I too switched from E to SW

[guedoguedo]

Hopefully there will not be arguments and name calling as there was on the other thread!!

A problem of mine is that I would use E grip, but wipe up on the ball a ton to get topsin. As a result, when I connect, my FH would have little pace but a ton of spin. When I dont connect (not a clean shot, or if I open the face) I would frame it or it would fly out. I wouldnt swing through the ball, because i was afraid it would go out, and also because it wouldnt be enough spin for what I like.

So I modified to SW and can now swing through the ball, which my instructor keeps encouraging me to do, and the spin comes with it without having to do a huge upward wipe at the ball. It also lessens the possibility of opening up the racquet face, which is a huge problemfor me. So far i am very pleased, and hope this is a permanent move!!!

[donnyz89]

Some old school players feel like switching to SW is giving up the old "right" way of playing... but the truth is, SW is a much more dominant and powerful grip today. Back then, the game was steady, simple, serve and volley type of game. There was no coming off the ground on ground strokes, there was no swinging at vollies. and Eastern WAS the powergrip back then, it was the way to get depth and penetration on your shots but today's game dont allow that, so its a good thing u are switching to SW, im not saying its the ONLY way but it is, in general, the best way.

[guedoguedo]

I am not even looking at it as a 'which one is better' situation. I am just looking at problems I am currently having, and they are related to having an open racket face, and my lack of swinging through the ball. SW should help me improve those.

I also found with my 2hbh, that using SW on my off hand is helping maintain proper height and spin too..

[blue03]

lol, i think i travel back in time. i'm going to Eastern from SW because i tend to have a Western grip when playing. Eastern penetrate easily accross the net IMO

[guedoguedo]

blue your post made no sense. You went from SW to E, but you play with western? and then something eastern pentrating the net..

[FuriousYellow]

I've been using SW almost from the beginning and still had difficulty generating topspin. I'd heard and tried to apply all the usual advice: brush up on the ball, swing low-high, follow through and finish, racquet speed, use your legs, etc. I still couldn't get it.

The missing piece was provided in one of recent topspin threads which had a link to hi-techtennis.com (http://www.hi-techtennis.com/forehand/topspin.cfm) . That explanation and visual aid was the key that made all the other previously mentioned pieces of advice fit together for me. I've used it for a couple of weeks now and have seen a vast increase in the amount of topspin on my forehand. I'm still trying to apply it to 1HBH and I imagine the principal also applies to adding spin to your serves as well.

[SpinItIn]

Does anyone use more than one FH or BH grip, or once you've settled on a particular grip is that used for all groundstrokes on that side? For example, as a beginner I still feel more comfortable returning hard/flat first serves by hitting a slice return with an Eastern FH or continental BH grip. When returning second (higher bouncing) serves, however, I try to use topspin. Should I: (1) Keep the more conservative grips for all returns and just try wiping faster for topspin, (2) Use SW FH & Eastern BH for topspin returns only, or (3) Try to use SW FH & Eastern BH for all returns, topspin and slice ?

The same question would pretty much apply for other groundstrokes. With the conservative grips I can hit slice or generate a fair amount of topspin, but when I get a slower or higher-bouncing shot I'd like to be able to hit a heavy topspin return (esp on the FH side). Should I use a SW or EBH for those shots only, or is it better to stick with one grip for everything on a given side? Seems like too many grips might lead to some major consistency problems.

[looseswing]

Does anyone use more than one FH or BH grip, or once you've settled on a particular grip is that used for all groundstrokes on that side? For example, as a beginner I still feel more comfortable returning hard/flat first serves by hitting a slice return with an Eastern FH or continental BH grip. When returning second (higher bouncing) serves, however, I try to use topspin. Should I: (1) Keep the more conservative grips for all returns and just try wiping faster for topspin, (2) Use SW FH & Eastern BH for topspin returns only, or (3) Try to use SW FH & Eastern BH for all returns, topspin and slice ?

The same question would pretty much apply for other groundstrokes. With the conservative grips I can hit slice or generate a fair amount of topspin, but when I get a slower or higher-bouncing shot I'd like to be able to hit a heavy topspin return (esp on the FH side). Should I use a SW or EBH for those shots only, or is it better to stick with one grip for everything on a given side? Seems like too many grips might lead to some major consistency problems.

I would recomend having a grip for a slice return (contintental most likely but it could vary) and then having one for your normal topspin and flat drive groundstroke. This applies to both the forehand and the backhand.

[blue03]

blue your post made no sense. You went from SW to E, but you play with western? and then something eastern pentrating the net..


Actually i grip with SW, but after a couple of shots, i see that i grip with Western. thats what i meant. btw i said that with eastern the ball can easily goes accross the net, not into the net. :mrgreen:

[emcee]

Yeah you should change your grip for certain shots. Certainly continental for slice and volleys. It feels weird at first but after a while you don't even have to think about it anymore...you just do it.

Btw, one of the first things my instructor did was to teach me open stance and western grip. I like the full western grip but I keep thinking...shouldn't he have taught me about the pros and cons of full western and semi-western and given me a choice?

[tennis_nerd22]

wow this is kinda funny, all this business of going from E to SW. ive found more success doing the exact opposite.

im more of a flat hitter, because i run my oppoenents around, hit down the line, cross court, and then random drop shots and slices. and whenever im under attack i always just slice back really high so i get out of trouble. i guess my game is more suited for a flatter shots, so thats probably why i prefer the eastern forehand. but i find that when i was using SW, and time i'd get a high forehand or i'd be pushed far back behind the baseline, my forehand would let me down, whereas my flat 2HBH would always get me out of trouble...

guess it comes down to playing styles, but i definitely like eastern a lot more :D (but i can still hit it with lots of topspin if/when i have to)