Best Tennis Forehand Grip? Eastern vs Semi Western vs Western - Forehand Grips Explained

There are three main tennis forehand grips that you can use, the eastern tennis forehand grip, the semi-western tennis forehand grip, and the western tennis forehand grip.
Your forehand grip will build the basis of your game style in rallies.

The Foundation of All Tennis Grips
There are two main pressure points on your hand when holding a tennis racket. The base of your index knuckle and the heel pad on the palm. Where you position both of these pressure points will determine which grip you're using.
It's important to spread the hand out, over the grip, especially the index finger.
This will allow you to maneuver the racket with more ease and feel what the racket is doing.
You want to avoid holding the racket like a club, with all your fingers squashed together.

The Eight Bevels on A Tennis Racket
There are eight bevels on your tennis racket, starting with number one at the top. For right-handers, you go clockwise from 1-8, and for left-handers, you go anti-clockwise.
Each bevel is a straight line before a sharp edge that goes onto the next bevel.

Eastern Forehand Grip
If you place both your index base knuckle and heel pad on bevel three of the tennis racket, this would make an eastern forehand grip. This grip allows you to hit flatter, produce a longer contact zone, and suits a more aggressive game style.
Dealing with low and medium height balls is easy with this grip, but many players struggle to handle high balls using the eastern forehand grip.
This grip works well on faster surfaces such as grass, artificial grass, fast hard courts, carpet courts, and indoor surfaces.
Roger Federer and Juan Martin Del Potro are two players who use the eastern forehand grip.

Semi-Western Forehand Grip
Place the heel pad and index knuckle on bevel four, this makes the semi-western forehand grip. This grip will allow you to deal with high, medium, and low balls but some players will struggle to generate power on lower balls. Ideal for players who like to mix up play, sometimes using heavy topspin and sometimes flattening out the ball.
This grip will work well on all court surfaces including grass, clay, and hard courts. Rafael Nadal and Andy Murray use the semi-western forehand grip.

Western Forehand Grip
If you place the base index knuckle and heel pad on bevel five, this makes the western forehand grip. This grip helps players produce lots of topspin since the strings are closed most of the way. The contact point has to be timed perfectly in order to make the most of this grip.
The western forehand grip suits players who play on clay and high bouncing hard courts, but you may find it hard to produce power with this grip.
Kyle Edmund and Jack Sock use the western forehand grip.

Which Tennis Forehand Grip Is the Best?
The best grip will be different for each and every player. For a more attacking game style, the semi-western or eastern would suit them more. For someone who mainly plays on clay and likes to grind, they might prefer the western forehand grip.

Which Grip Do the Pros Use?
Most ATP and WTA players use the semi-western forehand grip since it allows you to produce both heavy topspin and a flatter forehand when you need it.

Video Timeline
00:00 - Best Tennis Forehand Grip Video Intro
00:44 - Pressure Points and Tennis Racket Bevels Explained
2:21 - Your Forehand Grip Will Help or Hinder Your Gamestyle
3:13 - Eastern Forehand Grip Explained
7:01 - Semi-Western Forehand Grip Explained
9:10 - Western Forehand Grip Explained
13:08 - Which Forehand Grip Is Best?

#Tennis #TennisForehand #ForehandGrips

[adambures]

I started playing with eastern grip when I was younger, but then I had problems with high balls, especially on clay so I learned to use semi-western grip. In the beggining it was pretty hard because you have to learn how to work with your wrist. But now I'm playing only semi-western and I think this is an ideal grip for modern aggresive tennis game.

[HarshaVardhan-fjgk]

The coaching is great but can we take a minute to talk about how good a tennis player this lad is! He's a hell of a player, can play all types of shots and it's pretty satisfying to see him lay those shots down!

[gordonhalliday-vargas]

Well done chaps. How I understand. I asked for this video 2-3 weeks ago and you did it. how absolutely marvellous of you!

[timefly]

My son, who is an advanced baseball player but only dabbles with tennis, actually discovered the secret to hitting flat with a full western grip. It involves emulating the top hand of a baseball swing for hitting the forehand, and specifically starting with a strongly flexed elbow that extends as the racquet approaches the contact zone like a pushing or punching motion -- something that real tennis players never do. I wouldn't recommend this for anyone but I just thought it was funny that he did this naturally, and it took me forever to figure out HOW (and why) he was holding the racquet in a full western grip but still hitting chest-high balls completely flat.

[dawencheng]

Awesome video, now I know why I’ve been struggling to put away short balls haha. Counterpuncher is such an accurate description for Western grips, so hard to hit flat when opponents aren’t being aggressive enough

[NR-vwrd]

You are talented, great forehand strokes.

[weibecky]

You really hit the points. i am changing my grip from semi western to western, and have met every problem u mention in this video including struggling with low balls and hard to find the timing. But i kinda prefer western grip cuz i am just a bit short so mostly i have to deal with higher balls.

[brandonvereyken]

Your discussion of grips is right on. But as a player who loves to experiment and as a coach who actually encourages it, unlike most, I think you are just missing a lot of the joy of tennis if you are relying on just one "shot" for a forehand and one "shot" or type of backhand. To me, part of the joy of tennis is using the RIGHT shot for every situation.

As you say, sometimes people struggle with a high ball with an Eastern grip. But if the ball is way up there, the right shot is not a normal forehand. Better to hit some type of punch slice, or a jumping forehand, or move your feet to take the ball lower, or synthesize some pseudo-overhead. A pseudo-overhead with a ton of side-spin is not difficult to hit once you get it down. It's fun to hit, and gives the opponent all kinds of trouble.

The comment you usually get from the other side of the court is something like "that's not a real shot" or "lucky shot", but then they are calling the score with scowl right after and you can tell you are really in their head. After being burned twice they usually abandon the tactic of trying to spin the ball to give you a high bounce. At this point you have them exactly where you want them, playing YOUR game.

The best players in the game have all the shots and have the ability to improvise more than robo-pros. Even if this was not the case, I would still advise most players to experiment, because learning and creating more shots will keep your love of the game flaming, and you'll practice more and more effectively if you have more weapons to practice.

I challenge you to show me the budding pro who can go out there and hit his 800th practice forehand in his 3rd hour of training on a particular day, and not be bored to tears. You might be burning a few calories at that point if you are trying to lose weight or something, but you surely aren't learning anything or getting better at anything.

But if you are working on a leftie forehand to add to your right-handed game, or adding a two handed backhand to your one-hander, or vise versa, or working on a killer forehand slice, (yes that's a real shot) you're having fun long after robo-pro has quit for the day, and after the he has lost interest in the game, plateaued at age 16 and started declining, you are headed for glory. Tennis has so so so much more to offer than just learning to have one or two shots down 2% better than the other guy. Add more weapons, win more wars, and have LOTS more fun.

[ekpedemendem]

Thanks coach Simon. I recently switched from an Eastern to a Semi-western grip and started having wrist problems. As a recreational player, I guess I'd stick to my natural Eastern FH grip.

[tzzetpm]

I always used the eastern grip, i found it easier to atack with it, and i could deal well with high balls, but with the semi western i could do those return of serve winners like Djoko, but it was much harder to atack my oponent during the point, and the grip change to volley was very hard

[BenTan]

When I first started tennis, I used a semi-western. Over time I find playing with Eastern was much more natural for me and I play better with it. I also generate more spin with Eastern than semi-Western.

[stefano]

Nice video, Simon. I think it’s also worth mentioning that the Eastern grip is probably better served with a heavy racquet. Versus the Semi-Western and Full Western which require more wrist snap and therefore benefit from a lighter racquet that is easier on the wrist. My opinion at least.

[colinsweeney]

I do not recommend the western grip for younger players. I used it for a while, thinking spin was everything, but all of my shots landed short with lots or spin but almost no pace at all. An extreme western grip requires lots of wrist strength and leg strength that are not fully developed in children. Over this past quarantine summer, I just switched to a semi western and I’m really happy.

[jhnmer]

I've been struggling abt the pace of my shot since i've been using full western for a long time now since I was 14 when I started using full western. I haven't played tennis around 5yrs, and I'm trying to get back on track... I'll consider trying that semi western grip to add more speed and froce to my shots this time. Thanks to your video.this will help a lot.

[tennispennis]

Best Tennis Channel on YT, thks Simon

[BarathManohar]

Awesome. You have clarified my confusion regarding grips. Currently, I am using eastern grip and time to gradually transition to semi-western to produce more topspin and become versatile to play on any surface

[boneskhan]

I'm a shorter player and was simply taught by my mom who has a more eastern grip but mine is somewhat an extreme western because I grew up playing against adults. She was definitely able to create alot of pace that I struggled to generate, i would have to change the grip mid stroke to flatten it out. I could create power but it's not pace, alot of my junior matches came down to a grind if the player was fast enough to get to it.

[_moondog]

As a club player whose gone to Nationals, every shot needs a different grip. Low fast flat slider incoming to backhand, gets a slice return. Where as, high deep bounce to forehand gets a wrist slap side spin return

[Ethan-xolf]

I just recently graduated high school, but love playing tennis. I’ve been trying to play tennis more as of lately and have been finding myself loving the game of tennis even more than I did in school. I used to use an eastern grip; however, by my junior year of high school, I made the switch to semi-western and I haven’t looked back. It’s been great seeing my forehand get better over the years. I’ve been struggling with my serves and backhands recently, but your videos have made it more consistent. Thank you for the videos Simon! I appreciate all of the lessons you provide!

[mathaha]

This is an excellent video. It answered all my questions. Thank you!