Forehand grip change for a 9 year old?

topspinnerMN

New User
My kid hits with an extreme semi western grip, where his knuckle is on #4 bevel but closer to the bottom bevel ( #5 bevel). He generates a ton of racket head speed and the balls still land a feet inside baseline. Some of the coaches he worked with tried to change the grip so the knuckle is closer middle bevel (#3) so he can drive the ball harder. Then there are these coaches who think his forehand grip is fine as he is able to blast his forehands with lot of speed and topspin. Should I work on changing his grip or leave it as it is? One of the coaches tried to change it but my kid absolutely hated it and had hard time keeping the ball in court and couldn't generate the same amount of power and spin. This coach insists on keep working on this grip before working on anything else like serve, backhands etc.
 

3loudboys

G.O.A.T.
Sounds like he hits a good ball with it as is. Novak hits a three quarter western forehand and it hasn’t hurt his career. Maybe a slight tweak to go closer to semi western - more versatile - but only if your son feels comfortable with it. Good luck with it.
 
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Jonesy

Legend
It is a fine grip. Djokovic and Nadal both developed their games with even more extreme grips and did fine with it. You can drive easily with extreme grips with a more horizontal swingpath.

And it is probably an easier grip for him because at 9 years of age almost all balls will be jumping at chest high or above, with that grip this should the ideal strike zone.
 

vex

Legend
My kid hits with an extreme semi western grip, where his knuckle is on #4 bevel but closer to the bottom bevel ( #5 bevel). He generates a ton of racket head speed and the balls still land a feet inside baseline. Some of the coaches he worked with tried to change the grip so the knuckle is closer middle bevel (#3) so he can drive the ball harder. Then there are these coaches who think his forehand grip is fine as he is able to blast his forehands with lot of speed and topspin. Should I work on changing his grip or leave it as it is? One of the coaches tried to change it but my kid absolutely hated it and had hard time keeping the ball in court and couldn't generate the same amount of power and spin. This coach insists on keep working on this grip before working on anything else like serve, backhands etc.
Honestly this is personal preference. The three greatest players we’ve seen have all hit amazing FHs and done it from E, SW and W (ish) grips.

My personal thought is this: generating power on a FH is easy for any adult male. Most of your power simply comes from how fast you can cyclone up the ball. You really don’t need to (or even want to) hit a ton of “plow thru” unless you’re some FH savant like Del Potro. You can get all the power you need with your core, body rotation, just ripping up, ect.

I personally use a E FH. Not because I needed the extra power but because I really struggled with launch angle control/consistency with my old SW grip. I felt like I actually had MORE power with SW than E because SW was easier to really RIP up the ball and impart insane spin and pace. But for whatever reason (I’m bad) I couldn’t consistently control my launch angle with SW.

If I had the natural talent to control a SW or even W FH I would absolutely use them over my E because spin is king in this sport and those FHs allow for a more fluid generation of it. That’s not to say you can’t hit with plenty of spin with an E FH. Clearly you can, but SW/W just let’s it come a bit easier.

The ceiling for your son will definitely NOT come down to his FH grip limiting his power in any fashion. He’ll be able to hit as hard as he wants/needs to with a W grip if he just puts the work in.
 

Jonesy

Legend
Nadal has always been semi western.
In fact that is not completely true, kid Nadal and the beginning of his pro career used a Western grip, see 2004/2005 matches that it was an exagerated super spin clay courter forehand. He only changed it in 2006 to a SW grip.

Young Djokovic (2005) also used a Western grip before he changed to an extreme SW (bevel 4.5).

It was a pretty common trend for teenagers to use the western grip because of short height (hit zone is high) before growing up.
 
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jindra

Hall of Fame
In fact that is not completely true, kid Nadal and the beginning of his pro career used a Western grip, see 2004/2005 matches that it was an exagerated super spin clay courter forehand. He only changed it in 2006 to a SW grip.

Young Djokovic (2005) also used a Western grip before he changed to an extreme SW (bevel 4.5).

Hmmmm...

spains-rafael-nadal-hits-a-ball-23-september-2004-in-alicante-during-picture-id51338803


 

topspinnerMN

New User
It’s honestly not a bad idea for him to work on the various grips. Out of curiousity, How does your kid handle low balls?
By low ball I'm assuming knee height. He gets really low and whips up the ball with top spin. I have trouble returning those from inside baseline due to pace it comes back to me. He has trouble with some high heavy top spin balls I hit which jump out of his reach unless he takes it on the raise.
 

NastyWinners

Hall of Fame
By low ball I'm assuming knee height. He gets really low and whips up the ball with top spin. I have trouble returning those from inside baseline due to pace it comes back to me. He has trouble with some high heavy top spin balls I hit which jump out of his reach unless he takes it on the raise.

I wouldn’t change it then personally. At least at his age. Later on he can work on hitting with various grips bc they do have some advantages but best to let what is most natural for him continue.
 

nyta2

Legend
My kid hits with an extreme semi western grip, where his knuckle is on #4 bevel but closer to the bottom bevel ( #5 bevel). He generates a ton of racket head speed and the balls still land a feet inside baseline. Some of the coaches he worked with tried to change the grip so the knuckle is closer middle bevel (#3) so he can drive the ball harder. Then there are these coaches who think his forehand grip is fine as he is able to blast his forehands with lot of speed and topspin. Should I work on changing his grip or leave it as it is? One of the coaches tried to change it but my kid absolutely hated it and had hard time keeping the ball in court and couldn't generate the same amount of power and spin. This coach insists on keep working on this grip before working on anything else like serve, backhands etc.
main thing i'd worry about is making sure the grip doesn't keep drifting too far west/hawaiian
are you tall? maybe that's why a coach is suggesting E (ala del potro), since being tall, your kid will have less issues with high balls.
also E can be a bit easier when taking the ball earlier, on the rise
personally i think SW is ideal, but i'm also a bit short 5'4"... and can use help with higher balls
but i also have made the transition from H to SW. H was developed as a kid because (a) my footwork sucked, and H a grip that was easier to handle high balls (b) because it let me access topspin more easily... but i made the switch to SW (closer to E then W) to be able to drive through the ball more easily
you might be able to compromise, keep SW (bevel #4), but only move it a tiny bit towards #3, but that can be tricky as the grip tends to drift back to where it was (unless you have some feedback mechanism to remind him). maybe the coach who wanted #3 was thinking he only wanted it a tiny bit closer to #3, but not fully on #3?
 

TennisCJC

Legend
My opinion is a W grip isn't a good grip to teach to a junior. It is too extreme and results in difficulty with low balls and timing in general. It also makes the grip change from serve to FH, or BH to FH have to travel farther. Finally, it moves your contact point to be more in front which means you have to be quicker and have better footwork. I think a SW or E/SW are the better grips overall. Having said that, there are certainly exceptions like Jack Sock who hits a tremendous FH with a W. But vast majority of ATP and WTA players are around SW give or take a bit.

It's a tough call for your son. Personally, I think kids migrate toward W because it works a bit better for high balls and when you are a kid, many balls require high contact points because kids usually are shorter than adults. My wife is 5' 4" and I taught her to play and tried to get her to use a SW or E. She migrated toward W and lows balls and low balls that required her to supply pace gave her trouble.

Personally, I think the coach is correct and sticking with a true W grip would be a mistake. As you kid gets taller, a W isn't going to be as necessary and a SW or E/SW hybrid are easier to use and more versatile.
 

Jonesy

Legend
Actually, it looks clearly a SW to me. A full W would have the heel pad and index knuckle on bevel 5 and they look clearly on bevel 4. Also, many coaches have stated it is a SW.
You are telling me that the left pic is bevel 4? It is clearly bevel 5. And i already stated he changed in 2006 to a SW, before that it was clearly a Western. Most coaches only mention the grip he used most of his career, that is after 2005.

images
 

TennisCJC

Legend
You are telling me that the left pic is bevel 4? It is clearly bevel 5. And many coaches stated that Nadal was using a western in 2005.

images
The green shirt doesn't look like a W at all to me and the blue shirt look like a hybrid SW/W. Also, Nadal also learned to play on slow clay courts with a high bounce. A W grip is not nearly as effective on grass or a hard court and that may be why Nadal migrated to a SW as he matured.
 
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