Switch to an eastern grip?

[Omar4GO6]

I just started taking lessons from my friend, he's not a well established tennis pro, but I feel that he helps my game more than any other person I've taken lesson from. He feels that I should switch to an eastern grip from my current semi-western grip. He says that using an eastern grip gives me easier power and exerts less energey. I plan on taking four lessons a week until the end of december. Would not changing my grip effect my lesson in a negative way? I'm at a 4.0 level and want to basically adapt my game to be similar to my coaches, does this mean it's necessary to change my grip to get the most benefit from his lessons? I've experimented with using an eastern grip and it doesn't feel comfortable. I'm not sure how long it would take for me to be comfortable using an eastern grip but do you guys think it would pay off?

[Say Chi Sin Lo]

You've answered it yourself already, it didn't feel comfortable to you. Why jeopardize your entire game just to play like someone else? It's perfectly OK to deviate from your coaches.

Since you already have a semi-western grip, there's nothing you can do with an eastern that you can't already do with a semi-western.

The notion of "easy power" really means a flatter shot, which you can already do with a semi-western.

Also, a change to certain grips doesn't mean you'll advance to another level. Changing grips changes a lot of things, your footwork, your swing path, and most importantly, your contact point.

I have an eastern grip, and I wouldn't advise anyone to change to it for the same reasons I won't change to a semi-western.

[Bagumbawalla]

This is really the kind of question that you need to answer yourself- based on your own feelings and knowledge of your own game.

If it were me and I was deciding for myself; I would ask my self if I felt comfortable with my SW grip, if I felt any discomfort of shortcoming from using it, if I had confidence in it and if it suited my style of play and my concept of how the game should be played.

I would base my decision on the answers to those kinds of questions.

[Hi I'm Ray]

Originally Posted by Bagumbawalla

I would ask my self if I felt comfortable with my SW grip, if I felt any discomfort of shortcoming from using it, if I had confidence in it and if it suited my style of play and my concept of how the game should be played.

Well put

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OP: You get a pretty easy and fluid swing using an eastern grip, both on the FH and BH side, that's probably what he means by exerting less energy.

I'm guessing that if you're at 4.0 and using a SW grip, you can take a pretty good rip at meduim height to high balls. Trying an eastern grip, have someone hit you a couple of high bouncing moonballs, a few high paceless shots, and a few lobs at the baseline. You'll probably find that it is quite difficult to attack these shots with the Eastern grip in comparison to the SW grip. You could find your answer right there.

[tamdoankc]

I've been playing over 20 years and my coach taught the traditional eastern but now I wish I grew up with a sw. To me e doesn't have the margin for error as the sw.

[LeeD]

Stay with your SW, start hitting the wall once in a while to flatten out your stroke. The wall allows you to listen and see the results of your swing. Usually, shortening the backswing also flattens out the shot, and you use less effort hitting the shot.

[Sky_Boy]

Eastern grip allows u to hit flatter balls which gives more power

[Sky_Boy]

your not comfortable with SW grip is because u r too used to eastern and haven't got used to it yet.. when u have hit 5000 balls with SW grip i m sure u will be used to it... as for what u should used i recommend SW grip as it allows for more spin which means it's more consistent.. it also doesn't mean u can rotate grip during a rally.. there r balls that u can hit with an eastern grip when u want the power or change it to sw grip if u want more spin

[Limpinhitter]

Originally Posted by Sky_Boy

Eastern grip allows u to hit flatter balls which gives more power

Not true. A SW grip promotes hitting more out front, which promotes more rotation before contact, which increases angular momentum and, therefore, increases both power and spin.

[VeeSe]

You can be successful with any forehand grip (Eastern, SW, Western); it's just a matter of preference and which one suits YOUR game more. You certainly have successful examples of each at the pro level.

[zapvor]

i use sw, but on some shots that are real wide or bouncing high i switch to eastern and just kind of tap it back in play. i didint used to be able to do that but i am finding as i get better, i can actually hit the ball using different grip

[filphil]

Originally Posted by zapvor

i use sw, but on some shots that are real wide or bouncing high i switch to eastern and just kind of tap it back in play. i didint used to be able to do that but i am finding as i get better, i can actually hit the ball using different grip

I sort of do a side swipe with my sw grip on high balls. I can't be the only one to do this and can say the results have been fairly positive.

[Timbo's hopeless slice]

I hereby confess that I switch grips depending on what I am trying to do.

generally, the deeper in the court I am (or the higher the incoming ball), the further around I take my grip (towards W)

I don't know if I would recommend this to anyone, as I have been playing 35 years and can hit a FH with pretty much any grip, it's probably better to find a grip that works and stick to it.

to OP, if I were you, I wouldn't make the switch.

[dherring]

Originally Posted by Limpinhitter

Not true. A SW grip promotes hitting more out front, which promotes more rotation before contact, which increases angular momentum and, therefore, increases both power and spin.

You are right, but I don't think that he was referring to power and spin potential of the different grips so much. What I got was that he meant since you are using less racket-head speed to brush up for topspin, the ball has more pace for the same effort. At the same swing speed, less topspin equals more pace. That is what I think he meant at least

[zapvor]

Originally Posted by filphil

I sort of do a side swipe with my sw grip on high balls. I can't be the only one to do this and can say the results have been fairly positive.

side swipe? do you mean like a squash shot a la sharapova type?

[filphil]

Originally Posted by zapvor

side swipe? do you mean like a squash shot a la sharapova type?

If it's the shot I'm recalling from memory then I would say yes. I tried a quick search to see what you were talking about to no avail.

[zapvor]

what i used to do is that. on a real wide shot i would have eastern grip and actually hit a forehand slice chop side swipe thing. but lately i have been more trying to step in a lil more and use eastern grip, and hit more a flat shot back so my racket face is perpendicular to the court vs. open from before

[LeeD]

Nothing at all wrong with your wide slice forehand reply...
I just like to use a heavy slice for that ball, one that buys me time to recover and start to head back towards center of intersect, and one where the spin would give most players problems to take on a NML volley.
Height over the net is usually safely low, like 3' above the net, so it goes deep to neutalize baseliners and low enough to force net people to hit UP on their approach volley.

[rufus_smith]

I've always used the eastern on faster hardcourts. One thing people don't mention is that, if you want on certain shots, you can make the full eastern grip act like a semi-western grip by keeping the racquet face a bit closed and brushing up at contact. That way you can get the benefit of both types of grips. The drawback is that it takes a strong grip and a strong wrist to do that trick. I like the eastern for serve return and for hitting low flat shots. Most new young players are taught the SW nowadays, I think.

[boramiNYC]

Originally Posted by rufus_smith

I've always used the eastern on faster hardcourts. One thing people don't mention is that, if you want on certain shots, you can make the full eastern grip act like a semi-western grip by keeping the racquet face a bit closed and brushing up at contact. That way you can get the benefit of both types of grips. The drawback is that it takes a strong grip and a strong wrist to do that trick. I like the eastern for serve return and for hitting low flat shots. Most new young players are taught the SW nowadays, I think.

That's a very good point. Eastern allows more versatility but to reach near mastery on it is harder than to reach near mastery on SW. But, it's possible to hit just like SW with E with the wrist manipulation. If one hits only SW type shot with E there is no point playing E since SW is more efficient in that particular shot. OP, if you click with your friend's teaching it's well worth trying E. With a really good instruction, E can be very powerful for some people. I improved a lot while trying different styles, grips, and swings. One tends to settle into one style but if you haven't tried E, I'd say go for it.