A 12 year veteran of the 3.0 level is likely to never be able to properly hit an overhead with a continental grip. This player will likely have more long term success in trying to hone in non-conventional techniques as opposed to trying to learn a more conventional technique.
Actually, you are incorrect about this.
As I explained before, sis has not been playing for 12 years at 3.0. She has had very long breaks, coupled with injuries.
But here's the encouraging thing.
After her most recent knee surgery, she decided to return to USTA league tennis. That was last spring. She decided to make an effort to do the thing properly this time, and we talked about what that might mean. She in particular wanted my thoughts on what to work on first if she wanted to get to 3.5 or 4.0 someday (all of her friends did not take a hiatus and are now at those levels).
I said the single most important thing was to commit to using the correct grips.
Well, what do you know? She took a few lessons and can now use a Continental grip to serve!
It is straight up adorable to watch (and I mean that in the best possible way). She hits her serve, and it has slice. Not enough slice to bother someone at a higher level, but slice is something that 3.0 opponents have never experienced. She now gets aces and service winners without having changed anything but her grip. She is still working on mastering it, but I encouraged her to use it every single time, no matter how important the point is. I think she has become a believer because she has seen how much opponents will T off on her old, straight serve, but will struggle with these off-pace spinny serves she now hits.
Next on her to-do list: Volleying with the correct grips. That will be a long-term project. But the key to being competitive in senior tennis is being able to volley well so you don't have to run a lot, so I think that should be the next goal.
Cindy -- hoping to play a 3.5 tournament with her sister someday because at the rate things are going they will both be 3.5s soon