Eastern forehand

I know a lot of peoople will disagree with this but I reckon that the eastern forehand is better than the semi-western or western.

1 - It is more natural and easier to hit the ball as it matches the palm of your hand.
2 - It is more versatile.
3 - Studies have shown less wrist injuries associated with people who use the eastern over the other two.
4 - It is possible to generate just as much topspin and power.
5 - The most successful player of all time (Federer) uses an eastern. The second most successful (Sampras) used an eastern.

This is just my opinion of course but I win more matches when I use the eastern than the semi-western and I don't think that the semi-western should be taught to juniors as "the only forehand grip" over the others.

So what do you all think?

Ultimately, I don't think a sw grip can make the difference for somebody using an eastern grip. I think the individual reaches the pro level due to mental toughness and will (love of the game). Take a look at Jimmy Connors; he used a continental grip! I agree with you that a coach should not make their team use sw or w.

The grip you use is based on the height of the predominant incoming balls.
Short juniors get head high and higher balls all the time, so SW or W grip.
Tall people need to dig out low balls, and only occasionally need to encounter balls bouncing higher than their shoulders, thus less need for SW or W grips. A counter would be Soderling, at 6'5" and using a W grip.
Finesse of E grip is balanced out by more power with the SW grip.
Edge of hand is stronger than face of the hand, so W grips might be OK too.

Federer and Nadal are exactly the same height (6" 1' in) and use different forehand grips. Sampras was 6' 1' as well and used eastern. And like you say LeeD, Soderling is 6" 5' and uses a western. So I don't think height should be the main factor deciding which forehand grip you use. It is a factor but not the main factor.

Yes it is easier to get lower balls with an easten due to the angle of the racket but skilled players have no proplem with higher balls with an eastern.
It just goes to show the greater versitility of the eastern. A continental - great on low, terrible on high. A full western - great on high, terrible on low.
An eastern - good all round.
Teaching kids to use a semi or full western can be counter productive as when they grow taller they will either have to change (which can be difficult after several years of playing a certain way) or keep with the grip they are used to but which might be wrong for them if they are very tall - if going by what was in the previous post about it being down to your height.

I would rather have the finess of the eastern and if done right you can get just as much power as the others. You can also hit flatter balls easier with an eastern if needed and we all know that a flattened out ball goes faster.

Also the edge of the hand isn't stronger than the palm - you wouldn't push a car with the edge of your hands, you would use the palms.

It's probably easier to switch to an eastern or western grip if you're taught a semiwestern grip rather than one extreme or the other.

90% of pros use sw. wonder if this is mainly due to their coach picking that grip or a personal preference.

I use an extreme sW, and am considering moving to a western. I'm 5'6, and high balls are pretty tough for me, thats why i try to take stuff on the rise.
I was taught with the eastern grip, but had a difficult time generating topspin on it. IDK why eastern seems so natural for kids..almost everyone where i used to go used it.

That comment about edge of hand being stronger than palm....
Consider, you push a car slow motion.
You strike a forehand or backhand with a fast swing. And that fast swing is not directly in front of your body, it's well out to the side of your body.
Not saying you should or should not employ eastern forehand grips.
I don't, because I always have a height control problem with EFH. I tend to hit too high (deep), and too low (net). SW gives me height control, which is also depth control.
EFH just takes too much body control and restraining. SW allows me to hit out more.

"A full western - great on high, terrible on low.
An eastern - good all round.
Teaching kids to use a semi or full western can be counter productive as when they grow taller they will either have to change (which can be difficult after several years of playing a certain way) or keep with the grip they are used to but which might be wrong for them if they are very tall - if going by what was in the previous post about it being down to your height."

I hit with a semi western/western grip and i have absolutely no problem with low balls. It all comes down to how proficient you are with the grip you use. Someone who isn't experienced with the eastern grip will find high balls difficult; someone not accustomed to the western grip may find low balls difficult. But if you are proficient with the grip you use then you will instinctively be able to hit any ball. After all, you don't see federer struggling with high balls and Nadal with low ones

Good point Alex.. though I do wonder if mal-j was referring more toward the intermediate skill levels.

Alex has a very good point - it all comes down to how proficient you are with the grip you use. I have absolutely no trouble in high or low balls or generating spin or pace with an eastern. I am not the best tennis player in the world - far from it - but that works best for me. And everyone is different. I am just saying that to teach everyone just one grip and tell them that is how they have to play - as they do in some tennis schools - is not the best way to go. I don't want to see a load of robots playing tennis all the same way. If a certain grip works for you then stick with it but if the two best players of all time both use eastern then why are do some coaches dismiss it as an inferior grip. (Del Potro's forehand looks close to an eastern as well, don't know for sure.)
As you mentioned Lawn tennis, at an intermediate level - or perhaps for older players - I would recommend the eastern as it is more stable and has less wrist injuries associated with it - that part is fact and based on years of study.
On a pro level I reckon in years to come we will get more players going back to eastern - that's a prediction that I guess many will disagree with.

I am sorry LeeD but I still don't agree with the edge of the hand being stronger than the palm. If you hit a wall at speed with the edge of your hand swung well out from the side of your body you could break your wrist. If you slap the wall at that speed you are more likely to have a sore hand.

Ever hear of "karate chop" ????????
To hit quick and effectively with your palm, you have to have weight behind the hand. Can't do that in tennis. In tennis, all your shots are out to your side.
You may use Eastern all you want.
I find Eastern forehand doesn't allow a strong ball unless I can control my posture and balance. I can't. So SW allows a much stronger ball with a slight loss of balance and posture.
You find TWO examples to support your position.
I find 150 out of 200 mens pros use SW grip.
Which example is more applicable?

I normally use a sw grip but for shoulder height balls I switch to an eastern to pummel them. I don't understand how using a western grip would help you hit a high ball, it just sounds awkward.

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Originally Posted by clock-

I normally use a sw grip but for shoulder height balls I switch to an eastern to pummel them. I don't understand how using a western grip would help you hit a high ball, it just sounds awkward.

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the idea behind that is you can still hit "low to high" with a sw or w grip on high balls. i use a mix between eastern and sw. when a ball is shoulder height, i lean back through the shot to impart more spin (slice and topspin). it works really well.

I tend to jump into the ball..have a semiwestern grip..
Once I was hitting 2 handed, above shoulder high backhands..those things are hard.. I had to jump and turn using perfect timing.
LT, you put backspin and topspin on a ball @ the same time? Or by slice you mean sidespin?

Yeah, you can hit low to high with an eastern forehand, take the ball way in front of you, and you still get that top/sidespin mix.

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Originally Posted by 03White

LT, you put backspin and topspin on a ball @ the same time? Or by slice you mean sidespin?

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Yes, I mean the '8 to 2' kind of slice - like the slice serve. They must not call it the slice serve in your area. :)

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Originally Posted by clock-

Yeah, you can hit low to high with an eastern forehand, take the ball way in front of you, and you still get that top/sidespin mix.

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right, but is it as effective?

It's faster than my second serve most of the time. Not that I have a huge second serve, but it puts things in perspective.

Well, no they do, but they also call slice backspin..
So you brush up and across the ball? I've never tried that, I kind of just stick to plain old topspin...
Do any of the pro's do this? Or is this just the ww forehand?
I'm confused...lol

Yes sometimes pros hit with a little slice in the forehand - not sure about the bh. In particular, the inside-out fh can have a little more slice than others. You hit with slice too. It's pretty much impossible to hit exactly from '6 to 12'. As for referring to any side-spin as a slice.. I always thought that was okay. :)

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Originally Posted by Lawn Tennis

Good point Alex.. though I do wonder if mal-j was referring more toward the intermediate skill levels.

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No, intermediate players can be proficient as well. Obviously you don't have to be nadal or federer to be proficient with your grip. I know some older intermediate players who have hit continental grip all their lives but somehow manage to tackle high balls with ease. I was just giving federer and nadal as contrasting examples that everyone can relate to.

Hi LeeD
I don't want to labour a point my friend but you are still wrong.
Of course I have heard of the karate chop - and the pork chop. It is something that is used in martial arts due to the fact that the area of impact is smaller and can hit pressure points on the body (a bit like a stilletoe heel doing more damage to a floor than an elephants foot) and not because it is stronger. In fact you don't have to use too much power with it. In karate you actually use more punches and kicks.
Please consider this. When you serve what grip do you use? Almost everyone uses a continental. When you serve you turn the racket and hit the ball leading with your palm do you not? Which is the most powerful stroke in tennis? The serve - hit with the palm. It doesn't matter if you are hitting from the side or anywhere it is a physiological fact that the palm is stronger.

The following is an extract from a research report carried out by the University of Genova in Genoa Italy.

"The Western grip requires a strong wrist and perfect timing to avoid wrist injury as it involves holding the racket at a different inclination, the researchers note.

Non-professional tennis players should understand that "extreme grips, such as the Western, may cause ulnar-side wrist injuries," Tagliafico said.

His team assessed hand grip and wrist injury type among 370 division III and division IV tennis players over an 18 month period. The injured and non-injured players showed no significant differences in body mass, years of practice, weekly training hours, racket weight, or string type used.

Of the 50 injured players, 12 reported using the Eastern grip and 38 reported using the semi-Western and Western grips.

The Eastern grip players were significantly older (42 years on average) and played tennis for significantly longer (20 years on average) than did semi-Western and Western grip users who were 22 years old on average and had played tennis for an average of 8 years."

is there a classification for those of us who use a grip between eastern and semi-western?

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Originally Posted by Lawn Tennis

is there a classification for those of us who use a grip between eastern and semi-western?

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Hybrid eastern I think

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Originally Posted by AlexLogan

Hybrid eastern I think

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That would work. You are the first person I've heard say that however. :)

MaJ...
Actually it is you who doesn't understand.
We serve with conti or EBH side of conti because it is more aerodynamic, the swing is lead the the edge of the racket, then it opens fully to hit flat serves, if you choose.
Same on forehand. EFH grips have the racketface fully open, so the swing is slower. SW and W grips allow the edge of the racket to lead thru the prehit, so the racket can be swung faster.
Modern tennis, not that I do it, is all about faster swing speeds and more topspin.
I use an extreme SW, so the ball stays in, always hits topspin, and on pressure points, I can swing away fully. Never had problems with shoetop balls, I actually prefer hitting low balls with my SW grip.
I used EFH for most of my competitive years, finding it doesn't hit hard enough with control. You may cite Federer, and he has an extreme EFH grip, but he's one in a million. Like McEnroe's volleys, you don't adapt his style.
You don't adapt Connor's strokes either.
And you don't copy Karlovic backhand, OR his serve motion.
Don't be so blind to pick up ONE player's style, when every other player doesn't adopt that style and doesn't agree with it.
You are not Federer.

Hi Lee

I am a bit confused. First you are talking about strength and now you are going on about aerodynamics. You have made some valid points before (like about the height of the player etc.) but where are you going with this? You made a statement of fact that the side of the hand is stronger than the palm. (It still isn't by the way.) But now you are talking about another aspect of the stroke altogether.
I am not Federer and don't play like him or try to emulate him. My grip is exactly the same as his but that is coincidence.
My backswing and prehit don't have the racket face open, I hit low to high with consistent depth and topspin and sometimes use a windscreen wiper forehand action. I used to use a semi western all the time and can hit with more power with an eastern. I changed to an eastern about six months ago and haven't looked back. I have much more control and more options open to me.
I am not talking about the old style eastern of Chris Evert where you finish with the head of the rachet facing the ball you have just hit.
I have said consistently that everyone is different and what works for one person might not work for another - but for me eastern is better, for others a western might be better.
People always go on about the "modern game" but it was only a few years ago that serve-and-volley was the modern game. In a few years time it will be something else. I just wouldn't teach all kids to use a semi or full western and ignore the eastern altogether as inferior.

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Originally Posted by mal-j

People always go on about the "modern game" but it was only a few years ago that serve-and-volley was the modern game. In a few years time it will be something else. I just wouldn't teach all kids to use a semi or full western and ignore the eastern altogether as inferior.

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+1

I think you make a very good point. While I don't think the topspin game will ever truly go away the S&V game has, I do believe variety is an under-rated skill.