Grip Change

[wings56]

Originally Posted by dtl2000

Hello

My son started playing 2 years ago. He is 12 now and is not going to be tall.
He is very speedy around the court and loves the game.

His coach is pushing to change his grip from a semi-western to an extreme. His reasoning is due to his height (or lack of).

He seems to hit his forehand pretty good (in my limited experience).

Coach says that its fine now but as he begins to play nationals in a year or so and begins approaching college scouting age, he won't have the results that he needs.

Seems to make sense to me. He showed me the difference and I'm almost a "go" with it.

I have been eyeing this forum for a few months and it seems there are lots of opinions on grips.

Any tips are greatly appreciated.

Thanks
Rebekka

just look at the small guys on the tour. most of them have more traditional (sw to eastern) grips in order to drive the ball through the court. even the taller pros who are considered to have 'extreme' grips are actually closer to SW when you look at their contact point. i would strongly advise to stick with what is working. there is no limiting factor with a SW grip. federer has absolutely no problem hitting balls above his head and he has an eastern forehand grip. hope that helps.

[dtl2000]

Can't say enough how impressed I am with the info.

I have printed this thread out and will take it to his coach tonight.

I am convinced however that I need to stay with how it is.

He's doing fine and I'd like to continue the progress.

[donnymac10s]

Originally Posted by dtl2000

The way it was explained to me was that since he is on the shorter side, the boys will try to roll the ball up high out of his hit zone and therefore the extreme western grip will give him a higher hit zone.

I suppose another question should be: how long should it take to change a grip? And, should he grow, would we change it back? Do the kids do that? Change back and forth?

I do like this coach and to a degree I trust his advice, however, I am always one to ask around.

I was ordering a racquet for him a few months ago and saw Tennis Warehouse had a message board so I began reading here. Seems there is lots of information and experienced coaches and parents. We are in somewhat of a remote area so its good to reach out.

But this presupposes that he will not only be short but also slow. If he's fast, he can get to the ball early and hit a penetrating shot with a more "normal" grip. Also, a western grip can be neutralized with a sharp slice. As TCF said, there is a trade-off in whatever he does. For example, his returns may suffer due to the time it takes to switch from a FH grip to a BH and vice versa. This could be a huge obstacle in a couple of year. But again, try not to get your info on all the message boards. Maybe getting a second opinion from another trustworthy coach that you know would be more helpful.

[Number1Coach]

Originally Posted by onehandbh

At 12, how do you know he won't grow a lot more? I was only 5'3" at 15 and grew to 6'.

I think the word " IF " is a tough one also, can really change what your reading 'if' you don't overlook it.

[Tennishacker]

Originally Posted by tennis5

I think good coaching looks at the end result when your junior is 18.....
A long term picture is better than a short term view of winning.

I would skip this coach.

Agree, I really don't understand any teaching coach out there that would teach a extreme western grip...

[JLyon]

Originally Posted by Tennishacker

Agree, I really don't understand any teaching coach out there that would teach a extreme western grip...

a lazy coach maybe

[jigglypuff]

Originally Posted by JLyon

a lazy coach maybe

Or a greedy coach?

[NLBwell]

Differences of opinon do not make a coach lazy or greedy.