silent_death
New User
may i noe wat grips do pros generally use nowadays???do federer and hewitt both use semi western??
grips??
- Thread starter silent_death
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johnmcc516
Semi-Pro
Most Pros use a semi-western forehand, with a continental 1hbh or 2hbh. Serve with continental. Volleying varies.
federer_nadal
Professional
Western is coming in slowly with the next generations of players. I recently did a coaching clinic with mark woodfordes dad and he was teaching all western and he is the highest level of caoch in aus i think
GRANITECHIEF
Hall of Fame
Have any of the greatest tennis champions used a western/extreme grip? I don't think so, except for some of the clay guys, but they are not generally GOAT's.
Robert Lansdorp, coach of Austin, Sampras, Davenport, Sharapova, etc., says that the western grips are ruining the chances of potential champions, cuz they have success early on, then have trouble with more pace and lower balls.
Robert Lansdorp, coach of Austin, Sampras, Davenport, Sharapova, etc., says that the western grips are ruining the chances of potential champions, cuz they have success early on, then have trouble with more pace and lower balls.
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splink779
Guest
Courier was what I would call a champ and I think he swung western (not 100% on this, someone back me up). Moya hit #1 and won the french, I'd call him a champ. Did Borg swing western?
Teaching a young kid western grip is a good way at ruining their development. Everytime I play someone who uses western I slice to their forehands and get free points. SW would be the most extreme to teach any kid. Western grip players put so much effort into their swing and all that energy goes into topspin which is easy to hit back by more advanced players.... why? Because it doesn't take away time. Give advanced level players time and once they get used to the topspin... watch that ball come right back at you at 90+ MPH.
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splink779
Guest
alan-n said:
Grips are not Fads. Some would find that insulting. People make careers out of that grip. Sure if you are a 4.5 playing a kid who is a 3.5 that swings western you will beat him.
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splink779
Guest
Not everyone out there is looking to win the US Open. Just let people use whatever they want this is ridiculous.
tom-selleck
Professional
i think western to way too much for recreational players... even amongst touring pro's, i only think clay court guys should use it (i know they play all surfaces, but alot of spanish/south american guys "focus" on clay).
even federer is apparently between semi-western and eastern, more towards SW.
i assume most of us play on hardcourts and we all need closer to hand behind grip.
even federer is apparently between semi-western and eastern, more towards SW.
i assume most of us play on hardcourts and we all need closer to hand behind grip.
Camilio Pascual
Hall of Fame
A Fad??? Google "Western Grip" history and hit the cached section on the first site. In the "A Beautiful Game" section there is an interesting comment.
"The modern supremacy of the originally-made-for-clay Western grip brings about, paradoxically, the demise of the 'red clay specialist.' Power is now the master that conquers all surfaces."
Please note a discrepancy between the aforementioned and what follows.
From cbs.sportsline.com/tennis/story/6145343. They say the Western grip was developed on hard courts in California.
It then gets incorporated into the clay game and many forget that it originated as a hard court grip. Those who feel it originated on clay now see it as the grip of the future for hard courts.
The grip has been around for 60 some years or more and there is little reason to doubt it will go away as its effectiveness on hard courts demonstrate.
FAD??? No way.
"The modern supremacy of the originally-made-for-clay Western grip brings about, paradoxically, the demise of the 'red clay specialist.' Power is now the master that conquers all surfaces."
Please note a discrepancy between the aforementioned and what follows.
From cbs.sportsline.com/tennis/story/6145343. They say the Western grip was developed on hard courts in California.
It then gets incorporated into the clay game and many forget that it originated as a hard court grip. Those who feel it originated on clay now see it as the grip of the future for hard courts.
The grip has been around for 60 some years or more and there is little reason to doubt it will go away as its effectiveness on hard courts demonstrate.
FAD??? No way.
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splink779
Guest
Camilio Pascual said:
Thank you for that!
I play in the us on hard courts and i hit semi western grip I think the emergence of the western grip isnt a fad, but it has come along somewhat suddenly. the reason for it, is becasue of racqeut stiffness. Frames that are high powered such as the babolat pure drive and plus require that the player hits either softly, or with big topspin. What better way to brush up on the ball than to use a more closed grip? Andy roddick uses a closed grip, not just for the hell of it, not cause' it looks good, he plays with that grip because its effective. Tons of players i compete with use western grips with their pure drives, as well as many many other racuets. Western is here to stay, no doubt about that. AS for the person who thinks that western grip is going to destroy a kid's chances at being a good player, there are pleanty of people i can aquaint you with who can bagel you here in New Jersey using their western grips. im not sure what you have against that grip, but look at the pro game, and tell me that hewitt, roddick and the many many others arent living up to their potential becasue of their forhand grips. its just not so, and in 5 years, agassi will be gone and the eastern grip will be a fad on the way out.
tom-selleck
Professional
hummer23 said:
do pure drive players like roddick, clisters, moya use huge topspin on their 2HB too???? seems a little harder to do.... and 2HB backhand is weird, sometimes i can hit it hard flat and stays way in and other times way out. probably more topspin than i think sometimes.
i think the point about the kids is that they get overly dependent on the grip for success. and what works with 10 year olds doesn't work when they get older... so they have to adapt later on, unless they stay as clay specialists.
won't get into comparing players, but just say that sampras/federer don't use western grip.
but no, i don't think it's a fad
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splink779
Guest
I can't imagine it is easy for young kids to even use western until they get into their teens. Unless you are Nadal and have biceps like the Hulk. I my self use a semi-western/western hybrid grip. With a closed grip you are able to hit the ball as hard as you want and it will stay in due to the spin (J.Johansson, Roddick). Not only that but the ball jumps once it hits the court, which can ruin opponents timing. This is why today's power game is in need of more closed grips. If Sampras swung as hard as J.J., there is no way he could keep it in the court. I understand you can generate topspin with eastern grips but not to the same extent when clobbering the ball that you can with a closed grip.
BaseLineBash
Hall of Fame
"Hummer23", Agassi does not use an eastern, semi-west or full-western, his main grip is inbetween eastern and semi-west.
