Tennis Vocabulary Grip Guide

Tennis Vocabulary Grip Guide

It is very important to hold your racket the right way when you are playing tennis because the grip you have on your racket has a huge impact on the spin and the pace of each and every tennis ball you hit. There are three most commonly used types of grips in tennis (and then there are others); namely the continental grip, eastern forehand grip and western forehand grip. Before we go on telling you in detail about each type of grip, we would like to add another word (yay!) to your tennis vocabulary by reminding you that each side of the octagonal handle is called a bevel and the bevels are numbered from 1 to 8. 

 

Bevel #1 is the bevel facing up when you hold the blade of your racket perpendicular to the ground and bevel #2 is the one on the right to bevel #1 (for right handed players). When we talk about different types of grips we will refer to these bevel numbers a lot. Now let’s take a look at all different types of tennis grips we have outlined for you below.

You can obtain a continental grip on your tennis racket by placing the base knuckle of your index finger on bevel #2. Continental grip is the basic grip which was used to be taught to complete beginners as it can be used for a variety of shots. However. It went out of fashion after the 70s and now it is especially used for serves and volleys mainly because it is very difficult to put topspin on the ball with this kind of grip.

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You can obtain an eastern forehand grip by placing the base knuckle of your index finger right on bevel #3. Eastern forehand grip is the basic grip that’s taught to the beginner tennis players. This is the kind of grip which allows fast shots and strong topspins and is also preferred by players who can quickly switch to continental grip for doing volleys before the net. Eastern forehand grip is said to be the preferred grip of Roger Federer.

(Picture: http://www.busy-tennis-players.com/tennis-grips.html)

And finally there is the western forehand grip which you can use to apply more topspin. With this grip both the base of your index knuckle and your heel pad rest on bevel #5. This grip works best on high bouncing balls therefore it’s mostly preferred while playing on clay courts where the balls bounce higher. It is difficult to maintain this grip for longer rallies.

 

Remember that one grip is not necessarily better than the other; the important thing for you to do is to master your own style which you feel yourself the most comfortable with. Another thing to consider if you want to have full control over your shot is to keep your head motionless when the ball hits the string. Now, take a look at the videos below to see different grip strokes; and, practice, practice and practice.

Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e73vn7e2Ivw

Tennis Warm Up and Stretch Those Muscles!

Doing a few stretching exercises before playing tennis is very important. Although a simple sport, playing tennis requires strenuous effort. On TV, you may have seen that the first thing the professional players do when they step onto the tennis court is to warm up for ten minutes by performing services and hits. What you do not see on TV is that they had already done extensive stretching before they greet their fans on the court.

As recreational players we do not have to dedicate a long time to pre-tennis exercises. However, we should definitely spend at least fifteen minutes to prepare our muscles before involving ourselves in vigorous tennis activity. Warming up before playing tennis will not only protect you from potential sports injuries, but will also improve your performance in the game as well. In this post we will talk about a few easy stretching exercises.

You can start your warm up exercises with a light jog around the court. Jogging is very important for tennis for there is a lot of running going on in a tennis game. Speaking from experience I can say that you will notice a great deal of difference in your tennis performance if you only dedicate at least half an hour of your time twice a week to jogging. You will build up more strength as you go along. You can also skip ropes instead of jogging. Roger Federer said in one of his interviews that he does intense rope skipping, like most of the athletes, as an exercise. Remember the better you move the more points you will win on the tennis court!

After having jogging or skipping rope, you can do basic trunk and neck twisting exercises. Make sure to also stretch your arms and loosen your shoulders. Forward and backward circles with your arms will help take the tension off of your shoulders before you start playing. Here's a link to some arm stretches. 

 

If you are playing on a hard court, it will help to so some spine flexing exercises. Some sumo squats and hamstring stretches will loosen up the back and legs. You can do this by spreading your feet wide and squatting down while ensuring that your knees are aligned with your little toes. Once you feel the stretch in your inner thighs you can come out of the squat and lift your arms over your head to feel also a little bit of stretch in the arms.

Finally, before hitting the tennis balls with your opponent; do some shadowing. Shadowing is simply mimicking the movements that you will be doing on the tennis court; only without the tennis ball. It is a warm up every professional tennis player displays on the tennis court before the actual match begins. Shadow your backhand swing; shadow your service. And of course, practice, practice and practice.

Here’s Maria Sharapova doing some warm ups: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8DzTrhUmbD0

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