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I think you may be reluctant to comment on this question/commentary but i'm going to go ahead anyway. Federer has shown that a mild semi western (similar to agassi's) can be as good as it gets. What is the point then of such extreme grips? I mean i can understand going a bit more around to a semi western (Ferrero) but I dont see the point of going to an extreme western like Nalbandian. Shouldn't a semi western (or even mild semi western) be under the handle enough for players as high as Open level? I think one is better off mastering the creation of high topspin production with a mild semi western and flattening the ball out with the same mild semi western grip before attempting going further under the racquet.
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Well, the benefit of the extreme grips would be possible competitive success--both in the juniors and the pros. It can't be a total conincidence that Nalbandian and Hewitt are more the norm than Agassi and Federer.
In the juniors if you stand back and hit heavy spin, a lot of opponents will give up and go home... To a certain extent that may be true all the way up to the top of the tour. Because Agassi and Federer, like Pete, tend to take the ball earlier and lower, their grips are well-suited. But that takes bionic hand-eye abilities in the age of 95mph groundstrokes.
But a larger question for 99.9% of all players/students would be is the possible benefit worth it. If you become the next Hewitt or Nadal, well, you'd have to say yes. But what about the whole tennis for life concept? That's where I think we lose it in promoting the growth of the game when we automatically teach kids the extreme grips so they can win and win young. There are only 10 players in the top 10 in the world... what about the rest??? -
I'm guessing that the reason extreme grips dominate is something to do with the following;
Any child that ultimately ends up as a top 100 player has probably been playing a hell of a lot of tennis from a young age. A more extreme grip will facilitate a higher contact zone which, given the height of most children, will make it a more natural way to hit the ball. As the years tick by it becomes ingrained and very difficult to reverse the action to a morre classical grip such as an eastern.
In other words in would not be natural for a child to hit with anything other than an extreme grip unless there was a coach demanding that the child perservere with the more uncomfortable grip for potential future rewards.
The benefits of perservering seem obvious when you see a Federer, Davenport or Sampras. They can truly put the ball awayfrom most places on the court. Your extreme guys and girls can't. In the US Open playing for aswell as he has for many a year does everything he can to avoid going to Federers forehand for this very reason and in Aggassi we are talking about one of the greatest players ever to play the game. In the case of Federer people are suggesting taht his athleticism and all round game are marking him out to potentially be rthe greatest player to ver play the game. Would this be the case if his grip were a touch more extreme? I doubt it.
If this is correct then surely it makes sense to encourage all kids to try to emulate these players and perservere with more classical grips. I would suggest that the reason that this does'nt happen is that most tennis coaches are ill informed and generally lazy as well as having an eye on easy gratification from parents when their students look 'good' through the eyes of the less discerning.
I would love to hear years of Welby Van Horn, Robert Lansdorp and yourself John on this suibject.Comment
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Keen observations... Actually Robert speaks up on that in his article in Famous Caoches on Creating American Champions (literally as there is a movie of him talking about it.)
We also will have a very interesting perspective on this from Paul Lubbers, the head of USTA coaching education in an upcoming article.
One of the things that is happening in Europe that is making a difference: organized mini tennis with tournaments on smaller courts using the sponge balls. This allows the kids to play with moderate grips and play very complete tennis.
So long as the only goal in the US is to win in the 12s and the parents are blinded by this, you're going to see a lot of extreme grips. That doesn't mean we have to accept that blindly, or teach it. It seems to me that more and more coaches are understanding the difference.Comment
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newb question, what part of your hand is the heel pad again (for right hander)
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Look at your palm--that big fleshy pad on the lower left--down from your little finger...Comment
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i was able to hit around today and i was keeping note of where my heel pad was. it was aligned with the 4th panel, but my base knuckle was in between 3 & 4. it seems like the trend is to have the heel pad and knuckle in line (eastern) or have the knuckle be moved down lower than the heel (agassi, fed ferrero). i wonder if any other pro hits with something similar to what i'm doing? maybe a grip change will improve my forehand
Last edited by shootermcmarc0; 10-11-2005, 08:27 PM.Comment
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Why not take your forehand grip and then send in a picture?Comment
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Bjorn Borg? But seriously, it's a grip within a certain range--shifting one or the other a little bit one way or another isn't probably going to make a big difference. A 3/3 would be a significant change. Maybe we'll look at your forehand another time in Your Strokes.Comment
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I tried hitting today with the 3/3 and it took some adjusting to, but in the end, I kinda liked itOriginally posted by johnyandell
maybe I'll experiment with Agassi's and Federer's just to experiment. In the future, I wouldn't mind seeing my forehand in the Your Strokes section either. You already have the footage anyway hehe.
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Originally posted by lukman41985
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Well, we know that the Shooter definitely has his heel pad on 4. where's the index knuckle though?? 4 or 5 I'd guess--which is it though??Comment
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in the pictures above, its between 3 & 4, i think thats what makes it kind of weird. i've experimented with a grip like agassi's and i really liked it, i was able to hit with a lot more drive. it took me a few hitting sessions to get used to it, but i prefer it to the older grip i used. i can see why andre and federer can do those half volley forehands from the baseline with the variant eastern grips. it just feels more natural than the extreme grips when hitting on the rise.Comment
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