Different grips for warm up and actual hitting?

[zill]

This will sound really odd but I’ve always had problems with my semi western forehand. Then one day I was playing around with grips and tried the strong eastern grip instead of my normal semi western grip forehand. I was hitting way worse but then switched back to my normal semi western forehand grip and normal motion and was hitting forehands beautifully. Anyone else experienced this?

so I was thinking should I warm up in the strong eastern grip then switch to the semi western grip for the match?

 

[ptuanminh]

a bit similar. once i have loosen up, my fh grip moves closer to semi western.

 

[zill]

a bit similar. once i have loosen up, my fh grip moves closer to semi western.

do you deliberately warm up closer to eastern or is it natural for you?

 

[Deleted member 768841]

I warm up in eastern, and I fade in between. To flatten out I hit eastern, but for baseline rallies I hit semi western.

 

[StringSnapper]

I think this makes sense, because an eastern grip will generate power and depth more easily. So while your body is cold, it's great. Then if you wanna get more spin and your body is warm to hit more powerfully, the SW

Also eastern is possibly harder to control, so you will benefit there as well going to something easier

Does your swingpath stay the same?

 

[zill]

Does your swingpath stay the same?

I feel my swing path is longer and higher if I use eastern.

 

[SystemicAnomaly]

I feel my swing path is longer and higher if I use eastern.

The swing path and, possibly, the contact point could be somewhat different for different grips.

I often use extreme version of an Eastern for many of my rally balls. But will often switch to a SW grip for high bouncing (high contact) balls. I can switch back & forth pretty easily between the 2 grips without any loss of control. I easily developed muscle memory for both grips.

Other than that, I see no compelling or logical reason to use a different grip for warm up than you would for your regular play.

 

[ptuanminh]

do you deliberately warm up closer to eastern or is it natural for you?

I just start closer to eastern, not intentional at all. must be a habit. but then after 45 minutes hitting or, i find myself moving my grip towards semi western.

 

[S&V-not_dead_yet]

This will sound really odd but I’ve always had problems with my semi western forehand. Then one day I was playing around with grips and tried the strong eastern grip instead of my normal semi western grip forehand. I was hitting way worse but then switched back to my normal semi western forehand grip and normal motion and was hitting forehands beautifully. Anyone else experienced this?

so I was thinking should I warm up in the strong eastern grip then switch to the semi western grip for the match?

I'm a strong believer in not ignoring such results so if it works, do it.

However, I would like to understand why it's happening so maybe I could figure out a way to not have to switch because switching opens up more variability.

If I had to take a guess, switching causes you to over-compensate something and when you switch back, that something is now optimal.

 

[Clay lover]

I'm a strong believer in not ignoring such results so if it works, do it.

However, I would like to understand why it's happening so maybe I could figure out a way to not have to switch because switching opens up more variability.

If I had to take a guess, switching causes you to over-compensate something and when you switch back, that something is now optimal.

Totally agree. He might be subconsciously hitting with a flatter swing path or closing his racquet face more with the Eastern, which works for his SW once that muscle memory has dialled in

 

[zill]

I'm a strong believer in not ignoring such results so if it works, do it.

However, I would like to understand why it's happening so maybe I could figure out a way to not have to switch because switching opens up more variability.

If I had to take a guess, switching causes you to over-compensate something and when you switch back, that something is now optimal.

Yes! Think I have worked out that out!

 

[zill]

Totally agree. He might be subconsciously hitting with a flatter swing path or closing his racquet face more with the Eastern, which works for his SW once that muscle memory has dialled in

Think so!

 

[_GOATbis]

I use eastern for a warm-up and extreme western for actual hitting. It's difficult to hit with western grip straight away, especially for half-court warm-up.