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ways of holding the racquet for a two-handed backhand.
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the base knuckle position in this image is correct.
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483:Tennis Training Aids: How to Grip a Tennis Racket
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439:"RIVARD: One-handed Backhand – A Dying Art?"
386:their body to set up a high, put away ball.
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489:Grips; The General Technique of All Strokes
146:Numbering of bevels on a tennis racket grip
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279:The Semi-Western Backhand grip (Bevel #8)
202:The Semi-Western Forehand Grip (Bevel #4)
109:Learn how and when to remove this message
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471:Comparison of One-Handed Backhand Grips
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16:Technique for holding a tennis racquet
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240:The Hawaiian Forehand Grip (Bevel #6)
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270:The Eastern Backhand Grip (Bevel #1)
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219:The Western Forehand Grip (Bevel #5)
181:The Eastern forehand Grip (Bevel #3)
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343:(now retired) among the women.
317:The evolution of backhand grips
304:The evolution of forehand grips
172:The Continental Grip (Bevel #2)
34:needs additional citations for
466:Simple Guide to Forehand Grips
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99:July 2011
1125:Olympics
972:WTA Tour
919:ATP Tour
763:Forehand
748:Backspin
743:Backhand
685:Grunting
660:Hawk-Eye
645:Official
608:Strategy
571:Stadiums
556:Rankings
541:Glossary
474:Archived
1256:Outline
1186:Pacific
1171:African
1096:ATP Cup
1064:Defunct
885:Records
859:US Open
810:Topspin
638:strings
589:General
566:Umpires
551:Players
536:History
356:topspin
328:topspin
131:racquet
83:scholar
1150:Island
1111:events
1028:Active
992:Finals
939:Finals
837:Events
815:Volley
720:Carpet
697:Courts
675:Doping
633:racket
581:Basics
525:Tennis
156:bevels
123:tennis
85:
78:
71:
64:
56:
1176:Asian
960:Women
900:tours
805:Smash
788:Serve
735:Shots
715:Grass
613:grips
601:point
376:serve
90:JSTOR
76:books
977:1000
924:1000
758:Flat
725:Wood
710:Clay
705:Hard
628:ball
450:2024
228:and
211:and
194:and
127:grip
125:, a
62:news
987:250
982:500
934:250
929:500
907:Men
793:ace
778:Lob
121:In
45:by
1283::
441:.
262:,
249:.
215:.
198:.
190:,
517:e
510:t
503:v
452:.
112:)
106:(
101:)
97:(
87:·
80:·
73:·
66:·
39:.
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