east grip 1st serve conti 2nd serve.thoughts anybody?

[looseleftie]

Hey guys, just practising today, and have always used a very slightly modified eastern for 1st serves, and cont for 2nd serves ..

Was wondering about pronation using this hybrid grip compared to full conti on speed and consistancy on first serves.

Am I losing much on first serves? I have never recorded my speeds before, but guessing around 90-105mph, as my friend serves around that speed, and he thinks I''m similar to him.. Anyway, my first serve is not too bad, need to get ball toss improved, and 2nd serve I kick and kick/slice serves with good depth and speed, pretty consistant..

Love any thoughts
Cheers

 

[Lukhas]

Eastern forehand or eastern backhand? If it's eastern forehand, it wouldn't shock me at all. If it's eastern backhand, I'd do the reverse: EBH grip for 2nd serves, conti for 1st serves. If you're happy with your serve and don't struggle with it, well it's fine by my standards.

 

[fuzz nation]

I agree that shading a little toward eastern forehand from a continental grip can help to enable a good smack on the ball for a flat heater. When I want to really crank up the spin, I'll shade my grip toward eastern backhand. Easy enough to say that you should use what works, although we can't put the eyeball test on your serves without a video clip. No biggie.

The upside of using a continental grip for all of our serves is that we can eventually serve with greater disguise. A shrewd returner can spot the grip position you're using and know what's coming well ahead of time, but this isn't a top priority. Once we learn how to get a ball in the box, we need to develop consistency, placement, and how to use varied amounts of spin on our serves before worrying about disguise.

If you can hit your flatter serve with only a mild grip change toward eastern forehand from continental, you may be better off in the long run (full eastern forehand might force you to use a bit more of an outside-in swing path than you want -that would take a LOT of patience and frustration to unlearn). With continental as your reference point for your various serves, you ought to be okay.

 

[LeeD]

Your serve is evolving, and so will be your grips.
A slight twist towards eForehand on first flat serves is OK, and Becker did it, but be aware, when you start to try to hit harder, you tend to get some backspin on the ball.
A pure conti first flat serve often goes the other way. When you start to press, it pulls the ball down more.

 

[Govnor]

Your serve is evolving, and so will be your grips.
A slight twist towards eForehand on first flat serves is OK, and Becker did it, but be aware, when you start to try to hit harder, you tend to get some backspin on the ball.
A pure conti first flat serve often goes the other way. When you start to press, it pulls the ball down more.

Lee can you explain this a bit more please?

 

[LeeD]

NOPE.
You gotta play tennis, try both grips swinging normal and as fast as you can, to understand.

 

[Govnor]

Ok, can you at least clarify the difference between backspin and "pulls the ball down more"??? I was reading that as being the same thing, but that wouldn't make sense.

 

[LeeD]

Backspin levels the flight, so the ball can't arc down into the service court. It has lower net clearance and longer flight distance.
"Pull down" is something a trained player does when he's really going for a special extra fast first flat serve. A novice would lag his racket and hit long. A good server is taught never to lag the head, leading with the wrist, on serves, so he pulls down on the head to get his racketface thru sooner. Pulling down with your head pulls the ball DOWN lower and into the netcord.
Ever watch a pro tourney when the server starts to press? First serves hit the netcord more often than barely long serves.
When there is no pressure, barely long serves happen more often than netcord serves.

 

[looseleftie]

Cheers guys.. My main question re speed still kinda remains a bit up in the air.. Am I losing much on serves using more of an eastern forehand grip on serves (albeit slightly modified at its slighlt closer to conti)..Somewhere more in middle I'm guessing here.

Whilst I can get more speed if I really want, the timing is so important, and thats one of my problems, when everything is right, it comes off quite quick, but ball toss is a little over the shop if u know what I mean, which effects my extension up and through the serve itself, and weight transference into the shot, which in turn robs me of power.. I am practising a lot more of late, which hopefully will help..

 

[Lukhas]

Well, if you think something doesn't work, better record yourself hitting and fix it. Personally, for a "pure", flat, "spinless" serve, I am not shocked at the though of using a Eastern forehand grip. Conti for second serves should allow better spin. I don't think you're loosing a lot by doing so. I'd rather focus on the rest of the mechanics if they're not working well.