A New Teaching Method:
Forehand: Grips Part 1

It used to be easy. Shake hands with the racket and forget it—or as my old coach Nick Bollettieri used to say, grip it and rip it. With the graphite rackets, the polyester strings, the athletes, and the evolution of technique, the forehand grip is right up there with the most confusing and misunderstood parts of the game. For starters, most people don’t understand how the hand connects to the racket—much less which way to connect to match their style and level. Whatever Jack Sock has players want that—that’s one line of thinking—until they see Nick Krygios or whomever is next.

What is the actual range of pro grips? How do they relate to the way the forehand swing is created? In part one of these two articles we’ll explain those mysteries and lay the groundwork for you to make a sound evaluation of your own grip choice in Part 2! But first, understand!