You should feel like a “coil”, the more you turn the upper body the more energy you accumulate, making your rotation through the ball harder. No matter what your level is, you can always gain by developing a better base on your groundstrokes. This is really a matter of personal preference, so feel free to pick whichever feels more comfortable for you! However many greats make slight adjustments when they switch over from the forehand stroke to backhand stroke and vice versa. Andre Agassi's Eastern forehand grip is well suited to his trademark skill, hitting on the rise, and his preference for hitting with less topspin than most of his peers. The racket head should drop below the ball as you approach contact so you can make contact from low to high. Remember that your backhand’s power starts from the legs and core. As you can see from the image, the contact should be in front of the line of your body. This grip is ideal if you want to produce topspin in your backhand. Torso rotation is often increased somewhat with closed stance, especially with more extreme backhand grips. While this grip may look weird in the picture, it is actually a very effective way of gripping the racket. Choose your grip and stick to it is our advice! The eastern backhand grip is mainly used for one handed backhand players when hitting topspin groundstrokes. With this hand you hold the handle in such a way that the Palm of your hand is flush with the butt cap. So, the eastern backhand grip is a great one to learn, particularly when trying to master the art of the one handed backhand. Gripping the racket differently will increase the difficulty of hitting a two handed backhand. Once it is settled where the ball will land you can choose between the stances. As your arms start drawing the “C” shape, the belt buckle should slowly start rotating back around. Place your index finger knuckle on bevel 1. Early preparation of your body and racket helps you to adjust to any unexpected bounces quickly, allows you to get behind the ball and time your backhand a lot easier! By contrast, almost all players aiming to hit topspin on their backhands will hit with some variation of the eastern backhand grip. Improving your ability to use your non-dominant hand is … Make sure you feel like you are pushing the racket through the contact with your non dominant hand instead of pulling with your dominant hand. We will write an entirely different post about the slice backhand but essentially, this is the original backhand. Besides maintaining the racket tip up, the rotation of my torso and shoulders will place the racket where it needs to be; tip up, away from my body and creating a circular motion. The second grip we recommend for beginning players is called the Eastern Backhand Grip. There are a couple of grips you can use with your non dominant hand. This can be quite stressful, and once you have shown a sign of weakness in this situation, your opponent will be sure to capitalize on this and keep plugging away at that backhand. Here is where your belt buckle will start rotating. When tennis first started, most players only hit slices on the backhand side. by thetennisbros | Dec 6, 2020 | BACKHAND, Tennis Tips | 0 comments. At this point it is pointed to the side fence, right? However, it is harder to hit topspin backhands using this grip. During the whole backswing, your right arm and your tennis racket are arranged at right angles, forming a so-called “L-shape”. Therefore, you need to move backwards and give time for the ball to drop to a better position. There are two areas you need to focus on: the rotation of the arms and the rotation of the body. The amount of topspin generated by each player is unique to each individual but most players will add forward rotation to the shot. We hope you get practicing it on court soon! Ideally, you want your arm to straighten up during the motion. The grip is favorite among people who like hitting with heavy topspin all the time. This is where you want to live if you want to consistently hit a good one handed backhands. Numbering of bevels on a tennis racket grip. Your feet should be on a straight line but this time they are parallel to the baseline. From the takeaway position, I typically tell my lessons to draw the shape of the letter “C” through the contact (or the shape of the Nike Swoosh). While the two handed backhand has been around for a long time, it became increasingly popular during the Bjorn Borg era in the 1980s. As a result, it boasts a number of excellent academies. So it’s important that you see clearly that while the racquet head is quite high in relation to Dimitrov’s body, in fact the tip of the racquet is above high head, his hand has barely lifted up from his ready position and it’s still at a very comfortable height just below his chest. Make sure you are swinging as a unit instead of using the arm solely. Some players will use a mixture of the RPB grip and the Chinese penhold block and push on the backhand … Make contact with the ball in front of you. It is therefore by far the most common grip used to hit a one handed backhand and we at thetennisbros.com are here to explain why! Whilst the eastern backhand grip is specifically for one handed backhands, the same principle applies for your top hand on your two handed backhand. Your body weight will transition from the back foot to the front one was you hit the shot. Swiss tennis phenom Roger Federer uses a backhand grip that's just slightly toward the Modified Eastern grip from the Full Eastern.. Federer starts his backswing with the racquet above the anticipated point of contact; the racquet will drop in a compact loop before he begins his forward swing. The Eastern forehand grip works better with balls intercepted low and early than the more Western grips. The same rules apply as for the two handed backhand. This grip is mostly common among older recreational players who were taught tennis a long time ago. All of these players use either an eastern backhand grip for the one handers or an eastern forehand grip on their non-dominant hand for the two handers. In this instance, your opponent is pushing you back so you use the semi – open stance to create more space between you and the ball in order to hit a more effective shot to the other side of the net. As you do this, you should turn your racket slightly clockwise in your hand, so you are now holding the eastern backhand grip. While you can make small adjustments to find what is most comfortable for you, the continental is the rule. Loading your weight on the front leg will allow you to be more explosive with your body as you rotate around the ball. However, there are a few adjustments that you will need to keep in mind in order to be properly prepared to hit a good one handed backhand. Most players change grips during a match depending on what shot they are hitting. In addition, make sure your body is strong and continues to rotate in order for you to absorb the weight of the ball better. In addition, allow your non-dominant arm to straighten behind you. With a range of different options to choose from, it can be difficult to know which to use for each different shot and find a comfortable way to hold your tennis racket. It allows players to rotate faster and make contact with the ball more in front of their bodies. For the one-handed backhand you only need your dominant hand. While it is not prominently used anymore, the eastern backhand grip facilitates changing between flat and slice backhands. MyTennisHQ is a participant in affiliate advertising programs designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to websites like TennisWarehouse.com and Amazon.com. The Top 10 Best Tennis Academies In Florida. You need to get comfortable with it and properly train the non-dominant hand in order to have a solid double handed backhand. The semi-western is the most common tennis forehand grip you’ll find in tennis today, and it … Let’s take a better look at each one of it: Neutral Stance BackhandNeutral Stance Backhand. It is worth setting some context so understand exactly how to hold your racket in an eastern backhand grip correctly. As you can see in the top knuckle (the index finger) is practically in line with the frame of the racket. Your body weight should be on the outside leg (left leg for right handed players, right leg for left handed players). As you drive your racket up towards the ball, make sure to drive up with your legs to generate even more force. And most importantly, I have been to Pete Sampras’ house. On the backhand side, the use of the RPB grip removes the normal weakness of the Chinese penhold grip since it is able to produce a heavy topspin ball with good power and a wide reach. Early coil with the upper body, getting the chin above the right shoulder (left for lefty’s) Reaching a good power position, with the racket head higher than the grip and the weight loaded up on the back leg (whenever possible) Contact point out in front and uncoiling fully around the front foot. In tennis, a backhand stroke can be one handed or two handed. The arms continue up and forward until that motion is no longer possible. The eastern backhand grip is the first grip that allowed players to hit the ball flat. Your dominant arm is responsible for setting the racquet during the unit turn. He switches it slightly for when he slices the ball. Here is where you start letting go of the non dominant hand. Its versatile nature and ease of use makes it a great grip to use for your one handed backhand. This commonly used grip allows you to hit both flatter drives and high, looping rips. At the start of the takeaway, the buckle will be pointing forward (towards your opponent). In the final phase of the tennis backhand the racket face is parallel to the court at ball impact point, thus impairing topspin to the ball as it continues to swing forward and up. We are compensated for referring traffic and business to Tennis Warehouse, Amazon, and other companies linked to on this site. While on the forehand side, players utilize the Open Stance more often because of its quicker preparation, on the backhand side the neutral stance is the most used. You’ll notice that the racket grip has 8 edges to it, an octagon shape. This will allow you to hit a heavy, attacking ball. Full shoulder turn, early preparation, feet planted and a long, smooth swing. As you look at the V of your hand, you will notice that V is covering the edge (or bevel) at the top of the grip. As the ball approaches your backhand, turn your shoulders, legs and hips to your left hand side (if you are right handed, or left hand side if you are left handed), and show your shoulder to the ball. Here, we’ll share as much knowledge and experience as we can, so we hope you enjoy it! Your eastern backhand grip should close off your racket face, meaning it is facing towards the ground. This can be used for both forehand and backhand shots, as a result the fast and flat shots. Having his left hand on the racquet throat helps Federer make sure he turns his back somewhat … Two-handed backhand grip Javi recommends holding the racket with the eastern grip for the upper hand and the continental grip for the lower hand. The more rotation you can create with your shoulder and upper body the better because it will allow you to rotate faster around the ball. The eastern grip is the most commonly used for two handed backhands. Western backhand grip: Place your base knuckle on the left ridge of the top plane and your thumb in a straight line across the left side plane. The earlier you can do this the better. Novak Djokovic is a master at hitting open stance backhands, showing the world it can be a weapon. However, one of the most overlooked aspects of Federer, Nadal, Djokovic, Murray and Wawrinka’s fantastic backhands is their grips. This action generates backspin and this shot is used to break the rhythm of the point. As your shoulders rotate, continue lifting your arm and turning your body. Understanding tennis grips can really be a minefield. The advantage of hitting open stance is that it increases the player’s reach on defensive shots. At MyTennisHQ, we have all played junior, college, and professional tennis. Giving that the ball doesn’t generate too much spin, controlling a flat backhand can be difficult. As your start swinging forward, lean on your front foot and allow the racket to start dropping. Watch the video below! How To Stop Your Tennis Racket From Slipping. The Turn. I’ve won 3 futures since graduating, and I broke the top 400 on the ATP rankings. In this grip, your racket should be pointed at roughly a 45° angle towards the ground, and as you hold your arm outstretched, you will be making a fist towards the oncoming ball. Continental Grip. The feet positioning for the one handed backhand is fairly similar to the 2 handed. If you are looking to hit a flatter ball here, you’ll need to hit through the line of the ball, along a more horizontal racket path. In the game of tennis, a backhand is a tennis stroke in which the racket travels across the player’s body, striking the ball with the palm facing towards the chest and the back of hand moving towards the opponent on the follow through. After the contact, the racket should move on an upwards, diagonal trajectory to the opposite side of where you started the swing (that’s how you’ll create topspin). With this hand you need to grip the racket using a Continental Grip (If you don’t know much about grips, check our ultimate guide here). eval(ez_write_tag([[300,250],'mytennishq_com-large-leaderboard-2','ezslot_7',112,'0','0'])); Once you choose the grip you feel most comfortable with, you need to learn how to position your legs and feet when hitting a backhand. It is important to have good footwork here to move efficiently, so you can cover more ground in less steps. It allows players to create more topspin without sacrificing variety. Now, you may be thinking ‘but wait, I hit a two handed backhand!’. All of the great backhands from the best players in the world have a few common traits. Eastern Grip eval(ez_write_tag([[300,250],'mytennishq_com-banner-1','ezslot_2',111,'0','0'])); For the eastern grip, the index finger knuckle should somewhere between bevel 7 and 8. When using this grip, you can decide whether you prefer to spread your hand further up the length of the grip, or keep it in more of a closed fist. However, players like Kyrgios, De Minaur and Norrie have amazing flat backhands (we have a tutorial about hitting flat backhands, check it out here). To hit a flat backhand you need to strike the ball at a neutral level and drive the racket through contact without brushing the ball too much. The semi open stance is the least used one but you need to learn how to hit it. To use the eastern backhand grip, you need to start in the ready position, on your toes, with your feet shoulder width apart and knees slightly bent. Here, the non dominant hand is the one creating the power, not the other way around. I have had wins over Dominic Thiem, Kyle Edmund, and Hugo Dellien (not sure how well I would do against them today, though). Place your knuckle between (or on) bevel 8 and 1. With your stance neutral, you’ll be able to use the full weight of your body through the shot. The ideal backhand grip is the “Continental grip” for both the single and the double-handed style. As you drive up the back of the ball release your non-dominant hand and allow it to drive back behind you, this will help you with balance. As you hold your racket with the edge of the frame facing the floor, you may feel most comfortable gripping it with the V between your thumb and index finger in the exact middle of the racket’s grip. However, note that you will use this stance more when balls are hit high and heavy to you, making you move both laterally and backwards. The Dominant Arm . How do you hold a backhand grip in tennis? Again, the open stance position will be used mostly in defensive situations. I’ve reached the semifinals of the Orange Bowl U16 and as a junior, I ranked as high as #33 in the world. Eastern Grip. Pro Tennis Player Analysis Tennis Backhand Analysis Federer Backhand Grip – Understanding The Roger Federer Backhand Grip. The backhand grip clay describes in this lesson fixed the broken piece in my backhand, to clarify though, to most people watching, I had a pretty impressive one hander, however I knew, if I didn’t hit it in the sweet spot the stroke was wrong, the ball didn’t go where or how I wanted it to go. At the same time you bend your knees a little and transfer your body weight to the front foot. But as Chris's work shows, the key with the closed stance is holding all the technical components together. The racket seemd to “torque” if I weren’t right on the sweet spot, that’s no longer the case. Your eyes should be focusing on the ball (even through mine aren’t). In this stance, your front foot is placed directly in front of your back foot. If you are now to move your racket round clockwise in your hand, so that your index knuckle is covering the smaller edge or bevel on the left side, you will now be holding your racket in the eastern backhand grip. First, make sure that your body weight is on the front leg. Your non-dominant hand will basically be in a forehand position. On the two handed backhand, the top hand gripping the racket has the most important job; it is in charge of accelerating the racket head through the ball which will translate into more power and control. Is also known as the Chopper or Hammer grip. It will give you more stability. However, if your intention here is to hit a more loopy, high, ripping topspin ball here, you will be better off getting your racket as far underneath the ball as you can. Hold the racquet again by the throat with your non-dominant hand, but this time the racquet needs to be oriented the other way, meaning that the head is on the left side and the handle on your right side. The neutral stance is used for both aggressive and neutral backhands, but it is less used defensively on the double handed backhand.eval(ez_write_tag([[300,250],'mytennishq_com-leader-1','ezslot_10',113,'0','0'])); The open stance backhand is typically used on shots where you find yourself in a defensive situation. So again, you may focus on the racquet head a lot and then subconsciously and unknowingly follow its path with your hand. Players with one handed backhands can usually create more spin because of the lag they are able to create before making contact. This grip is for one-handed players and is simply a rotation of one bevel counterclockwise (for right handers) or clockwise (for left-handers) of the racquet compared to your usual forehand grip. Picture it, you are playing a match and your opponent approaches to your backhand side. Let’s be honest, there is nothing like watching a good backhand down the line winner. Meaning this V will be pointing all the way up the length of the racket’s frame. On the two handed backhand, the top hand gripping the racket has the most important job; it is in charge of accelerating the racket head through the ball which will translate into more power and control. This is the most common type of backhand in modern tennis. Now, if you look at the image above, you’ll see that a lot of the force is coming from pushing and pivoting around the front leg. In the case of the upper hand, it is possible to vary the grip a bit and put it semi-western to generate more topspin or continental to play flatter. Your email address will not be published. Your email address will not be published. It is necessary to use it when your opponent hits a shot that is too fast and deep where you don’t have time to turn to the neutral stance. In this side view of Dimitrov’s backhand we’ll focus on the preparation. As everything rotates, the arms will eventually bend and finish over your shoulder. Pretend you are wearing a belt with a large belt buckle. Bing; Yahoo; Google; Amazone; Wiki {GA} Most Searched Keywords . You are being rushed and your opponent is closing in to the net, forcing you to pick a grip and hit a passing shot quickly! The method for finding the Eastern grip for your one-handed backhand is very similar. With the dominant hand on the grip and the non-dominant hand on the V of the racket, start the takeaway with the racket tip up. Well, we will break down exactly what the eastern backhand grip is, who it is for and exactly when to use it, to help you master your backhand today! Except in the phrase backhand volley, the term refers to a groundstroke (that is, one in which the ball has bounced before it is struck). And even then, variations of the grip will occur. In the past, backhands have been known as the weaker shot because it is typically harder to generate as much power as on the forehand side, but in modern tennis this is far from the truth. For the semi westerns grip, your index finger knuckle should be located somewhere between bevel 6 and 7 (find what’s comfortable for you). Because you are only using one arm; you need the assistance of your body to hit a hard yet controlled backhand. The Hawaiian grip is rarely used, but it had a moment in the spotlight when Alberto Berasategui used it to make the 1994 finals at Roland Garros, where he lost to Sergi Bruguera. One way to find the grip is to place your hand in a Continental position, then twist your wrist and forearm 180 degrees clockwise so that your knuckles are facing forward. Make sure to turn your racket and wrist as you make contact with the ball, in a windscreen wiper motion up the back of the ball. If you are looking to hit your slice backhand, would be best off using a classic continental or slightly open continental grip. I’ve had some pretty cool experiences during my tennis career. The neutral stance backhand is the most used leg positioning on the backhand side. The one handed backhand is one of the most visually appealing shots in tennis. This is a common variation amongst men on the professional tour. We will never spam you, we promise! The shoulders start turning but your belt buckle should continue to point to the side fence. A good slice won’t necessarily be a fast shot but it will keep the ball low, demanding your opponent to hit up. This commonly used grip allows you to hit both flatter drives and high, looping rips. There are different extremes of eastern backhand grips, with Dan Evans or Ivo Karlovic using a more neutral, relaxed grip and Richard Gasquet or Stan Wawrinka using a more extreme eastern grip. However, it’s probably a little dangerous to start playing around with this if you’re not playing a lot of tennis. Basically, you will you use the same three positions; closed stance, open stance and semi-open stance. Players around the world admire Federer’s backhand as one of the most elegant in the game today. Guys like Wawrinka, Federer, Nalbandian, Djokovic, Agassi and Guga (plenty more) have given us countless hours of highlights with their backhands. The eastern backhand grip is a very versatile way to hold the racket when hitting your backhand. Firstly, how to hold a double backhand grip: Your dominant hand will be at continental grip, bevel 2 for righties and bevel 8 for lefties, and non-dominant hand, just rest it comfortably above your dominant hand. This will help to keep your arm nice and relaxed, allowing you to brush the ball with ease and generate more spin. This is most often used for serves, volleys, overheads, slices, and occasional defensive shots. It is a “WOW” shot. The eastern backhand grip is ideal for one handed backhand players, allows you to drive through and flatten out the ball with ease, whilst also generating plenty of topspin just by adjusting your swing path and flexing your wrist. Expand. For beginners, you will learn what a backhand is and how you can hit one step-by-step. Roger uses the standard backhand grip which is basically an eastern backhand grip. As the ball approaches you, lower your racket below the height of the ball in order to generate topspin. Continue the rotation of your belt buckle around as it finally rotates back towards the net. It is therefore by far the most common grip used to hit a one handed backhand and we at thetennisbros.com are here to explain why! When Agassi would hit later and higher, he would sometimes shift his grip toward the Semi-Western. It is imperative that you strike the ball in front of the line of your body. Today, most players play with two handed backhands as children have an easier timing learning it because it requires less strength from them. For you more advanced readers, pay attention to the fundamentals. As you finish the rotation on the takeaway, the belt buckle should be pointed to the side fence, meaning that you fully rotated your torso. 0. There are 11 key features that the best academies... Hi there! This has the player placing his index knuckle on bevel 1. From the neutral position, focus on turning your shoulders and hips. We both feel like tennis has given us opportunities that we would have never had otherwise, so we started myTennisHQ with the intent of helping more and more people become familiar with the sport. It is therefore a very versatile grip that can be used in a wide range of situations on court. In addition, don’t let your head move up before contact. eval(ez_write_tag([[300,250],'mytennishq_com-medrectangle-4','ezslot_4',109,'0','0'])); As is with every tennis stroke, it is important to develop a good foundation in order to have a solid backhand. Follow a similar process to find an Eastern backhand grip These edges are larger and flatter on the top, bottom and sides of your grip. This action can be performed with one arm or both arms; ONE HANDED BACKHAND and TWO HANDED BACKHAND. You will use this stance more often in shots that come fast and deep where you don’t have time to fully make the turn to neutral stance. Frequently in this variation, the hitting arm structure will be different. However, for the single handed backhand, there are a few grip variations that players can use. Two-Handed Backhand Arms. This tennis grip is done by putting your left hand in a Semi-Western forehand grip while your right hand is in the Eastern backhand position. The simpler you can make it, the better. There are three main positions: Neutral Stance, Open Stance and Semi-Open Stance. It’s important to understand the role of each arm during your swing. But for most people, the backhand is a difficult shot, especially at the club level, and for most players it is considered to be their weaker side. You may also be thinking, ‘how am I supposed to know which grip is the Eastern one?’ when I’m trying to concentrate in the middle of a match. With steady practice, aspiring tennis players can develop … It is hard not to love watching a well struck one hander. It’s just that when hitting a two hander, you’ll be using an eastern forehand grip with your non-dominant hand. We will cover both backhands in this article. With players adding more and more topspin to their strokes, the full eastern grip allows players to not only generate more topspin, but also handle shots with a lot of forward rotation that are hit to them. It is very similar to the continental grip. Therefore, it is very important to be able to change grips confidently and quickly in tennis, particularly on the backhand wing. On a slice, the player should use one arm and hit the ball from a high to low manner, as the racket face stays open through the shot. Hitting this shot is great to push your opponent back, and keep you in at least a neutral position in the point. Your grip should be the same during the play. This grip is the most commonly used in tennis today. The main learning points from this tennis lesson for beginners are: Use the eastern backhand grip and hold with the fingers close to each other. An expert at generating racquet head speed and changing pace, seven-time major champion Justine Henin demonstrates the key successes to hitting one-handed topspin backhands and … The arms then turn toward the right shoulder where the movement ends with the racket resting on the player’s right shoulder. In this article we will cover everything you need to know in order to have a proper backhand. What Is The Backhand Grip In Tennis? Florida boasts warm weather all year round, which makes it an ideal location for tennis. In order to hit a topspin backhand, the racket needs to come from low to high, brushing up on the ball during contact. When you are playing tennis, your racket's angle and the direction in which it moves determines what the ball really does after you hit it. There are four main types of tennis grips are: Continental, Eastern, Western, and Semi-Western. Why is this important? It will feel like you are pushing the ball back down the line it came from, driving it back into the court. eval(ez_write_tag([[300,250],'mytennishq_com-medrectangle-3','ezslot_1',108,'0','0'])); This article is structured in the following way: The backhand is the tennis shot where the player swings the racket with the back of the hand moving towards the direction of the stroke. So let’s break it down!! If you pay close attention to the video above, you will see that my arms and hands don’t do much. At this point, your arm and shoulders should be moving as a unit.