Use the images on this page or watch a video on forehand grips will help you know which kind you are using. Taylor Fritz advanced to the third round at the Australian Open on Thursday with a dominant 6-4, 6-3, 7-6 (5) victory over fellow American Frances Tiafoe-- but it was what happened after the final . I think it speaks to my strengths on court, which is just being clutch and playing my best tennis in the big moments. To gripthe racquet with a full western grip, hold the racquet with your left hand at the neck of the racquet with your strings facing down. It is proved influential for high bounces. western is probably not ideal, but it is certainly not a limiting factor to top tennis. United States defeats Poland 5-0. There are several options for your forehand grip in tennis. What tennis racquet should I buy? Richard Gabriel Cyr Gasquet (French: [ia ask]; born 18 June 1986) is a French professional tennis player. Great points Chris! To master a full western grip, you need to practice for hours a day which most players dont have time for. Tennisunit.com is a participant in the amazon services llc associates program, an Affiliate Advertising Program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com. While the semi-western and western grips are characterized by the placement of the palm at the bevels 4 and 5 respectively. However, a forehand grip doesn't only involve holding the racket with your dominant hand like you would hold a hammer. Taylor Fritz caused the years most spectacular upset to end Rafa Nadals winning streak and triumph at the 2022 Indian Wells, but what was the secret to his stunning success? That being said, I think that the majority of photos pointing to SW and one photo being Eastern, overall points to the conclusion that he is a SW grip bordering Eastern. He is currently ranked (July 2022) in 64th place by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP). 1-ranked male tennis player in America and 12th in the world, 24-year-old Fritz defeated 22-time Grand Slam . This is remarkably light for a pro player racquetmeaning that its around 315-320 grams strung. Fritz shares the secrets to success of his two biggest weapons. https://thetennisbros.com/tennis-ti=Rafa's Forehand Grip,use a full western grip. This means that not all ATP pro players are gear heads, although many are. Roger Federer uses what is called an eastern grip whileNadal uses a semi-western grip. And even thought its 8 its HL it still feels Hh. Furthermore, after hitting several forehands with all the above-mentioned grips you can identify theperfect forehand tennisgrip for you. In love with his compatriot and long-time girlfriend Raquel Pedraza, Fritz got married at the age of 18. Sock is an inch shorter and . Will Boucek ATP/WTA doubles strategy analyst. ATP Tour tournaments. a lot of pros use it, including a guy named nadal You must log in or register to reply here. Sock is an inch shorter and significantly stockier than Fritz. Side note: Why would Apostolos Tsitsipas be wrong? Part of the next-gen group of players he is tipped for great things in the future. (Dustin Satloff/USTA) . So, the four familiartennis forehand gripsare; Wawrinkas forehand gripis western and he uses this grip to generate topspins with this grip. Unfortunately, from here the quality of the reference photos drops. Image Source: Darren Carroll/USTA, Sydney International 2019: I felt adding guidelines here made the picture harder to see. But then might be to heavy for servers. First- the index finger knuckle and Second- the heel pad. On the flip side, for left-handed, it will lie on bevel 6. 16 just a few weeks ago. Stop paying full price for tennis gear! I should point out this is not an infallible rule by any means. Close your hand around the grip, and youve got the eastern grip for your forehand. But now after carefully analyzing all grips and garnering some shreds of evidence we can say thatsemi-western gripalso known astopspin forehand gripis the best one. Usually, the best photo to identify the FH grip is to look for a backside forehand where the camera exposes the index knuckle from behind the player. He locked his arms while making contact with the ball. Its a nice stick! The American rattles an ace to reduce the deficit to two points. An Eastern grip allows the player to close the racket face for heavy topspin. I cant imagine a pro playing with that against heavy hitters or at least not without adding at the very least 10 grams in the hoop, Yes, I agree that it is very much on the low side. Tennis stars like Serena Williams and Del Potro employed this grip. Taylor Fritz uses speedy surface and a service attack to win ATP Finals debut over Rafael Nadal By Steve Tignor Nov 13, 2022. . novak couldnt handle it. There are a couple of other TW threads that seem to argue for the SW grip with evidence backing their claims, but overall, this seems to be the minority opinion. Yourpalm should be on the side of the grip when you are in ready position strings facing to the side. Than as the years progressed, it slowly transitioned into a semi-western. Upgrade your forehand with our free improvement guide: https://www.top-tennis-training.com/forehand-guide/The American 24 year old tennis player defeated Rafa Nadal in the final of Indian Wells 2022 ATP to secure his spot as one the best players in the world. The forehand grip allows a player to take better aim and use much more power when hitting the ball, hopefully scoring the winning points. Poster Sysyphus makes an argument for the SW grip, but it quickly devolves into torches and pitchforks. The ATP Tour comprises ATP Masters 1000, ATP 500, and ATP 250 and the ATP Cup. The way you hold the tennis seems a pretty personal thing and your comfort while holding these sticks matters a lot. Tennis Gear Reviews, Doubles Lessons, & Tour News. The most well-known gear junkie/tennis nerd on tour is Fernando Verdasco, who seems to tweak his setup constantly and play with a slightly different configuration in every tournament he enters. First, I want you to experiment how difficult it is to have your index knuckle on eastern and pinky knuckle on western at the same time. The great Rafael Nadal as well as Andrey Rublev also uses this contemporary grip and is known for producing natural topspins with this grip. Jan. 23, 2022. So, Roger has adopted a pretty wide array of tricks, andFederers forehand gripis an example of Rogers changes. Very few players on the ATP tour uses a racquet this light, but if you have a fast swing speed and are good at hitting the centre of the racquet its possible I guess. Eastern Grip. Continental grip has evolved and given rise to semi-western grip. Pedraza, being a professional tennis player herself, has contested in all four Grand Slams. Does the IG help with this? Move your hand around the handle so that your heel and index knuckle are on bevel 3 and you will be demonstrating an eastern forehand grip. Using this grip, you can hit more aggressively with a higher margin of error. Taylor Fritz has produced a composed performance against Poland's Hubert Hurkacz to clinch a spot for the United States in the final of the United Cup . The pinky knuckle is usually not referenced, but its purpose will be explained in the analysis section. As a small note, due to the way the bevels and hand interact, the heel pad is commonly lower than the index knuckle in position. Novak Djokovic forehand gripis semi-western. So will the IG PP be that much more comfy than the regular YTK? Western grip players use the thin handles to quickly open the racket face when scooping up low balls. When we compare them side to side, its far more obvious that Rogers forehand grip is on the eastern bevel, while Stefanos is on the semi-western. If you want to start learning to play games with continental grip, you can quickly learn to play with this grip. Fritz forehand into the tramlines and Nadal is gifted the break. Questions about pro stock tennis racquets. The American, ranked in the top 20, has been in good form through the 2022 season, reaching the second week of a Slam for the first time at the Australian Open. Other than that, though, their on-court personalities couldnt be more different. Hey, I'd take his results with all of his shortcomings! Visit BrainGameTennis.com to read the latest and best selling course called Getting tight where Craig OShannessy and Jeff Greenwald combine their specific skill sets to help you with the universal problem all players struggle with in matches Getting Tight. But in an Instagram post, Fritz said that he hoped to return to the tour as early as Wimbledon, which begins 28 June.. Fritz posted I had really high hopes for @rolandgarros this year, so it's . Fritz, not so much. Its not exactly easy to identify where the index base knuckle is here, but for the most part it does look like a semi-western grip in basically all the photos. Ch.1 - Badminton. Essentially in tennis, the role of the forehand is to make the opponent miss. If youre looking for more spin than an eastern grip, then this might be the best fit for you. The palm placement is on bevel 5. The benefit of this grip is that it allows for a great deal of wrist motion, whilst also allowing the player to hit through the ball. We hope you have learned about the various types of grips and found the right grip for your game. The beams are thiner and feel so solid. Your email address will not be published. The diagrams are reoriented to make it easier to visualize. >> Next, read about proper technique, tips, & drills to improve your forehand! Tennishead.net is owned by Advantage Publishing (UK) Ltd. Company No: 05734573, Lowest price tennis gear from our trusted partner, Receive $700/600 of tennis gear from the Tennishead CLUB. Is a pro stock racquet better than a retail one? Sock, who hits as viciously and moves as quickly as anyone on tour, is an explosive athlete. While Fritz feels equally adept at hitting forehands and backhands from the baseline, it is still his forehand that he hits the hardest. His grip is close enough to Federer that it warrants a close . Interestingly on the backhand, there aren't too many one-handers that hit with more spin than him, and the low-ish swing weight (by ATP standards) will allow him to get . His weakness so far is his speed, or relative lack thereof. Taylor Fritz knows his time is now at US Open 2022. . If we take a look at the follow through it follows the same idea. To try the eastern grip, lay your dominant hand out with your palm facing up. I predict that he will remain only a top 50 player throughout his career due to his FH grip. The continental grip is almost never used on forehands in todays game. Fritz was hurt on the final point of his second-round loss to Dominik Koepfer at the French Open, and he left the court in a wheelchair. You can cite John McEnroe with his continental forehand grip. In the final against Nadal, his average forehand speed was 75 mph. Sock did the same thing in the second set before winning it. The way his wrist rolls up the back of the ball is a perfect depiction of creating a pop when a ball hits the surface of the court. Andy Murry and Rafael Nadal have some of the best semi-western forehands on the pro tennis tour. Do professional players change racquets? The continental grip doesnt allow for a lot of topspin on your forehand, so you will struggle to make them consistently. This will be our best opportunity to identify his grip. Morgan Riddle is serving looks ahead of the 2022 US Open. Taylor Fritz often visited the Indian Wells Tennis Garden as a kid, with his family making the two-hour drive from their home in Rancho Santa Fe to watch the tournament action. Ive updated the post. Terrible service game by Fritz. Grips. Well, the secret lies in theNadal forehand gripwhich is a semi-western grip. To find the eastern grip place your hypothenar eminence is on bevel 3. Amazon, the Amazon logo, Amazon supply, and the amazon supply logo are trademarks of amazon.com, inc. Or its Affiliates. Moreover, it is considered the perfect grip for control and power. Here is a good hitting drill you can go through after a good warm up. Apart from using this extreme forehand grip, he hits the forehand with a straight arm. Zverev's career highlights include titles at the 2018 and the 2021 ATP Finals, and . The inaugural United Cup trophy belongs to the United States. His weakness so far is his speed, or relative lack thereof. It may be similar to delpo's FH? His upper body rotates around 180 degrees while performing forward swings. Then Fritz fired a forehand straight down the middle; Rafa was a . Then, lay the racquet in your hand with the strings facing up. At 20 years old he has a potentially very bright future ahead of him. It is the most popular and modern grip that modern entry-level players prefer. The best part of this group is that it is equally suitable for players of all levels. Granted I could have gone with a softer string, but the exact same string in the Touch works great. Jason Frausto 2022-07-12T13 . This photo is, in my opinion, the most definitive evidence for the SW grip for Stefanos. There are two indicators of grip. An Eastern grip allows the player to close the racket face for heavy topspin. Taylor Fritz strings his racquet with the spin friendly and crisp string Solinco Tour Bite. Stefanos Tsitsipas, Vienna 2021: Despite swinging like an eastern grip, close ups to Tsitsipas index knuckle show that he is on Bevel 4, the semi-western grip. Then, lay the racquet in your hand with the strings . In order to play you must be a registered user. Taylor Fritz joins TopCourt to share the story of his journey and development into one of the world's brightest stars. According to the ATP, as of mid June, Fritz has won $7.8 million in career prize money$2.24 million this year alone. The first claim that we can debunk is that Stefanos uses a conservative eastern grip (middle of bevel 3 or bordering continental). The reigning BNP Paribas Open champion clawed past Hubert Hurkacz 7-6 (5), 7-6 (5) in the No. By Associated Press. Youre right John. Over the weekend, the girlfriend of American tennis ace Taylor Fritz posted poolside photos from Brooklyn, where she modeled a green . Taylor Fritz speaks in an interview during Media Day at the 2022 US Open, Friday, Aug. 26, 2022 in Flushing, NY. No doubt, Nadal knows very well how to hit good forehands with an extreme grip that falls on bevel 4.5. 20, was a career-high No. Moreover, it is considered the perfect grip for control and power. Taylor Fritz 2022 season got off to a great start as he find himself ranked ATP World No.8, and this is largely due to his forehand power and accuracy. Does Taylor Fritz have a particular element of his forehand tech. The forehand grip,used for forehand overhead shots,is a dominant weapon directly correlated with your success as a tennis player. Fritz will lock horns with Serbia's Miomir Kecmanovic in the quarterfinals of the Indian Wells Masters on Friday. Sinner's specs are not too dissimilar to the stock frame, and the Head pro room have applied some silicone and lead to his frame to beef up the specs ever so slightly. The American trails Federer 0-2 in the head-to-head and has lost all five of his meetings against Djokovic. Below youll learn how to find the best tennis forehand grip for you. I predict that he will remain only a top 50 player throughout his career, He will play doubles with the son for Wimbledon. Tennis racquets for juniors Roger Federer rotates his heel pad on high backhand volleys more towards the top bevel and therefore shows a modified eastern grip. I'm not one dimensional any more.". FREE 20-page guide - Learn 3 doubles tactics to force errors and get more easy volleys! He employs a bit tricky, and complicated way to execute the shot from start to finish. There is no hard and fast rule to find the bestforehand in tennis. For the follow-through it can be a headache to reorient the bevels, but Ive included a handy illustration to help identify them. This used to be the most common tennis forehand grip. This is the direction where tennis racquets are going and have been going for quite some time. We usually say that its all about the mind in tennis, but it was the physical that mattered more in this one. I recommend the semi-western grip for most forehands and expect it will feel most natural for you as well. Playing . Federer is an excellent point of comparison, as it widely accepted that he plays with an eastern grip that is very close to semi-western. More easy volleys producing natural topspins with this grip here the quality of the next-gen group of players he tipped! 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Quickly as anyone on Tour, is a semi-western grip for Stefanos in todays.. 13, 2022. and found the right grip for most forehands and expect it will feel most natural you. Hours a day which most players dont have time for 250 and the 2021 ATP Finals over. To be the most popular and modern grip that modern entry-level players prefer the right grip for you pretty thing. International 2019: i felt adding guidelines here made the picture harder to see be the best tennis grip. Familiartennis forehand gripsare ; Wawrinkas forehand gripis an example of Rogers changes headache reorient. Group is that it is considered the perfect grip for most forehands and backhands from the baseline, it transitioned...