Finally! A video that actually takes time to describe grips instead of just showing a drawing for 2 seconds. Thank you for this video, it really helped a lot.
FINALLY! I have been watching tens of videos to realise if the racket angle (to the ground) should change when we use different grips. The answer is no. This is the only guy who explains the grips very well. Thank you!
Nik you are simply amazing. The amount of info you put out there with clarity and high quality audio and video. Spending so much time in delivering top quality instruction , information and sharing your wisdom is highly appreciated . As a fellow PTR Pro and teaching since 90s you are just awesome. Love each and every post of your video and stuff you are doing. Regards to you family and students as well. They play an important part in what you do too. Cheers . God bless you each and every day. (btw those 5+ dislikers should go for a check up)
As a beginner I can not reccommend a more valuable video to other beginners than this, plus the video about breathing properly. They helped me tremendously. I started hitting less and less out while my friends wonder why their shots keep flying off the court. Attention to your grip changes so much
Western(Bevel5)--forehand for juniors Semi-western(Bevel4)--forehand Continental（Bevel2)--serve Eastern（Bevel1)--one hand back,drop shots, slices, volleys Eastern（Dominate Bevel1）&non-dominate Bevel5-6--two hand back Best grips video!! you're brilliant!
I was rockin a Western around those days as well.. my Coach got all up on my ass tryin to get me to switch to an Eastern because I was getting great spin but wasn't getting Depth into the court that I needed(honestly something that would have improved in time) he also battled with me to try to get me to give up my 1 handed backhand and move to a 2 handed... He partially won the battle on my forehand because I ended up in a Semi Western but I refused to give up my 1 handed backhand..
Nick, you're such an amazing coach, I wish I lived in the same area so I could hire you :) When it comes to recreational level, most coaches I've dealt with either try to train you like a pro, or oversimplify things that you stop improving after a while
I actually use the western grip for many years,And then switch to a semiwestern, it was actually pretty hard for me to switch though, nobody taught me this grip, I basically found it myself, and I had no idea that there were different grips, when I started to learn I was very confused at first.
Amazing content, as always! THANK YOU VERY MUCH! Tennis classes down here in Brazil are very expensive and I've been learning only by watching your videos. I'm already able to beat some players in here :) Thanks!
Just from watching this last night a couple of times, my game was so much more improved tonight. I even had a lot of other players comment on this too. It really helps knowing what grips to use for each shot that I'm hitting, especially when a few weeks ago I didn't even know that this mattered. Thank you for the detailed video on this coach 👍🏻
Great video my friend. This is so informative, you have a GOD given talent for teaching. It’s an amazing talent you have my friend. I have been posting my tennis journey and learning a lot from you. Thank you my friend.
I’m so glad I subscribed to your channel this video is absolutely great so much good stuff to learn I’m now going to serve with the continental grip instead of forehand grip immediately, so grateful…thanks
Great video, best so far explaining and showing also. Great additional information on tips and also distinction between beginners and already experienced players. So you´ll know better what can or can´t be done still.
I was very comfortable with Eastern/SW for forehand and Continental for serves/volleys, but no matter how much I tried my backhands struggled. I realized through this video I'd been hitting my backhand with my dominant hand in the Eastern forehand grip, which was causing me to have to rotate my hands down making it difficult to gain power. I switched it to the continental and oh my god. I immediately, and I do mean immediately, started smacking the crap out of the ball with control and power I haven't had on a backhand in 15+ years of playing. Thank you so much!!
Thanks for putting in so much effort for the tutorial. I am a beginner in tennis and your tutorials are what motivating me to play better. Thanks again!
Excellent illustration! Must watch for all beginners and may be even for the intermediate level players. I just clarified my doubt that for the single handed ‘eastern backhand’ grip index knuckle should be on bevel number 1. Thanks a lot :)
The point about the pinky finger being on top of (instead of above) the butt of the racquet addressed a question I had, as well as helping with regard to why there never seemed to be enough space on my racquet for my left hand (for a two-handed backhand) even though my racquet is a normal size racquet. Thanks for addressing these little details.
An absolute master class lesson on Tennis grips and their pros and cons! The only situation that was not covered, however, is what grips to use on service returns, specifically what grips to use while waiting on serve returns. I realize that there is a great deal of ambiguity in regards to service return grips and what grip to use will depend greatly on the situation and improvisation as well. I still would love to hear your thoughts on this, however.
Nick, tnx si much for the serve.. I've tried continental just before the match and immediately felt good. I expected results on the kick and flat, but slice surprised me even more, as the ball didn't fly away to left any more :). In addition to that, eastern backhand used to confuse me on the smash, so now its more clearer, simpler and effective!
Great video! Only one I found that shows how the racquet path and ball path change with the different grips. I've always played with an Eastern forehand, but going to experiment with SW to see how it goes. Also love that you actually give recommendations rather than "you can use this one, or this one is fine too, or this other one". One suggestion: would be useful to put a big dot on your knuckle so it's easier to see how it's lining up with the bevels for the different grips.
Excellent clear instrucions. As a returning player I have found your videos really helpful. Thankou. As an Australian I seem to be stuck between the Eastern and Semi Western for forehands with a muscle memory Continental for all the others.
Really great Video, really informative. Looking forward to trying to change my grip as im a beginner and played as a kid so think just through bad intuition picked the racket up thinking flat is how you hit forehand :D so will try to move round to the Semi Western grip and hope it improves my forehand.
This tutorial was from great help for me. Finally, a fantastic video that explains in detail all the grips and how nad when to use them. Thank you Nick
Great fundamental vid, Nik! Could you briefly comment the continental grip? As you say the wrist should stay "straight", neutral. However on the volley I cock the wrist both on FH and BH. It makes the wrist much stronger and it's still I believe the continental grip (is it, by the way?). THE QUESTION - WOULD IT BETTER TO KEEP THE WRIST CLASSICALLY STRAIGHT ON THE SERVE? Or to cock it slightly as on the volley?
Great video, very informative on when to use each grip! Hope this can improve my consistency..I've pretty much just been gripping it and ripping it. It works well sometimes, so hoping more knowledge of each grip will help.
so the grip resembles the earth right: The broad side is Europe (the European continent), and on the sides are the West and the East! I guess this is the mental picture I will keep in my head so I can work on the muscle memory, the tactile memory without looking (obviously).
Playing for 5 years, I learned nothing really new about the grips from this, but the very first seconds were a revelation. Realized that I've been holding my racket wrong all this time, with the racket butt clearly protruding out of my hand. My coaches never noticed this or mentioned it even once. I often have the racket move in my hand uncontrollably at contact and I think this may be the reason why.
Thanks to god and this amazing man who explained us with this grip guide. l am a left handed tennis player, so it was really difficult for me to understand this things, but now, with all of these explanations, l understood them at all. Hvala ti od srca Nikola :D
My mom got me into tennis when I was young. I played in HS without much coaching. Eventually I wondered why my grip was molding to my hand and I couldnt use the racquet on the other side of the grip. I never knew of grips until now! (I'm 45). I am trying to get back into playing and will plan to use a Semi-Western FH grip (feels most comfortable). I also didn't realize that the FH and serve (CG/2) had a different grip as well as the BH. Wow. So I can use CG for both FH & BH volleys? Thanks so much for the video.
Very nicely done. What are your thoughts on the size of the racquet grip? Some say bigger is better, while it seems like today's players are using smaller size grips. I remember Michael Stich, at 6', used a 4.25. And what a fluid motion and power serve he had. Many manufacturers don't offer the 4 5/8 anymore. I was taught years ago that when you grip the racquet, you should have a space the size of an index finger while gripping the racquet with your dominant hand. Thus, I fell into a 4.5 grip; which, maybe by habit, felt most comfortable to me. I'm sure you could provide some valuable advice about this. Thank you.
Thank you Thomas, I use the same measuring method. I don’t have any data on grip sizes on tour and whether they got smaller except some anecdotal evidence like RAFA
Thanks for this great video, it is super informative! Any tips on best way to adjust the grip mid-play, for example, quick switch from forehand to backhand and vice versa?
Great video! I've used the western grip on my forehand since I was little. Although it can look/feel unnatural to novice players, it's actually quite intuitive for many youngsters. The reason for this is because the western forehand grip is good for balls with a high bounce which happens more frequently with less player height. The trade-off is low balls. Since the racket is more or less parallel to the ground, the player must contort their arm and generate low to high swing in a shorter amount of space (often with a kind of hop) compared to when the ball bounces higher.
Great video once again. But i got to watch it again. I'm confused why there is a eastern forehand and easter backhand while hitting a forehand. Easter backhand is bevel 1?
Hi, Nikola. My daughter is naturally a lefty and often uses both hands in this right-handed world. She is truly ambidextrous, with her competitive gymnastics and swimming experience reinforcing the need to be strong and balanced on both sides. I recently started teaching her tennis fundamentals, with additional help from your excellent videos, and encouraged her to use a left hand forehand and a right hand forehand. She’s done quite well, although we need to adjust the grip a bit to the semi-western grip for both sides. She recently joined a competitive junior tennis team, and the coach thinks two forehands will just confuse her and slow her down as she progresses in competitive levels. I think it’s because most have never seen two forehands work well-ambidexterity is rare, and there is a bias against it, based on unfamiliarity (cf. black swan phenomenon-black swans are the norm down under in Australia and NZ). So, the coach is steering her toward a two-handed backhand on the right side, which funny enough is her more practiced and stronger side now (with a right hand forehand). Would you recommend that she be an exception to the rule and pursue two forehands? Thank you!
best grip explanation video ever, but still did not understand the continental grip and why it's better for serve and volley i need to to watch the video again
Would have loved this video when I first started learning. I figured out all my grips through trial and error. 😅 I was using Continental as my forehand and Western on my 1H backhand. I still use the Western though, but my fingers are spaced pretty much just like you do on a forehand grip. I haven't noticed any trouble clearing the net, but I do have that problem on the forehand, which I usually take with an Eastern grip.
Thanks for this nice introduction. What would you recommend regarding the grip size? What advantages/disadvantages brings a thicker grip to a thinner grip (e.g L4 vs L3)? What is your experience with the grip sizes? Many thanks in advance and stay fit!
How to Hold the Racquet: 0:08
Forehand Grips (Continental/Eastern/Semi-Western/Western): 4:17
Two-Handed Backhand Grips (Continental/Eastern): 8:44
One-Handed Backhand Grips (Continental/Eastern/Western): 11:06
Serve Grips (Forehand/Continental/Eastern BH): 13:07
Volley Grips (Eastern BH/Continental/Forehand): 16:38
My Recommendations: 19:28
Thanks Nikola
@ l lo up
Finally! A video that actually takes time to describe grips instead of just showing a drawing for 2 seconds. Thank you for this video, it really helped a lot.
Best grip lesson I've seen. Simple, clear.
🙏🙏
Agreed
Really is, great explanations.
FINALLY! I have been watching tens of videos to realise if the racket angle (to the ground) should change when we use different grips. The answer is no. This is the only guy who explains the grips very well. Thank you!
🙏
Nik you are simply amazing. The amount of info you put out there with clarity and high quality audio and video. Spending so much time in delivering top quality instruction , information and sharing your wisdom is highly appreciated . As a fellow PTR Pro and teaching since 90s you are just awesome. Love each and every post of your video and stuff you are doing. Regards to you family and students as well. They play an important part in what you do too. Cheers . God bless you each and every day. (btw those 5+ dislikers should go for a check up)
Thank you 🙏.
As a beginner I can not reccommend a more valuable video to other beginners than this, plus the video about breathing properly. They helped me tremendously. I started hitting less and less out while my friends wonder why their shots keep flying off the court. Attention to your grip changes so much
Western(Bevel5)--forehand for juniors
Semi-western(Bevel4)--forehand
Continental（Bevel2)--serve
Eastern（Bevel1)--one hand back,drop shots, slices, volleys
Eastern（Dominate Bevel1）&non-dominate Bevel5-6--two hand back
Best grips video!! you're brilliant!
I use eastern on my forehand though
I started having this western grip in 92-93 and everyone was picking on me. Reminded me of those days ❤
I was rockin a Western around those days as well.. my Coach got all up on my ass tryin to get me to switch to an Eastern because I was getting great spin but wasn't getting Depth into the court that I needed(honestly something that would have improved in time) he also battled with me to try to get me to give up my 1 handed backhand and move to a 2 handed... He partially won the battle on my forehand because I ended up in a Semi Western but I refused to give up my 1 handed backhand..
I was just told at a clinic the other day that there's no such thing as a western grip. I knew I had seen it somewhere before, thanks for confirming
Nick, you're such an amazing coach, I wish I lived in the same area so I could hire you :) When it comes to recreational level, most coaches I've dealt with either try to train you like a pro, or oversimplify things that you stop improving after a while
Thank you 24 🙏🙏
I actually use the western grip for many years,And then switch to a semiwestern, it was actually pretty hard for me to switch though, nobody taught me this grip, I basically found it myself, and I had no idea that there were different grips, when I started to learn I was very confused at first.
I think making a lesson about the grip is really difficult but you did well. Great work!
Thank you,the most complete guide to tennis grips ever on youtube!
Very informative, best videos I’ve by far explaining grip and uses
Thank you James
Perfect video for all tennis players.
Amazing content, as always! THANK YOU VERY MUCH! Tennis classes down here in Brazil are very expensive and I've been learning only by watching your videos. I'm already able to beat some players in here :)
Thanks!
Just from watching this last night a couple of times, my game was so much more improved tonight. I even had a lot of other players comment on this too. It really helps knowing what grips to use for each shot that I'm hitting, especially when a few weeks ago I didn't even know that this mattered. Thank you for the detailed video on this coach 👍🏻
Thanks, that was a very thorough explanation.
AS ALWAYS, THE BEST!
Love your videos Nick. Started playing tennis this past summer and am loving it!
🙌🙌
Great video my friend. This is so informative, you have a GOD given talent for teaching. It’s an amazing talent you have my friend. I have been posting my tennis journey and learning a lot from you. Thank you my friend.
Wow, thank you
Love it!, the greatest, most clarifying tutorial on grips out there…thank you
💯
I’m so glad I subscribed to your channel this video is absolutely great so much good stuff to learn I’m now going to serve with the continental grip instead of forehand grip immediately, so grateful…thanks
🔥💯
so great tennis tips
Great video Nik👍💪
Top of the line coaching and content!
I appreciate that!
Super good explanation
This guy is incredibly amazing the best Tennis tutor I've ever seen
You rock and so does that iguana. Keep up the good work!
Forehand: continental
Backhand: continental
Serve: continental
Volley: continental
Racquet smash: semi-western
Great video, best so far explaining and showing also. Great additional information on tips and also distinction between beginners and already experienced players. So you´ll know better what can or can´t be done still.
I was very comfortable with Eastern/SW for forehand and Continental for serves/volleys, but no matter how much I tried my backhands struggled. I realized through this video I'd been hitting my backhand with my dominant hand in the Eastern forehand grip, which was causing me to have to rotate my hands down making it difficult to gain power. I switched it to the continental and oh my god. I immediately, and I do mean immediately, started smacking the crap out of the ball with control and power I haven't had on a backhand in 15+ years of playing. Thank you so much!!
🔥
Very clear and useful
Great stuff. Thanks man
This has cleared so many doubts for me…and having implemented the changes for eg: gap between finger 1 and 2..brought massive difference thank you
Another great video Nick. Love this channel. Wish I lived in Florida so I could get some coaching 👍
Thank you Patrick
Thanks for putting in so much effort for the tutorial. I am a beginner in tennis and your tutorials are what motivating me to play better. Thanks again!
omg wish that should have been my first lesson. same with golf ....wrong grip will end in disaster ...so important
Excellent illustration! Must watch for all beginners and may be even for the intermediate level players. I just clarified my doubt that for the single handed ‘eastern backhand’ grip index knuckle should be on bevel number 1. Thanks a lot :)
Great vid. Biggest takeaway? When getting my kids into the game, not passing on my grips to the future generation!
The point about the pinky finger being on top of (instead of above) the butt of the racquet addressed a question I had, as well as helping with regard to why there never seemed to be enough space on my racquet for my left hand (for a two-handed backhand) even though my racquet is a normal size racquet. Thanks for addressing these little details.
Just great ! Thanks !
An absolute master class lesson on Tennis grips and their pros and cons! The only situation that was not covered, however, is what grips to use on service returns, specifically what grips to use while waiting on serve returns. I realize that there is a great deal of ambiguity in regards to service return grips and what grip to use will depend greatly on the situation and improvisation as well. I still would love to hear your thoughts on this, however.
Thanks Steven
I covered return grips here: ua-cam.com/video/rbwtmCRRV5Y/v-deo.html
Best grip guide video on UA-cam. Thanks Nick!
🙏🙏
Nick, tnx si much for the serve.. I've tried continental just before the match and immediately felt good. I expected results on the kick and flat, but slice surprised me even more, as the ball didn't fly away to left any more :). In addition to that, eastern backhand used to confuse me on the smash, so now its more clearer, simpler and effective!
Probably the best grip explanation video on UA-cam!
Thank you skywalker
Wonderful explanation, great job!
Outstanding video!!!
Great video! Only one I found that shows how the racquet path and ball path change with the different grips. I've always played with an Eastern forehand, but going to experiment with SW to see how it goes. Also love that you actually give recommendations rather than "you can use this one, or this one is fine too, or this other one". One suggestion: would be useful to put a big dot on your knuckle so it's easier to see how it's lining up with the bevels for the different grips.
Excellent , very well explained.
Excellent clear instrucions. As a returning player I have found your videos really helpful. Thankou. As an Australian I seem to be stuck between the Eastern and Semi Western for forehands with a muscle memory Continental for all the others.
Good grips 👍
amazing video on grip, it's really very helpful.
Really great Video, really informative. Looking forward to trying to change my grip as im a beginner and played as a kid so think just through bad intuition picked the racket up thinking flat is how you hit forehand :D so will try to move round to the Semi Western grip and hope it improves my forehand.
Could you do a tutorial for Kyrgios' grip, would love to know how to do it.
Great explanation 🙏
I just want to thank this video for correctung my grip specially the first part. I really hit heavy ball and lots of topspin after i lowered my grip ❤
This is really good, thank you so much for your effort!
Best online instructor...period
Meticulous Nick, thank you.
Thank you Gordon
This tutorial was from great help for me. Finally, a fantastic video that explains in detail all the grips and how nad when to use them. Thank you Nick
🙏🙏
Great, great, great video!!! thank you!!!
Great fundamental vid, Nik! Could you briefly comment the continental grip? As you say the wrist should stay "straight", neutral. However on the volley I cock the wrist both on FH and BH. It makes the wrist much stronger and it's still I believe the continental grip (is it, by the way?). THE QUESTION - WOULD IT BETTER TO KEEP THE WRIST CLASSICALLY STRAIGHT ON THE SERVE? Or to cock it slightly as on the volley?
Thank you sharing these fundamentals clearly. It was much helpful.
Thank you it was awesome
Great video, very informative on when to use each grip! Hope this can improve my consistency..I've pretty much just been gripping it and ripping it. It works well sometimes, so hoping more knowledge of each grip will help.
I knew your channel would blow up. Quality content!
so the grip resembles the earth right: The broad side is Europe (the European continent), and on the sides are the West and the East! I guess this is the mental picture I will keep in my head so I can work on the muscle memory, the tactile memory without looking (obviously).
Greatest technic lesson! Thank you!
Playing for 5 years, I learned nothing really new about the grips from this, but the very first seconds were a revelation. Realized that I've been holding my racket wrong all this time, with the racket butt clearly protruding out of my hand. My coaches never noticed this or mentioned it even once. I often have the racket move in my hand uncontrollably at contact and I think this may be the reason why.
Very good video
Tennis is love ❤️
Great lesson Nick! 👍👍
Thank you 🙏
Get Ahead in Tennis with Killer Volley Techniques. Great Video! Thanks for sharing this one.
New subscriber. Keep them coming
🙏🙏
Thank you, that was a fantastic explanation of a confusing topic.
Very thorough and comprehensive contents, thanking you very much Nick! Keep up the good work 😃
This video this is really nice and you thought it well thank you coach nicola 😄😁.
Thanks to god and this amazing man who explained us with this grip guide. l am a left handed tennis player, so it was really difficult for me to understand this things, but now, with all of these explanations, l understood them at all. Hvala ti od srca Nikola :D
Nema na cemu Nikola 🙌
My mom got me into tennis when I was young. I played in HS without much coaching. Eventually I wondered why my grip was molding to my hand and I couldnt use the racquet on the other side of the grip. I never knew of grips until now! (I'm 45). I am trying to get back into playing and will plan to use a Semi-Western FH grip (feels most comfortable). I also didn't realize that the FH and serve (CG/2) had a different grip as well as the BH. Wow. So I can use CG for both FH & BH volleys? Thanks so much for the video.
Another engaging lesson on an often overlooked topic. I'm curious on the origins as to how those grips were named.
Very nicely done. What are your thoughts on the size of the racquet grip? Some say bigger is better, while it seems like today's players are using smaller size grips. I remember Michael Stich, at 6', used a 4.25. And what a fluid motion and power serve he had. Many manufacturers don't offer the 4 5/8 anymore. I was taught years ago that when you grip the racquet, you should have a space the size of an index finger while gripping the racquet with your dominant hand. Thus, I fell into a 4.5 grip; which, maybe by habit, felt most comfortable to me. I'm sure you could provide some valuable advice about this. Thank you.
Thank you Thomas, I use the same measuring method. I don’t have any data on grip sizes on tour and whether they got smaller except some anecdotal evidence like RAFA
Should your right hand heel pad be hanging slightly off the butt cap for the two handed backhand ? Or completely on the racket ?
Thanks for this great video, it is super informative! Any tips on best way to adjust the grip mid-play, for example, quick switch from forehand to backhand and vice versa?
Great video! I've used the western grip on my forehand since I was little. Although it can look/feel unnatural to novice players, it's actually quite intuitive for many youngsters. The reason for this is because the western forehand grip is good for balls with a high bounce which happens more frequently with less player height. The trade-off is low balls. Since the racket is more or less parallel to the ground, the player must contort their arm and generate low to high swing in a shorter amount of space (often with a kind of hop) compared to when the ball bounces higher.
Great video once again. But i got to watch it again. I'm confused why there is a eastern forehand and easter backhand while hitting a forehand. Easter backhand is bevel 1?
You can’t hit a forehand with eastern backhand grip. Only backhands
Hi, Nikola. My daughter is naturally a lefty and often uses both hands in this right-handed world. She is truly ambidextrous, with her competitive gymnastics and swimming experience reinforcing the need to be strong and balanced on both sides. I recently started teaching her tennis fundamentals, with additional help from your excellent videos, and encouraged her to use a left hand forehand and a right hand forehand. She’s done quite well, although we need to adjust the grip a bit to the semi-western grip for both sides. She recently joined a competitive junior tennis team, and the coach thinks two forehands will just confuse her and slow her down as she progresses in competitive levels. I think it’s because most have never seen two forehands work well-ambidexterity is rare, and there is a bias against it, based on unfamiliarity (cf. black swan phenomenon-black swans are the norm down under in Australia and NZ). So, the coach is steering her toward a two-handed backhand on the right side, which funny enough is her more practiced and stronger side now (with a right hand forehand). Would you recommend that she be an exception to the rule and pursue two forehands? Thank you!
There have been some players with two forehands but it’s rare
I talk about it towards the end of this video 👉 ua-cam.com/video/DqWTfaPZQ8w/v-deo.html
Semi western forehand grip Is ideal for slice backhand aswell no grip change while returning fast serves to either side
Great video Nick! I needed it!
Thank you Natachi
Even the intro was helpful! I've been too high on the grip
Thanks for the video
💯
best grip explanation video ever, but still did not understand the continental grip and why it's better for serve and volley i need to to watch the video again
Thank you, I learn a lot from you
Would have loved this video when I first started learning. I figured out all my grips through trial and error. 😅
I was using Continental as my forehand and Western on my 1H backhand. I still use the Western though, but my fingers are spaced pretty much just like you do on a forehand grip. I haven't noticed any trouble clearing the net, but I do have that problem on the forehand, which I usually take with an Eastern grip.
Crystal clear info 👌
Thanks for this nice introduction. What would you recommend regarding the grip size? What advantages/disadvantages brings a thicker grip to a thinner grip (e.g L4 vs L3)? What is your experience with the grip sizes? Many thanks in advance and stay fit!
So so helpful. Thanks Nik!
Thanks mister pro 👍
Thanks!
My appreciated. Thank you ❤️
Very nice lesson
Hey mate, you probably already know this but your videos are above and beyond the rest