Hi Jad, I have never heard of such a technique of rolling the racket handle against the fleshy mound of the palm.

It sounds way “too specific / too conscious” to me to be applied in reality in split seconds that we have available in the game of tennis.

The goal is just to know that grip change is done with the non-dominant hand and not by trying to switch the grip with the dominant hand. Then one needs to practice to “get it right” and find and feel the right grip for the backhand stroke.

That is all the information you need, the rest is just practice and repetition to refine that process.

Every person can of course along the way find their own way of switching grips and perhaps your suggested method will work for you well, but I have no experience with it nor have I ever heard of such technique in my 30+ years of coaching.

We almost always switch from forehand to backhand as most players hold a forehand grip in their ready position.

Hi Karim,

That certainly isn’t right for semi-western grip but for extreme western it’s possible to play forehands and one-handed backhands without changing grips.

But as far as I know there has been only one player in the history of tennis with such an example and that was Berasategui:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ACYWcSDDDC4

So I am not sure if this one extreme example which is 1 in a million really needs the be pointed out and I hope is not being taught by anybody.

I think we have a misunderstanding, Julia.

I don’t advise players changing their forehand grip to a new forehand grip if they used a certain forehand grip for 10 years.

The same goes for backhand. Many years of holding the racket in a certain way ingrains a certain feel in the hand so strongly that once you change the grip you feel totally lost.

But you should of course change grips between forehand and backhand during play, that’s what this article is all about.

There is no way you can play well with one single grip unless you really master a continental grip. That one of course limits you in many ways like having trouble applying topspin or playing high balls, etc.

If you don’t think recreational players should change their grips in play, what grip should they use? I can’t imagine one grip working across the board. I thought that was the point of learning the grips and changing between them.

Hi Tom,

I have not observed the pros switching grips.

I have heard one interview 10 years ago when one of the pros said that in the clay court season his grip unconsciously slips more towards western because he spins and loops the balls much more and then slips back to semi-western when he plays hard court tennis.

I think that at the pro level once you’re used to a certain grip no type of ball causes you any problems.

As for changing grips during play for recreational players I don’t think that would work because there simply isn’t enough repetition for the player to become so familiar with two grips and know exactly how the racket is angled in space.

You mentioned that high balls may be difficult with the Eastern forehand grip. It’s probably difficult to see, but have you observed the pros switching between the Eastern and Semi-Western grips back and forth depending on the height of the ball? And what do you think about that?