The Hands Have It

There is no question that the players of today are better than the players of 25 years ago. Quite simply, they are playing a better brand of tennis - hitting the ball much harder and more accurately.

Why this is, seems to be a matter of debate. Some say it is due to advances in racquet technology while others point toward the improvement in the conditioning of the players. No doubt players today are bigger, stronger, and faster, especially on the women's side.

My own opinion is that the biggest advancement in the tennis has to do with the stroking techniques used in the modern game. The fact is, players are hitting the ball differently. Grips have changed, footwork has changed, strokes have changed.

Thirty years ago almost everybody used eastern grips and closed stances, sweeping strokes with long back swings and followthroughs. Today's strokes are based upon leverage and torque rather than back and forth racquet motion. In this article we will examine the use of the hands in the modern stroking style and compare that to traditional stroking styles.

New School: Weight back. Hand grips and turns ball while weight shift is saved to drive ball instead of swing the racquet. Notice the similarity in all positions at contact in the examples cited in text.