I know this topic has been discussed before, but I could not find it any more using search. When you serve, you want your arm to be completely relaxed. When you hit your forehand and backhand, if you have plenty of time, you can transfer your weight from your legs, hip and shoulder to your arm and use this kinetic energy to hit the ball. Your arm can be relaxed as well. However, when you are late in your groundstrokes, you just have to muscle the ball back. When your opponents' shots catch you off balance, you just have to hit an one-dimensional shot to get the ball back, your arm can't be relaxed in this case. My question is how hard should we grab our racket when hitting groundstrokes?
How hard should you grab your racket in groundstrokes?
- Thread starter jkhtennis
- Start date
Mahboob Khan
Hall of Fame
On serve: very loose.
On forehand: Quite relax.
On 1-handed backhand: Quite stiff.
On 2-handed backhand: Quite relax.
On forehand: Quite relax.
On 1-handed backhand: Quite stiff.
On 2-handed backhand: Quite relax.
Bungalo Bill
G.O.A.T.
narrator said:
If you were holding the racquet it would take a couple tugs to pull the racquet out of your hand.
Or about as much as you would holding a bird in your hand so it wouldn't fly away but you wouldn't squish (spelling???) it either.
Or about as much as you would grip a hammer while maintaining flexbility in your wrist.
On the onehanded backhand though you need a firm grip.
Tim Tennis
Professional
Get a grip
I have always been on the other side of this issue. I think people hold their racquet a lot tighter then they realize. I look at it this way. Preparation/backswing (loose, relaxed). Start of forward motion (firmer) Contact (maybe slightly firmer but not really tight.) Follow through (start to relax.)
Other factors which determine just how tight you hold your racquet are weight, balance, racquet head speed, range of motion and swing path (if your swing path is basically level you will not have to hold your racquet as tight as you would with a changing arc of a top spin shot.)
So now that I have said all this I really agree with everyone, I think. Your hand should be loose and relaxed at the beginning of all your strokes. How tight you hold the handle will be determined by the other factors above. The good news is if you just start out loose and relaxed your body will figure out the rest. If not, you will go through a lot of racquets or get cramps in your hand.
So BB, how many canaries do you go through in a year? LOL
I have always been on the other side of this issue. I think people hold their racquet a lot tighter then they realize. I look at it this way. Preparation/backswing (loose, relaxed). Start of forward motion (firmer) Contact (maybe slightly firmer but not really tight.) Follow through (start to relax.)
Other factors which determine just how tight you hold your racquet are weight, balance, racquet head speed, range of motion and swing path (if your swing path is basically level you will not have to hold your racquet as tight as you would with a changing arc of a top spin shot.)
So now that I have said all this I really agree with everyone, I think. Your hand should be loose and relaxed at the beginning of all your strokes. How tight you hold the handle will be determined by the other factors above. The good news is if you just start out loose and relaxed your body will figure out the rest. If not, you will go through a lot of racquets or get cramps in your hand.
So BB, how many canaries do you go through in a year? LOL
TennisAsAlways
Professional
^ No smiling allowed! Besides that, yes, I agree with what you've said.
tennisadict
Semi-Pro
try this.....you grab any of your finger and when you feel pain.......you hold your raket too hard
tennis-n-sc
Professional
Bungalo Bill said:
BB, the line about the bird is great. I think Sam Snead, an old great golfer, used a similar approach when asked how tight to hold a golf club. Good advise for both.
TennisAsAlways
Professional
He's saying that if you were to grip your finger and you're gripping it hard enough that you feel any pain, then you should loosen up more, just enough until you no longer feel the pain, to the degree whereas it's not too loose and not too tight — boarderline. You should be gripping the racquet with that same amount of tightness.tonyjh63 said:
All of this is fine as long as everyone understands that at contact the grip on both sides is fairly tight - has to be or your not going to hit the ball well - at least on most shots. Having said that, I would agree that most players do hold the racquet too tight - in some cases its a white knuckle death grip.
The brain is an amazing thing - it seems to sense how tight the racquet should be held so that it doesn't come flying out of your hand and provide the proper support for the hit. The basic idea is that the player doesn't have to consciously think about it too much other than keep it (grip) fairly relaxed - the brain will do the rest. Little bit like walking - think about it too much and you can't do it in a fluid motion.
The brain is an amazing thing - it seems to sense how tight the racquet should be held so that it doesn't come flying out of your hand and provide the proper support for the hit. The basic idea is that the player doesn't have to consciously think about it too much other than keep it (grip) fairly relaxed - the brain will do the rest. Little bit like walking - think about it too much and you can't do it in a fluid motion.
Pomeranian
Semi-Pro
I would grip my racquet as light as I can control. On a serve a really loose grip can do wonders for power. For groundstrokes I hold it a little firmer but relaxed.
Try to keep your arm relaxed and I'm sure you'll naturally hold your racquet lighter. It's hard to imagine a death grip with a loose arm.
Try to keep your arm relaxed and I'm sure you'll naturally hold your racquet lighter. It's hard to imagine a death grip with a loose arm.
Bungalo Bill
G.O.A.T.
tennis-n-sc said:
Yes, it is a good one. It is not my line but what was passed on to me. It may have come from ol' Sam Snead.
I am finding these days that players are gripping the handle slightly less. Not much but just slightly. But it is a good reference.
tennisplayer
Rookie
For the forehand and 2HBH topspin shots, you definitely need to have a loose grip. Not only that, it has to be coupled with a feeling that the whole body is relaxed - there should be no tightness. That is, until the acceleration phase of the forward swing begins. When this phase begins, I think "racquet head speed", and things take care of themselves usually. During the last phase of the forward swing, the muscles of the hand and body do tighten (naturally!) but that tightening happens in a coordinated way with no hitches, if one has been relaxed up until then. The grip takes care of itself, along with other things.
Sometimes in a match I tighten up unconsciously, and I start hitting these awful shots - sitters sail long, I lose power and net shots from the baseline, etc. Now I know when this starts happening, it's time for me to loosen up... and presto, the power and spin come back! Of course, that alone does not guarantee victory...
Sometimes in a match I tighten up unconsciously, and I start hitting these awful shots - sitters sail long, I lose power and net shots from the baseline, etc. Now I know when this starts happening, it's time for me to loosen up... and presto, the power and spin come back! Of course, that alone does not guarantee victory...
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