Grips and the position of the wrist on contact...

[The Gorilla]

Looking at the slow mo's of various players it seems to me that regardless of what grip you are using if you want a flat shot your racquet head must be approximately perpendicular to the ground, a heavily topspun shot must be aimed slightly upwards to hit with heavy topspin and still achieve good depth.No matter what grip you use you must assume these angles upon contact.

Also, absolutely nobody brushes up on the ball with their wrist for added topspun, whhat is actually happening is that by laying their wrist back they are shortening the lever of their arm which allows them to move their arm faster with the same effort.


Taking all of this into account wouldn't it make sense to use the strongest grip on either wing?, the racquet is most secure in the eastern grip on the forehand side and the semi western grip on the backhand, for a one hander.


please bear in mind I'm not a biomechanist and this is a purely amatuer interpretation of these videos, if I'm completely wrong tell me so and why, just don't bite my head off ;)

[Bagumbawalla]

Yes, whatever grip you use, the spin imparted to the ball comes from the path of the racket throught the ball at the moment of contact (which is about 4 or 5 miliseconds).

So, all things being equal, is would not matter what grip you use. In general, however, some grips make it easier to create certain kinds of spins/strokes than others. Some tend to be more solid, others whippy, others better for topspin.

Different styles of tennis strokes come and go. When Borg was in his prime, western forehands and lots of topspin were the fad, then that went out of style until recently, with Nadal.

People select their grips and tennis style for any number of reasons-- comfort, immitation of a favorite player, because that's the way they learned, because they have a backcourt game, because they serve and volley, for consistancy...

I have tried a variety of grips over the years. Now, I have settled back into my original grip- eastern on both sides. I find this to be the least limiting.

As to the part about the wrist. My personal opinion is, the less people think about and try to consciously control their wrist motion the better.

There is always some slight wrist motion on even the most "solid" shot. Good timing/mechanics incorperates every motion, small or large into the transfer of mass. But, again, everybody has slight differences, body builds, swing paths, etc..

In general, I agree with your observations.

B

[mucat]

Taking all of this into account wouldn't it make sense to use the strongest grip on either wing?, the racquet is most secure in the eastern grip on the forehand side and the semi western grip on the backhand, for a one hander.


You have to keep in mind that the Pros are superhuman in their physique. They do not need the strongest grip to hit their groundstrokes and can still hit them harder than us mortals.

[The Gorilla]

could it be that the reason the western grips produce more swing speed is because they are more aerodynamic?

As they are parralel to the ground there is only the edge of the frame to resist wind.Eastern grips are perpendicular to the ground and the entire racquet face now resists the wind, resulting in a slower swing.

[mucat]

Unless you keep the cover on... :D