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some decent footwork on that iguana 😂

I am getting 50 next month, I started to play tennis back in the 80s, when there was a totally different school. Since then I tried to develop my technique as tennis changed over the years. I never really managed to hit good enough forehand with western grip. Still today I am using something in between eastern and semi-western. I totally agree that this all comes down to muscle memory. Thanks for the videao Nick.

I adopted the western grip in a "click". In my journey to learn the game and the modern forehand, I was not getting good results no matter how much training I was doing trying to master the modern forehand. One day, however, I started doing nice groundstrokes all of a sudden. And then I noticed I was hitting with the our grip - and looked like everything "clicked" in place on that morning. Not sure this is the way our game evolves, but it really sucks going through these plateaus until these clicks happen...

I've gone back and forth over the years on semi-western vs. eastern. I played for years with an eastern grip as a junior. My coach talked me into changing my grip late in my high school career, but I never really felt it was an improvement. Still, I played with SW for many years. Took a long break, came back with SW, but then decided to try eastern again a few years ago and it's been a positive move. Perhaps because I am tall and older, but the eastern seems like the best compromise. I still get plenty of topspin, but find the eastern easier to use on low and defensive shots (plus it is adjacent to the continental for forehand slice shots and volleys). Perhaps I would feel very differently if I had started from day one with a SW, but that's my story:) I do think about revisiting SW at times, especially after videos like this, but playing with grips no longer feels like much of a priority.

Such amazing content! Thank you for posting, sharing and educating.

Great video. The iguana was awesome. So cool to see that thing just roaming around. The tennis stuff was good too.

What timing Nik! After watching videos of myself hitting ‘ugly’ forehands, I was literally wondering whether to change my grip to Western as I was falling asleep last night. Guess someone upstairs is telling me no! 😂

As somebody who had a western grip throughout childhood and was plagued with advice to change to E/SW. I can tell you after two years of struggling with the forehand I wish I had my old swing back

I didn't start playing tennis until my mid/late teens but played on very high bouncing hard courts and naturally developed a Westerm grip on my FH. I've contemplated changing it due to struggling on lower bouncing and faster courts but, as Nik mentioned in this video, there were other technical flaws in my FH that made me struggle and I've worked hard to improve them instead of changing the grip. It's a long process but definitely worth it! 🎾 💪🏻

I use a full western grip and found it to be the most comfortable for me. I tried other grips when first starting tennis. And found myself just being more comfortable holding the racket from the bottom. I’ve been told to change to semi western even when it doesn’t affect my game. Theirs just such a stigma against it, I don’t get it.

Nick, thanks for the great video. Could you please do a video on the racquet drop on the 2 handed backhand?

You’re exactly right. I’m using the semi-western on my two-handed backhand. It’s been about 7 months. Still getting used to it, but it’s coming around.

I naturally have somewhere between a semi / full western grip (call it a northern kyushu grip), however on serve returns when returning fast balls where it’s more of a block, I use an eastern in that case as the western requires more of a larger swing path for me

For most players who play eastern or semi western, on western you have to go across your body more, like hitting a flat shot. On western this is your normal shot of equal top spin and power

Excellent video, Nick. Thank you. This is exactly what I needed …. I am 47 years old, have started learning tennis since 3 years and have put in a lot of effort to build a decent forehand using semi-western grip. BUT…. I met a guy last week who showed off his western grip and told me that it is better…. And I was tempted to switch to western; and thank God for this video - the message is very clear . It will be stupid of me to change what’s working so well and put in so much effort again.

It took me about a year-an agonizing year-to change my grip to semi-western. I recently hit a few balls with a friend that started about the same time I did. But, he stopped playing for quite a while. He still hits with a traditional forehand and grip. Therefore, his forehands are much flatter. And, as you would expect, when he hits a really good flat forehand it's hard to return. But, his consistency suffers. Again, as expected. Going from flat to more spin is definitely worth the work, and the western or semi-western grip is worth the investment as you play better players.

Absolutely true, If someone has a game running a forehand grip change can kill every stroke, you find yourself as a beginner again, just much worse... Thanks as always

Nik true story: when I started getting coached 7 months ago I had a self-taught continental forehand grip. My coach got me to move round to Eastern. I went home and visualised using that grip - I didn't do any practising - and next lesson a couple of days later I could do eastern absolutely fine. My coach said she'd never seen anyone swap grips that fast. Not sure how unusual this is + those 2 grips aren't that far apart..? In mitigation I nearly went crazy trying to do the correct single hander backhand with topspin - it took me about 6 months to get it deep with moderate power and spin and its still only about 60% there. In further mitigation I'm left eye dominant but right handed which I understand makes the b/h much harder for me.

Eastern forehand grip for me. I was in my mid thirties when i bought my first tennis racquet! The iguana obviously approved of your teaching.

Hi Nick! I change my grip depending on the height of the incoming ball... western above the shoulder to maybe continental if in the need to scratch the ball an inch above the ground. Anything else I use something in-between-grip.Without really thinking about it. Use a small grip with sharp edges to feel the actual hand position on the grip but at the end its widened with an overgrip (like Gasquet does it). Don't use my pinky on groundstrokes - it is airborne then. Use a heavy racket about 350 g at 98 sqrinch (Völkl C10) which is very stable and has no tendency to twist in the hand although holding the racket mostly very soft. Like a a little bird for example Also on returns, volleys and serves I use different grips. Do you think this is okay ? For me it works fine. 61 years old, recreational level Germany "Landesliga" or one above, playing since 1974. Had a year of injury and couldn't move on the court. Was restricted to standing hitting sessions for stroke training only. And looking for looseness, for kinetic chain etc. I developed this technique as most sufficient. First tournament match was successful all worked fine and was only breaking down at far distance balls due to lack of footwork (which was since then not included to the training). What are your thoughts?

Nic, very informative discussion. Thank you. I noticed you're not using your Orange string. Did you switch to something else?

Great video! I'm naturally semi, but the grip I always found the most intriguing is the "extreme eastern" that people would say Fed hit with. Don't know if that's a myth but the name sounds cool haha

Nick, back when the pros were using Continental grips, who or what prompted the shift in more extreme grips? Was it the racket technologies from the manufactures that recommended change?

You don't need to teach a new forehand to someone with a Western grip. That can be really frustrating. Just let the player hit many down the line-forehands and feed them low balls. Their grip improves gradually but naturally. Viele Grüße aus Deutschland, Coach Nick! *Ein ehemaliger Coach und jetzt Lehrer, der deinen Kanal richtig super findet !!!

What Nik said in this lesson seemed correct to me. In 1961, I checked out from my local library a book by Rod Laver that was autobiographical but also taught technique. Bought a racket and hit backhands and forehands with a continental grip. Wished I could build a court from ant hills. Maybe 10 years ago, I sat with a club pro watching folks having a good doubles match. I had practiced some with him on public courts. He remarked that I clearly still hit with a continental grip. Laver made me do it. In the late 1970's I had a match with a guy I recognized as a fine athlete. He had obviously taken lessons. He showed great form of strokes and court positioning throughout the match. Solid topspin drives from both sides. I won anyway. I would have like playing more with him but he didn't want to. After that match I practiced a good bit hitting with a full western grip. I could do it but didn't see much point adopting it for match play. Yeah, I knew the term muscle memory and didn't want to mess up my muscle memory. One reason I didn't change was that I like taking balls on the rise. Being able to do that helped me a lot against topspin players. Hitting on the rise sometimes gets me to the net. Around then I decided I would not let topspin players force me to hit balls from behind the baseline.

Valuable piece of advice Nick, specially for coaches who want to children & rec players.

i am self taught never having any formal tennis lessons. i gravitated to an eastern forehand and backhand as they felt most natural. having that grip makes it easier to switch to a continental grip to slice which i like, and there's less of a difference in the contact point as well. part of the reason why i think i ended up with the eastern grip is i never wanted to emulate clay court players, i liked sampras, edberg, becker and federer, who had serve and volley grass court based games so i ended up with a fairly traditional grip and a one handed backhand.

Nick. I had a parent who told me he would not suggest to his 10yr old to switch from a western to a semi because it came naturally to him. Problem is he doesn’t generate enough racket head speed to do much but put a ton of spin on the ball. We you start decelerating your stroke, western is a disaster and volleys and overhead take longer to learn properly.

Amazing Iguana! By the way I would love to have a private class next time I'm in Florida for vacations!!!!

I use an Eastern grip and my hand sometimes slips to a western when I hit the ball. Do you think it’s the Overgrip I’m using or is it because the size of my grip is too small? (1/4 #2). I hate it whenever this happens because I end up hitting the ball high, long, spinny and slow.

Hmmm I want to switch from a semi-western to an eastern to hit more through the court for my doubles game. You’re right I’m finding it more difficult than I expected. Been playing for 20 plus years. Muscle memory like you said.

great video! I started playing tennis at a rec level 2 years ago in my early 40s. I wasn't even thinking about the grip I had at that time. I recently realized that it is a semi-western grip and now this video confirms it. What I want to say is that it has just felt the right way to hold the racket like that - totally intuitively. Every time I forget to place the racket on bevel 3, my shots are off. Thank you Nikola for an insightful video. Here is a question that relates to my issues at present - how do I fine tune the power with which I hit the ball? I often swing as hard as I can only to find my balls landing midcourt. Are there any drills to address that issue? Sve najbolje 😎

Hello ,I have a question.I have sometimes a little pressure and I gave up easily. And how to be confident?

I hit with semi western . I’m comfortable with a western . But now you’ve told me about the Hawaiian grip . I’m going to have to try this today just to see how it feels . 😅

He Nik. Are the pros changing grip during the game? I mean someone who is playing with Eastern and sees a High ball. Is he going to change to semiwestern maybe to hit the high ball?

What about the extreme eastern... between SW and eastern. That's my go-to. My grip does turn to SW on red clay, though.

Is there any advantage (or disadvantage) to switching between grips while playing a match, even in the middle of a point? For example, going to a semi-western to help handle a moonball shot. Or should the player pick one and stick to that grip only? Another very helpful video, btw---thank you!

Nick, can you do a video on why tennis players don't hit their one handed backhand with a semi western grip?

What is the least riskfull grip? I have an small wrist injury and use the semi western grip. I am considering changing temporarily to an continental grip if that helps... but not sure if it actually does.

Great advice 🙏🏻

nearly all the videos go back to the same idea, what's intuitive for the player. this is one of the truly great things about tennis, how idiosyncratic styles can be. I used to play with eastern grip, but coming back to the game after 25 years, I taught myself the sw grip and modern swing path. turns out that i was always cheating over to sw as a kid anyway. pretty easy transition and fun to learn. only problem i have with western grip is that too often i see juniors use it to hit flat. this sort of defeats the purpose of the grip. not sure why this happens.

Long time ago continental grip was used almost exclusively and it was assumed you should never change the grip during the game. Right now it is a standard to change the grip between forehand and backhand. I wonder if tennis will come to point when switching forehand grips on the fly depending on the position, ball height and penetration will become a thing.

Is it more dangerous for your wrist to play with a Hawaiian grip or to try to pet an iguana? I'm an intermediate player in case that's a factor.

I think the correct answer would be: that depends. And here is where the coach's intuition, experience matters. There are many examples when coaches made significant changes on players. (Sampras from 2 to 1 handed backhand at age 14). Nobody really knows what will happen once they make radical changes. I dont think there is a recipe. Sport is a "that depends" science.

Great video and love the iguana!

I am using a western Grip and I am struggling with low balls no other issue so any advice regarding this issue

How about playing different forehand grips during the match?. e.g. 1) high ball -> western, 2) low ball -> eastern,/semi-western. Usually you have lots of time to change grip and play it with a western grip if it comes in high. Isn't that the way most pros also do it?

There should be a tennis KZfaqrs tournament tbh. Obviously there’s gotta be restrictions but there are a lot of good opponents like Tennis HQ. That would be an interesting match between Nick and Karue.

Really interesting. Now i understand how i came to my Western grip - and that there are probably other things wrong with my forehand.

I’ve tried switching from eastern to semi western and felt pretty good hitting against the wall but in my match it didn’t go well. Felt so weird switching grips forehand to backhand. By the second set I switched back to eastern. I wanted to switch to a semi western for high balls but just doesn’t seem worth it. In the match, on high balls I still struggled with a semi western. I figure if Sampras, Agassi, Federer, and Del Potro had eastern grips then there is nothing wrong with the grip.

Western grip is a good grip but you are prone to wrist and elbow injuries. A lot of players who use western grip produce a lot of spin which reduces unforced errors. However western grips does not really poses so much power on their ground strokes.

I have played with a full western since I was 12 years old. Playing on clay it worked so well for me, I could take it on the rise, play it higher up, etc etc... quintessential English players could not cope, however when it comes to playing on grass/astro it just does not work well.

I think it's easier to switch from an eastern to a semi-western than the other way around. This is just my gut feeling and I have no proof what so ever on this xD

Western grip is better in handling the high bouncing topspin ball nowadays. The contact point would be about 3 to 6 inches more in front and higher. Actually not a very difficult switch if the player understands the concept.

Wow...Cool Iguana. Get excited when I see a 10 cm lizzard where I'm from.Can't imagine seeing one of those.Thanks for showing.

I have a western grip and it does have advantages and disadvantages. My biggest challenge is consistent low speed rallying.

For me use western forehand cause some difficult to transition to One hand eastern backhand.

where do you teach in florida?

Do you have any player hitting full western? You showed one going Del Po. Anna, Shamir, Safin and Milan seem to hit SW, no? Any W player in there?

I have a Jamaican ganga grip .. same grip Dustin brown uses

I’m in high school rn and I use a western grip. Never plan on changing.

Cici Bellis had to quit tennis at the age of 22 after several wrist and elbow surgeries. She was very talented.

I use the western group for almost 2 years, before switching to a semiwestern very hard switch to make.

I live in Port Orange Florida my friend.

What a great analysis.

Nice touch including the iguana!

Who did call western grip bad at all? Western grip forehands can easily be just awesome and lethal.

Iga Swiatek plays with the western forehand grip, and lethal 3000 rpm top spin

if you have a solution to low balls then the rest is not a problem. In the present game, the extreme spin and high bounce all which the western excels at. Players with western grips just never miss and can roll the ball endlessly. The angles they can hit are crazy.

I mean we literally have no.1 with most badass top spin western grip forehand on womens side... I feel like in few years the new gen will try to emulate that even more...

Current WTA No. 1 uses extreme western grip and she absolutely morders the rest

Well said

If western is ok for Iga...

I’m prefer an eastern grip cuz I can hit low to high balls with ease

Hawaiian grip = extreme western grip right?

thank you for filming the lizard

I’m the first viewer. What an honor!

You sir are so selfless. Nobody provides this kind of advice for free!

Ha, ha, green iguanas are cool, but when they are invasive species, that is living outside its native region, they become a nuisance. That is the case in Florida and Puerto Rico. In both jurisdictions there are programs to try to control them.

woah, I use the western grip

Swiatek uses Western. Intresting is her half open stand with it...

Cute Iguana!!! I would probably give him/her a french fry.

Cool iguana.

I disagree with you that the best forehand grip is SW. It’s your opinion, and a matter of individual preference. Federer’s forehand is widely regarded as the best ever in the game and he uses an Eastern grip

thats a nice lizard

Exhibit A - Iga Swiatek

I had a laugh, I made a friend change to semiwestern from continental. He was hitting killer forehands from day one... I advised him to talk to his instructor though because I was scared of him getting injured or ruining his technique. I am one of these juniors that in the 90s was early adopters of western grip

Najjace mi je kad ti i Milan igrate i onda govorite enegleski pa daj brate opustite se i pricajte naski da vas ceo svet razume 😃😂

Loved the video, but half of it was telling us you don't have a problem with various grips. I personally can't stand coaches who keep yapping forever. Just something to keep in mind in the future, you might be inadvertently driving clients away.

Long answer short: No.

It's not easy switching grips. I started out with an eastern grip and played about 2-3 years with it. I ended up switching to a semi-western grip when I learned about its advantages and it took me several months to get used it. I figured I hadn't played that long and it's going to make a wide range of balls more comfortable, but the price was going out with buckets of balls and self-feeding a few thousand forehands per week. 🤣 And players can hit the ball very thin with any grip. When that happens, it's usually that I am not involving my whole body into the shot and just focusing on turning those shoulders usually solves it. Another cue other people might like is you point the butt cap at the ball when you pull forward -- and it should point forward again when you finish.

Why r u at tennis court in afternoon . Too much sun. I wait till 7 pm

I played mixed doubles with a semi once... i was thrown off court!

Why are you sitting on the ground when you can be manspreading on the bench … dislike

2much talk, 0 practice