Does grip type make a difference for shorter players?

[highsierra]

For shorter players, say, 5'6", 5'5" or shorter, is there one grip type (forehand) more advantageous than the others with everything else being equal? I know if someone is already playing with a particular grip type there is no point to changing. I'm just wondering if it's someone just start playing/learning, whether he/she should be advised to try one particular grip over the others.

[Rickson]

I'm only 5'6 and I use a semi western. The advantage to using the sw over the eastern for me is that a low ball for a 6'4 guy would be a mid height ball for me and I can put it away with more topspin than with a grip designed for low balls such as an eastern or a continental. I'd go with a semi western or a western as a short guy because you'll be getting a lot more balls you can put away than a tall guy would.

[kevhen]

I have seen short players with eastern grips hit hard and flat and others with more western grips hit with lots of topspin and high net clearance. I think grip matters more on the serve for a short person where you may want to use a backhand grip to create even more spin on your serve to have good net clearance.

[donnyz89]

im 5'2 and i use semi western. i dont think it really matters... and i dont see how a short player would have an advantage with eastern or western.

[remilard]

I'm short and use sw fh and eastern bh. I used eastern fh for a while, I doubt it makes a difference. I never thought of bh grip on serve for more spin, that might be a good idea for a shorter player starting out, although you can certainly learn to hit tons of spin with the continental (plus it has its advantages for serve and volley since you don't need to switch). I think the key for serve with short players is to forget the flat serve, you can't hit it hard enough to be effective. Sometimes I feel wild and hit a hard flat serve up the middle but that is a pretty low percentage shot for me due to the tight net clearance I need to keep it in. Flat serves out wide are nearly impossible without taking something off.

[glass]

Honestly, I don't think you're right about forgetting the flat serve if you're a shorter person. Takao Suzuki, at 5'8", hits a first serve into the late 120s at a good consistency.

[goober]

Honestly, I don't think you're right about forgetting the flat serve if you're a shorter person. Takao Suzuki, at 5'8", hits a first serve into the late 120s at a good consistency.

I don't think that giving the example of a professional player is really relevant to your average club player. In general it is much better for your average club player who is short to spin a serve in than go for a flat bomb.

[nyu]

I'm an average club player, 5.0, 5'6 and I can consistently hit about 40% of my 1st serves in. They're usually between 105 and 110 mph. That doesn't seem all that crazy, but it is possible to have a big serve if you're short, it's just much more difficult. It is important for a shorter player to have a solid kick serve to fall back on imo, since our margin of error is so much smaller.

As for grips, I disagree that height doesn't make a difference in grip selection. At the 4.0 levels and below, it really doesn't matter since most players won't have the weapons to take advantage of a shorter player. That said, once you start facing guys who can basically kick serve over your head or hit heavy topspin that kicks up to your head, then you have to decide whether you want to hit with a semi-western/western grip, which will give you a bit more leeway in terms of variability, or an eastern grip, which is a solid grip, but most players tend to have to pick up off the bounce.

[Saito]

im 5'2 and i use semi western. i dont think it really matters... and i dont see how a short player would have an advantage with eastern or western.
I second that.... but I'm not 5'2"... not that there's anything wrong with that because I know a 5'0" who plays pretty well. Yeah, in higher level play it would be good to be adaptable to different shots thrown at you, but for recreational tennis this shouldn't be that much of an issue.

[obackvalobasha]

im 5'4 to 5'5. i have a pretty big serv also pretty big net clearnes on my second kick serve. I use continantal both flat and kick serv. when i slice the serve I use is eastern grip. Also, for forhand I use wester semi, wester mix.

[dewey4262]

I'm a 5'7" 4.0 player. I have a flat first serve which lands in about 50% of the time, usually clocks in the low 100's. I use to play my forehand with an eastern grip. I have since moved to a semi-western grip to play the high topspun balls prevelant in juniors. I have also moved my eastern grip on teh one handed backhand to more of an extreme eastern.

[donnyz89]

and flat serves doesnt seem impossible even being 5'2... just have to hit the ball at the highest point with right technique. and in fact, being short, u can sort of hit it forward more than downward if u are tall to prevent the ball from going long.

[splink779]

One good thing about being short, your fast flat serve will almost always land deep in the box. I'm 5'6 and my flat serve is my weapon.

[Mahboob Khan]

Good question. For shorter players, normal balls turn out to be high.

For forehand, they are better advised to use semi-western or western grip since extreme grips are great for handling high balls.

It's amazing that Justine Henin Harddene is very successful with single handed backhand .. thanks largely to her extreme Eastern BH grip, but by and large shorter players should consider 2-handed BH since 2HBH is great for handling high balls!

[Exile]

I think western is better, since you are closer to net height, you can just loop the ball over the net all the time with gosu topspin for penetrating shots.