Gauff serve grip
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tennishabit
Legend
wat's the 'rsi':?)) 'renowned suresh institute':?)) which conti. in ur iron-clamp grip already:?)) hopefully not australia
............
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Better_Call_Raul
Hall of Fame
What is the key to hitting a flattish first serve with an Eastern Backhand grip?
Find it nearly impossible. Result is always spinny.
Find it nearly impossible. Result is always spinny.
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innoVAShaun
G.O.A.T.
'USO 24
innoVAShaun
G.O.A.T.
'24 WTA Finals
innoVAShaun
G.O.A.T.
2025 AO
innoVAShaun
G.O.A.T.
'25 Qatar
Friedman Whip
Professional
What is the key to hitting a flattish first serve with an Eastern Backhand grip?
Find it nearly impossible. Result is always spinny.
I believe the only way to hit flat serve with Eastern BH grip would be to hit the ball with the other side of the racquet face - not the side of the racquet face that you hit with when using continental grip. And that's not something that you would want to do if you are trying to be a really good player.What is the key to hitting a flattish first serve with an Eastern Backhand grip?
Find it nearly impossible. Result is always spinny.
Friedman Whip
Professional
Interesting that you should mention this. Years ago Coco use to have many problems with double faults. Then later she went through a period during which she served better and the double fault problem pretty much went away. I for one thought she had things fixed. Now in the last few months it seems her serve is worse and the double faults have returned. ??
And as an aside it never appeared to me that she really ever used a real Eastern BH grip.
Better_Call_Raul
Hall of Fame
With (index knuckle bevel#, heel pad bevel#) as the reference,
Continental grip is (2,2)
Strong Continental is (2,1)
Eastern BH is (1,1).
Maybe someone with a keen eye can identify what grip she is using in the pics above.
And highly doubt any pro is using a (1,1) Eastern BH grip on a first serve. That would be ridiculous. For a spinny second serve it will work fine. But not on a first serve. Unthinkable...
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Dragy
Legend
Better_Call_Raul
Hall of Fame
Typo. Eastern BH grip is (1,1).
Highly doubt any pro is consistently using a (1,1) Eastern BH grip on a first serve. Unless they have a monster kick. But monster kicks are not seen in the WTA.
Suspect Coco is experimenting with Continental and Serve Doc's "Pro Grip" on first serve. But not an Eastern BH grip on first serve.
Can anyone check the pics and confirm?
Continental Grip: (2,2)
Index knuckle on bevel 2, heel pad on bevel 2.
Pro Grip (Pat Dougherty): (2,1)
Index knuckle on bevel 2, heel pad on bevel 1.
Eastern Backhand Grip: (1,1)
Index knuckle on bevel 1, heel pad on bevel 1.
travlerajm
Talk Tennis Guru
The photos provided indicate that Coco indeed changed her grip.
She is full Conti in all pics, but in 2025 she is choked up slightly (1/4”) compared to 2024.
She is full Conti in all pics, but in 2025 she is choked up slightly (1/4”) compared to 2024.
Better_Call_Raul
Hall of Fame
If one considers choking up more a change in grip then yes she has "changed her grip".
But suspect she was using Continental all along for first serves.
Either standard (2,2) Continental or Serve Doc's Pro Grip (2,1)
But nobody is consistently using a (1,1) Eastern BH on flattish first serves. That would be too spinny.
How is that even possible?
johnmccabe
Hall of Fame
E for second serve too? E can work for flat 1st serve. Not sure how it works for different spin serves.
Friedman Whip
Professional
A serve is not defined just by being "eastern". Are you talking about eastern forehand or eastern backhand? 90 degrees difference between the two.
Friedman Whip
Professional
I never had a tennis lesson in my life and it took me many years before I learned how to hit a virtually perfect flat ball with a continental grip and also hit a spinning kick serve with the identical grip. Here is how it works for me. Everything is the same until you start the upward swing coming out of the racquet drop. From there, to hit a kick like serve you hit the ball with the oft quoted 7:30 to 1:30 up and over type motion. To hit it flat, instead of hitting with the up and over motion you pronate as you swing up so that the racquet face is flat to the direction of the ball.
Some say that they also do some pronation on a kick serve as part of the 7:30 to 1:30 motion but I have never been able to make that work. For the top spin type serve I have to think of using Jeff Salzenstein's "dirty diaper" motion.
Just a remark. I posted answering that user and I incorrectly read eastern, but he was talking about backhand eastern, which is on the other side. So, my bad.
You should be able to hit both flat (flatter) and kick with the same motion only changing the contact point and leaving the swing the same. Kickers can also be hit from a more "flat" position (ball a litte more upfront) by using more legs.
Power Player
Bionic Poster
I go a little eastern. Full Conti I tend to serve a bit too much to the right and miss wide serving on the deuce side . So there is a slight adjustment I need to make there. A lot of pros serve a little more eastern compared to a full Conti grip. I have a coach I work with with and he has no problem with my grip, it’s not a full eastern though.
Interesting nuances though. Im still working through them.
Interesting nuances though. Im still working through them.
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