Base knuckle on flat serve

[HewittSuckz]

I know all serves are for the most part served with a continental grip but when i am serving my first serve which is very flat i find that my base knuckle is nowhere near a continental grip and is closer to a eastern forehand than anything. my results are pretty good for the most part but was just wondering if this was unusual and if i should try moving my base knuckle back a bit toward the continental grip to put some spin on it for safety. any input would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Saito]

I do the same thing.... well, before I used to use a Continental, but a friend had given me the advice to hold it cloer to EFH(not an actual forehand grip) and my first serve's pace increased because of it. So, IMO you're on the right track..... but that's me.... maybe others will have something different to say about it

 

[Prince_of_Tennis]

Same. For I can snap my wrist near contact a lot better than holding it continental. Also it feels a lot more stable than the contiental. Then again when I learned to serve I used the eastern backhand

 

[alan-n]

You guys must not use much of your legs or toss the ball slightly to the right. I think when most of us started serving we used the eastern FH grip at some point. If you were to drive with much of your legs, and hit the ball at the highest point posible than eastern FH wouldn't get the job done. Continental allows the wrist the pronate so you can hit the ball at the highest point possible for best net clearance and pace.

 

[kevhen]

Eastern forehand for flats and eastern backhand for spin serves, no continental grip needed here and the serve is the best part of my game, 4.5+ level serve.

 

[troytennisbum]

Yes, I guess eastern forehand is what you would use to hit a flat serve.

But don't even bother using this grip/shot unless you are tall enough to
hit DOWN on the ball.