Semi western BH grip to Eastern transition

Gadz

Gadz

Semi-Pro
Hi all,

I want to move my grip from a semi western BH grip to a eastern purely because I have found moving my forehand grip from a less extreme grip has significantly helped my tennis wrist injuries and forearm issues. However, I am holding the correct eastern BH grip but I am really struggling on getting the ball into the court, its like i'm getting underneath the ball far too much. I think it's because my BH grip was rather extreme and i'm moving to a much more flat grip. Please could someone give me some tips on what you think would help me with this grip transition from the semi western/extreme semi western to the eastern BH and any key fundamentals I need to do. I look forward to hearing from you.

Thanks.

Gadz
 
Generally

With a less extreme grip, the contact point is not as far in front. Try adjusting your contact point and see how it works out. Also their are lots of videos on YouTube that may be of help. Federer uses an eastern backhand. Good luck
 
I thought the contact point with an eastern backhand is pretty far out in front? I am probably significantly wrong though! :)
 
Gadz said:
Hi all,

I want to move my grip from a semi western BH grip to a eastern purely because I have found moving my forehand grip from a less extreme grip has significantly helped my tennis wrist injuries and forearm issues. However, I am holding the correct eastern BH grip but I am really struggling on getting the ball into the court, its like i'm getting underneath the ball far too much. I think it's because my BH grip was rather extreme and i'm moving to a much more flat grip. Please could someone give me some tips on what you think would help me with this grip transition from the semi western/extreme semi western to the eastern BH and any key fundamentals I need to do. I look forward to hearing from you.

Thanks.

Gadz
Click to expand...

Yep. You will hit the fence using an eastern coming from a SW. I probably can't even hit eastern because I used a SW for so long, but I CAN hit EE really well. Though at first I was not happy and even posted a thread here about hitting flat all the sudden, etc. Then one day I just focused on hitting loose and not arming the ball. My body figured it out and I can get just as much spin if not more with the EE as I was getting with the SW. Not sure what I did it just kind of happened and I can even hit that grip with spin on service returns.

It has something to do with the wrist I think. Anyhow if you shadow swing with your SW grip and stop the racket at contact you can see the racket angle and how closed it is. Now switch grips and swing stopping at contact. See how you have to move your arm or wrist to get the racket in the same angle. Then work on doing that in a real swing.

All I know is that the transition you seek IS possible...
 
Shroud said:
Yep. You will hit the fence using an eastern coming from a SW. I probably can't even hit eastern because I used a SW for so long, but I CAN hit EE really well. Though at first I was not happy and even posted a thread here about hitting flat all the sudden, etc. Then one day I just focused on hitting loose and not arming the ball. My body figured it out and I can get just as much spin if not more with the EE as I was getting with the SW. Not sure what I did it just kind of happened and I can even hit that grip with spin on service returns.

It has something to do with the wrist I think. Anyhow if you shadow swing with your SW grip and stop the racket at contact you can see the racket angle and how closed it is. Now switch grips and swing stopping at contact. See how you have to move your arm or wrist to get the racket in the same angle. Then work on doing that in a real swing.

All I know is that the transition you seek IS possible...
Click to expand...

Yeah, since I have TRIED moving from a SW to a eastern I have been basically hitting the fence lol. I will keep trying the eastern though and try what you suggested, if not I will try a EE but I do really want to get the eastern grip sussed
 
Gadz said:
Yeah, since I have TRIED moving from a SW to a eastern I have been basically hitting the fence lol. I will keep trying the eastern though and try what you suggested, if not I will try a EE but I do really want to get the eastern grip sussed
Click to expand...


How is an extreme eastern different from a SW backhand? They are one in the same aren't they? Base of index knuckle and palm on bevel 8, correct?

If you have the identical contact point with your new eastern backhand as you did with a SW, your shot will probably float deep. Hold your racquet out in front of you at your usual contact point. Change from SW to Eastern grip and you will see the adjustment you need to make. Also, just practice. Your mind and body will make the adjustments.
 
At the transition stage, shorten your backswing and SLOW your forward swing.
Eastern forehand has been hit for 3 decades with a shorter, slow swing.
Once you adapt your racket face angle, modernize your eastern forehand with a longer faster swing.
 
Gadz said:
Hi all,

I want to move my grip from a semi western BH grip to a eastern purely because I have found moving my forehand grip from a less extreme grip has significantly helped my tennis wrist injuries and forearm issues. However, I am holding the correct eastern BH grip but I am really struggling on getting the ball into the court, its like i'm getting underneath the ball far too much. I think it's because my BH grip was rather extreme and i'm moving to a much more flat grip. Please could someone give me some tips on what you think would help me with this grip transition from the semi western/extreme semi western to the eastern BH and any key fundamentals I need to do. I look forward to hearing from you.

Thanks.

Gadz
Click to expand...

Assuming that with the 'old' grip you were hitting with an extended wrist position, try using a neutral wrist(knuckles facing downward) orientation instead with the Eastern grip. That should allow you to control the ball without having to adjust your contact point.
 
Weaverpsu said:
How is an extreme eastern different from a SW backhand? They are one in the same aren't they? Base of index knuckle and palm on bevel 8, correct?

If you have the identical contact point with your new eastern backhand as you did with a SW, your shot will probably float deep. Hold your racquet out in front of you at your usual contact point. Change from SW to Eastern grip and you will see the adjustment you need to make. Also, just practice. Your mind and body will make the adjustments.
Click to expand...

EE is with the index and heal pad on the boundary between 8 and 1.

If you hold a W forehand and turn the racket over you will have an EE. If you have a SW forehand grip and turn the racket over you will have a SW bh.
 
Shroud said:
EE is with the index and heal pad on the boundary between 8 and 1.

If you hold a W forehand and turn the racket over you will have an EE. If you have a SW forehand grip and turn the racket over you will have a SW bh.
Click to expand...

One of the down sides to this, is that you'll be hitting the ball on the same side of the strings/racquet face, which can tear through strings faster.
 
Huh?

I just tried to hold my SW forehand and turn it over to backhand and my wrist wanted to break. A SW backhand, is on Bevel 8. I would say going from a Full Western forehand and turning hand over makes more sense.

You know what's weird? When I was trying to learn how to hit a 1bh about 2 1/2 years ago, I never came across a SW grip or EE. Also, when I studied for USPTA exam, it was never mentioned either. I'll have to look it up. I did already, and the manual stated a SW backhand is also referred to as an Extreme Eastern. Thus my last post.
 
Fxanimator1 said:
One of the down sides to this, is that you'll be hitting the ball on the same side of the strings/racquet face, which can tear through strings faster.
Click to expand...

It will, actually, because you're doubling the sliding distance, going from FH to BH and vs. In terms of TS(unless your specific string type realigns between shots), you'll also be losing some of that. The string, sliding from one 'misaligned' position to the other, will grab the ball late, which equates to loss of TS.

In any case, more sliding action means more notching, so ...
 
Weaverpsu said:
I just tried to hold my SW forehand and turn it over to backhand and my wrist wanted to break. A SW backhand, is on Bevel 8. I would say going from a Full Western forehand and turning hand over makes more sense.

You know what's weird? When I was trying to learn how to hit a 1bh about 2 1/2 years ago, I never came across a SW grip or EE. Also, when I studied for USPTA exam, it was never mentioned either. I'll have to look it up. I did already, and the manual stated a SW backhand is also referred to as an Extreme Eastern. Thus my last post.
Click to expand...

My hunch is that you are trying to keep the racket face the same as your normal grip. The SW will have a MUCH steeper angle. If you swing normally the ball will go into the ground. Its like hitting your SW Fh and then switching to a W fh. You have to compensate by adjusting the swing path.

OR you are hitting on different side of the strings. Put your SW fh out at the contact point, and then slowly windshield wiper it over to the BH keeping the some side of the strings facing the net. THATS a SW bh and the palm is more the point of contact and not the knuckles. In this vid in the very beginning I show an EE and then I switch to a SW. Its filmed at a distance and may be hard to see, but if you look close you can see the difference and which side faces the ball.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F_E3PKL5c0c

On protenniscoach.com service that I think you get for 100$ there is a vid where Brad Gilbert hits the same swing with different grips. He IIRC normally uses and eastern FH grip and just curls his wrist (which I doubt I could do), then he uses a normal eastern BH grip, and then he hits with the SW. The shots with the SW were all right into the ground!

If you grab a SW FH and flip it over, that is what I am calling a SW BH grip. If you hold a W FH and flip it over, that is what I am calling an EE bh grip. That should have the grip between bevels 8 and 1 where SW has it on bevel 8.

With that distinction Henin for example hit with an EE which I think we can get some consensus on, especially looking at this pict that shows bevel 8 in red:

01_justine_henin_backhand%20mod2%20crop.jpg
 
Last edited:
ARKustom93 said:
It will, actually, because you're doubling the sliding distance, going from FH to BH and vs. In terms of TS(unless your specific string type realigns between shots), you'll also be losing some of that. The string, sliding from one 'misaligned' position to the other, will grab the ball late, which equates to loss of TS.

In any case, more sliding action means more notching, so ...
Click to expand...

Fxanimator1 said:
One of the down sides to this, is that you'll be hitting the ball on the same side of the strings/racquet face, which can tear through strings faster.
Click to expand...

Its true I suppose. And often I think my hand likes the racket a certain way so its conceivable that the one side of the string bed gets more use.

That said I have a string bed that not only never locks, but is pretty durable being kevlar and all...
 
Shroud said:
Its true I suppose. And often I think my hand likes the racket a certain way so its conceivable that the one side of the string bed gets more use.

That said I have a string bed that not only never locks, but is pretty durable being kevlar and all...
Click to expand...

Most likely because of the diagonal wrap line 'ridge' of grip/over grip, which falls into different places, depending on face side. If you feel your grip in different positions, you'll know what I mean.

You could try wrapping the over grip with no overlap; feels great, because there are no ridges. I've been doing that for years. If you want more detailed info, shoot me a PM.
 
ARKustom93 said:
Most likely because of the diagonal wrap line 'ridge' of grip/over grip, which falls into different places, depending on face side. If you feel your grip in different positions, you'll know what I mean.

You could try wrapping the over grip with no overlap; feels great, because there are no ridges. I've been doing that for years. If you want more detailed info, shoot me a PM.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the offer but my grip is primarily square and is 5 1/2". Getting it there starting with a 4 3/8 and doing it with shock shield and shock tape grips adds about 100g. To limit the weight and account for some deviation in stock weights, I dont exactly go all the way up the racket and there is a part at the top that is about 4 1/2. Since this transition is diagonal there is one side that is shorter and my finger may hang over. So one side can be better.
 
Shroud said:
Thanks for the offer but my grip is primarily square and is 5 1/2". Getting it there starting with a 4 3/8 and doing it with shock shield and shock tape grips adds about 100g. To limit the weight and account for some deviation in stock weights, I dont exactly go all the way up the racket and there is a part at the top that is about 4 1/2. Since this transition is diagonal there is one side that is shorter and my finger may hang over. So one side can be better.
Click to expand...

Guess, with your modifications, my suggestion would be pretty much a drop on a hot plate in terms of alleviating the 'feel' problem of one vs the other face side ...
 
ARKustom93 said:
Guess, with your modifications, my suggestion would be pretty much a drop on a hot plate in terms of alleviating the 'feel' problem of one vs the other face side ...
Click to expand...

Yeah but its a good option for more normal handles with a feel problem.

I really like a more square handle and the size is great for me. I dont have blisters at all. I used to have several callouses on the hand but now they are baby smooth.

Oh and the squarish handle is better for me with my sw and w grips.
 
Weaverpsu said:
With a less extreme grip, the contact point is not as far in front. Try adjusting your contact point and see how it works out. Also their are lots of videos on YouTube that may be of help. Federer uses an eastern backhand. Good luck
Click to expand...

Im pretty sure contact is further back with a more extreme grip no?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

callen3615
Semi western to eastern
Replies
4
Views
1K
NickH87
NickH87
R
Switching from eastern to semi-western..
Replies
9
Views
2K
habib
H
oneguy21
I hit w/ the same side of the racquet for both fh and bh - is this bad?
Replies
9
Views
2K
Sublime
S
A
From Eastern to Semi-western
Replies
5
Views
1K
Mountain Ghost
Mountain Ghost
Raul_SJ
Forehand: How long to make the transition from Eastern to Semi-Western grip?
Replies
35
Views
13K
Steve R
S
Back
Top