Question for people that have had success with eastern and semi western forehands..

[keepurpowderdry]

With a eastern forehand If you use a windshield wiper swing path won't that act like using a semi western grip.

Would using a semi western grip work with a traditional forehand swing path (closed stance)?

Also Everyone's instruction that I come across say's that when the racquet face makes contact with the ball the racquet face should be parallel to the ground. I watch slow motion videos on utube and I never see that happen . Especially with a semi or full western grip with a windshield wiper swing??

When I practice any of these grips and modern and traditional strokes I can only make them work with low to high swing. But on the instructional videos and pro videos I see them hit stright threw the ball. Is it because they are hitting a faster paced ball's at waist level?? I am allways hitting medium to slow paced but I allways move to where it gets to my waist level...

Thanks for your time...

 

[snr]

Well first of all I'm not a coach but I'll try my 2 cents lol.

On whether or not a SW forehand grip will work with a classic swing, I'd say yes. Obviously with the different grip it will change your contact point, and being SW as opposed to an eastern, probably slightly higher (in the classic swing). With the classic swing you hit through the ball, but the racquet face is parallel to the net if I understand it correctly.

On the racquet being parallel to the ground at contact for the WW swing, I'd say that would be exaggeration. With the face completely parallel to the ground, even with massive topspin, I don't see the ball making it over the net, or even getting anywhere for that matter. You DO want to hit with a closed face though, so the face will tilt that "towards the ground" just not to the extent of being parallel to it. With the WW, you want to "brush over" the ball (which is why you hit it with a closed face)

On the last one of going low to high, yes you do go more "horizontal" however, its not necessarily more through. Remember with the WW, while the swing is more horizontal, with the closed face, you "brush" the ball, giving the topspin. Check out fuzzyyellowballs, some awesome instructors and videos there, heres a video of the difference between the classic and WW http://www.fuzzyyellowballs.com/videos/index.php/view/948/221/Tennis_Windshield_Wiper_Forehand

and I do apologize if any of this is incorrect... definitely feel free to correct me and I'll edit stuff out if need be.

 

[keepurpowderdry]

Well first of all I'm not a coach but I'll try my 2 cents lol.

On whether or not a SW forehand grip will work with a classic swing, I'd say yes. Obviously with the different grip it will change your contact point, and being SW as opposed to an eastern, probably slightly higher (in the classic swing). With the classic swing you hit through the ball, but the racquet face is parallel to the net if I understand it correctly.

On the racquet being parallel to the ground at contact for the WW swing, I'd say that would be exaggeration. With the face completely parallel to the ground, even with massive topspin, I don't see the ball making it over the net, or even getting anywhere for that matter. You DO want to hit with a closed face though, so the face will tilt that "towards the ground" just not to the extent of being parallel to it. With the WW, you want to "brush over" the ball (which is why you hit it with a closed face)

On the last one of going low to high, yes you do go more "horizontal" however, its not necessarily more through. Remember with the WW, while the swing is more horizontal, with the closed face, you "brush" the ball, giving the topspin. Check out fuzzyyellowballs, some awesome instructors and videos there, heres a video of the difference between the classic and WW http://www.fuzzyyellowballs.com/videos/index.php/view/948/221/Tennis_Windshield_Wiper_Forehand

and I do apologize if any of this is incorrect... definitely feel free to correct me and I'll edit stuff out if need be.

thanks for your input and the site info

 

[Sublime]

With a eastern forehand If you use a windshield wiper swing path won't that act like using a semi western grip.

Would using a semi western grip work with a traditional forehand swing path (closed stance)?

I'm not really sure what you're saying in the first sentence, but let me say something that might clear up some confusion. You can hit a classic or modern forehand with either the eastern, semi-western, or western grip.

Also Everyone's instruction that I come across say's that when the racquet face makes contact with the ball the racquet face should be parallel to the ground. I watch slow motion videos on utube and I never see that happen . Especially with a semi or full western grip with a windshield wiper swing??

I think you mean perpendicular to the ground. If the racket face was parallel to the ground the racket face would be facing the ground. Unless you plan on hitting the ball with the side of the frame, I wouldn't recommend this

When you watch YouTube you'll see that the strings will be just about perpendicular to the ground (neutral). They might be slightly angled towards the ground (closed), but I wouldn't worry about that. That little bit of an angle is something that gets tweaked every time you go out to hit. If you're shadow swinging to understand the movement, aim for a neutral face.

When I practice any of these grips and modern and traditional strokes I can only make them work with low to high swing. But on the instructional videos and pro videos I see them hit stright threw the ball. Is it because they are hitting a faster paced ball's at waist level?? I am allways hitting medium to slow paced but I allways move to where it gets to my waist level...

Thanks for your time...

They do mostly hit straight through the ball and you need to do the same thing. If you go down this "brushing" path you'll just end up hitting weak balls. The low to high is only about 1ft.

If you haven't seen this, look at Bungalo Bill's forehand steps, they're very good cues to follow.

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