Why The Western Forehand Grip Is Hated

Over the years, forehands have been hit with different types of grips. It started with the continental grip, for players had minimal backswings and used the same grip for every shot. Then, players decided to hit a bit more directly behind the ball, leading to the traditional eastern grip. However, heavy topspin became a staple and caused the semi-western to take over. This ended up not being enough, meaning the western forehand grip has become quite popular. There are now more players on tour using this extreme grip.

However, it always gets loads of negative comments, making people wonder if the western grip actually hurts their game. Therefore, in this article, we will discover why this forehand grip is not as bad as everyone thinks it is.

Reversing Your Memory

So here's the thing with the grips, guys, and a lot of it depends on muscle memory. Let's just say you're a rec player with an eastern grip, okay, do an eastern forehand grip, alright? So you play your forehand for many years with an eastern forehand grip.

Now your wrist is used to a certain angle at the moment of contact. Let's say you go over to semi-western, now the racket face is closed and you have a hard time getting the ball deep. You probably still get over the net, but let's just say you go over to western, you go over to that fifth bevel, right?

It says one, two, three, four, five, five bevel over, and now the same wrist position as, let me check it again. You have absolutely no chance to get the ball off the net. All your forehands are going to go into the ground before they go over the net.

This is why there's a horrible negative connotation to a western grip, and all it is is just muscle memory. And a lot of times, it's older players who maybe even play with a continental grip or eastern grip, and they know from the feel when they try it themselves that they absolutely can't play with a western grip.

Gifted At Birth

But here's the thing, there are many players at the high level, there's many players in the juniors who have absolutely no problem whatsoever playing with a western grip.

They can handle low balls, they can play on slow surfaces, fast surfaces, they have advantages on the high ball. And how is that possible? Well, the simple explanation for that is that they use the western grip from day one, and they have the correct muscle memory.

When it comes to the grip, the process in which you would change your grip is a very painful process. This is true even if you had a western grip, and you let's say you want to switch to a semi-western or eastern, or the other way around. It will take you a long time.

No Shame In The Game

Now, I feel it is important to repeat what I stated earlier. There's absolutely nothing wrong with a western grip, there's nothing wrong with an eastern grip, and of course, the best grip to use is a semi-western grip.

This is what I personally use. Most of the time, it is not worth it to put all that effort into changing the grip where the results are going to be questionable.

Maybe Too Extreme?

However, what I certainly don’t recommend is switching to a Hawaiian grip. The Hawaiian grip is actually one past the western grip, so this is the western grip, it's the fifth bevel.

Hawaiian grip is the sixth bevel, so it's basically a continental grip. It's the same way you hold the racquet on your volleys and you serve, but by using the opposite side of the strings.

I don't like the Hawaiian grip because it puts a lot of pressure on the wrist. Players experience wrist injuries, so this is something that's dangerous. I doubt people are fine with feeling discomfort during normal activities.

Softer Contact

I'm not okay with the Hawaiian grip, but I'm perfectly fine with the western grip, and why is that?

Well, let's go into the deep technical analysis of what actually happens when we make contact. Take a look at your wrist when using a western; you see how comfortable this position of the wrist is.  

This is why so many juniors switch to this grip naturally. Nobody teaches the western grip. Coaches are not telling kids, "Hey, go ahead and grab the racket here."

Most coaches are actually against this grip, but yet a lot of junior players find this grip on their own. Why?

Because look, when you get a high ball, you see how natural your wrist is. Now, take a look at an eastern grip, and in a high ball, you can tell how bent your wrist is and how uncomfortable it is.

So when kids are young, they're usually small, a lot of moonballing going on; they'll often hit the ball high, and naturally, they gravitate more towards the western grip. And now, they're going to hit millions of forehands, and the muscle memory is going to be so deeply ingrained.

Weight On The Ball

Another interesting part of that question was, "Is there such a thing as too much spin?" And yes, there is. It's actually a big problem, and I see it at the recreational level as well.

It often happens when players execute spin the wrong way – just kind of rolling the racket around with the wrist or the forearm, or having the racket face too closed. Players end up getting too much spin, but the ball lacks penetration and depth.

To correct these technical flaws, one must always finish with the entire body and not use the arm in isolation. Also, there's a big myth that you create topspin by closing the racket face.

In reality, your racket face can be completely neutral, and you can still get a heavy topspin forehand. When a player is too active with the wrist in the contact zone and the racket is often closing, it creates too much spin and takes away from the power and penetration of the ball.

Making Up Excuses

At the recreational level and the junior level, western grips are very common, as I explained earlier.

However, for older male players, typically between the ages of 30 and 70, the vast majority of them use either an eastern forehand grip or a semi-western forehand grip. These grips are perfectly fine to use, and I have no issues with them.

What I do have a problem with is a forehand struck with a continental grip or a Hawaiian grip. However, it's important to note that many players mistakenly blame their grip for having a bad forehand, when, in reality, there might be fundamental flaws in their forehand technique, and the grip is not the main issue.

That being said, there are cases where it is fine to change forehand grips. In other words, for beginners or players with less tennis experience, there isn't as much muscle memory stored, and we can consider changing the grip.

For example, from an eastern forehand grip to a semi-western grip. Additionally, if someone happens to use a western grip, which is less common, I might suggest switching to a semi-western grip.

Final Thoughts

The semi-western grip is, without a doubt, the best grip to use in tennis. When you compare it to the western grip and eastern grip, the semi-western grip offers the most versatility and options. With this grip, you can flatten the ball out or hit with topspin, and you feel comfortable handling both high balls and low balls. To add, for further evidence, most pros on the tour use the semi western.

However, as I explained in this video, the decision to switch grips should be approached with caution, and the most crucial factor to consider is muscle memory. If you've been using a particular grip for a long time and are considering changing it, be prepared for the effort and time it will take to retrain your muscle memory properly. Enjoy the struggles!