Next Gen Continental grip

[nytennisaddict]

There is the issue of speed and response. My guess is that they might slow the courts down or beef up the tennis balls a bit. Maybe I will experiment with this and see before making such a quick judgement.

Of course, it is harder to experiment when you have been hitting a stroke for over 30 years.

I'll see what my daughter thinks about it. She's only been hitting her one hander for a couple of years so it should be a lot more flexible.

as a DIY'er having gone through a few grip changes in my career (biggest being hawaiian to extreme eastern/sw), experiementing with a grip change on the wall, or with coop feeds is fine, but seeing how it actually performs under pressure (it's effectiveness), is the hard part, in determining whether the change is permanently worth it.... not to mention some grip changes may come with a mindset change (eg. when i hit hawaiian, i was a counter puncher/moonballer... i explicitly switched to ee/sw to attack more, come to net, etc...)

[arturohernandez]

Thanks for this
Even top pros have trouble shifting grips when balls are coming at the velocities common on the pro tour now.

There is the issue of speed and response. My guess is that they might slow the courts down or beef up the tennis balls a bit. Maybe I will experiment with this and see before making such a quick judgement.

Of course, it is harder to experiment when you have been hitting a stroke for over 30 years.

I'll see what my daughter thinks about it. She's only been hitting her one hander for a couple of years so it should be a lot more flexible.

[chrislewit]

Wow! So that's why the beginning of your students' one-handers looks so weird. Will try it. I've written more on this subject, Chris, over at "A New Year's Serve" if you'd care to take a look, but you certainly don't have to. Others in this forum don't have to, either, in fact I wish they wouldn't. Although I am grateful for the 63,176 hits.

Please send me the link. Chris@chrislewit.com

[chrislewit]

I think Nick when he is engaged and focused like he was vs Nadal and Alex is a bit of a glimpse into what is possible. I have always thought Roger was the best level of tennis I have ever seen but Nick is something.

Not kooky. Creative thinking!

[chrislewit]

Blast from the Past...GeoffWilliams - The Uni Grip

https://www.tennisplayer.net/members/classiclessons/geoff_williams/weaponize_onehanded_backhand/

https://www.tennisplayer.net/bulletin/forum/tennisplayer/2158-weaponize-your-one-handed-backhand

This is cool!

[chrislewit]

Kohlschreiber uses this grip structure I think.

Yes. I believe he still does on returns but changed to a shift from baseline now. Maybe John could find some video for us to review. This would make a great topic for an article with Sock and Kohlschreiber featured

[chrislewit]

Is the grip shift such a problem?

The whole time I read this post I kept thinking about John's modern game articles. My "old" school view is that there is something to the grip change that becomes fairly automatic after a while.

My daughter was just hitting returns the other day and she seemed to kind of switch her grip to more of an Eastern on the FH return than her normal semi. She has no trouble hitting slice with one grip. Topspin with other grips. In fact, she starts with a continental and rotates her hand half way for all her returns. The shoulder turn is linked to her grip shift.

My sense is that some players do this without thinking and can handle it just fine. Others may prefer one grip. Sampras hit with an eastern FH and hit topspin/flat half volleys with a slightly different grip.

What happens when someone decides to slice all day against this new western continental grip.

Will it hold up?

I am very skeptical.

Thanks for this
Even top pros have trouble shifting grips when balls are coming at the velocities common on the pro tour now.

[chrislewit]

I've experimented with this years ago, but to me it seemed like it sacrificed a little something on both wings...
on the flipside, it could be that i wasn't talented enough (or had enough reps) to pull it off... not to mention, my 1hbh grip would constantly/naturally gravitate to the non-spread finger grip anyway (which i felt aligned my skeletal structure behind the shot better)..

is this grip the same/similar to the Brugera/Berestegui fh grips? (lol, based on grainy yt vids from the 90's seems the Berestegui's grip is more extreme than Brugeras)

Bruguera has a less extreme forehand grip. Similar to Rafa’s

The grip I’m advocating is more the Bruguera grip rather than Berasategui, but I’m not against his style either

[nytennisaddict]

I've experimented with this years ago, but to me it seemed like it sacrificed a little something on both wings...
on the flipside, it could be that i wasn't talented enough (or had enough reps) to pull it off... not to mention, my 1hbh grip would constantly/naturally gravitate to the non-spread finger grip anyway (which i felt aligned my skeletal structure behind the shot better)..

is this grip the same/similar to the Brugera/Berestegui fh grips? (lol, based on grainy yt vids from the 90's seems the Berestegui's grip is more extreme than Brugeras)

[arturohernandez]

Hello Friends and Tennis Minds,

Here is an example of what I call the Next Gen Continental grip.

It's a semi-western to western forehand and you can turn the racquet over to hit with the same side of the strings on the one-handed or two-handed backhand.

Here is an example from my own practice.

https://youtu.be/k3y4BgrA_z0

I have been using this style for the last few years, and I am really enjoying having no grip shift.

Here is Jack Sock demonstrating the same universal grip structure:

https://youtu.be/Moj_ZmSV2OU

I believe this œnew continental is becoming more popular on tour and will continue to grow in popularity for the same reason the traditional continental was so popular for many years: simplicity and efficiency.

No grip change is an advantage in the modern high speed game, especially off the return of serve.

Here's another more radical thought. Could this Next Gen Continental become the go-to universal grip for volleys and net play in the future? Could it be the next evolution in the volley technique, which has basically remained the same for a century or more?

It would offer the potential next evolution in net game technique and tactics and would allow both topspin and regular volleys to be mixed together in new patterns.

This net game style is currently used in Japanese Soft Tennis, so it's not unprecedented.

Share your thoughts!

Is the grip shift such a problem?

The whole time I read this post I kept thinking about John's modern game articles. My "old" school view is that there is something to the grip change that becomes fairly automatic after a while.

My daughter was just hitting returns the other day and she seemed to kind of switch her grip to more of an Eastern on the FH return than her normal semi. She has no trouble hitting slice with one grip. Topspin with other grips. In fact, she starts with a continental and rotates her hand half way for all her returns. The shoulder turn is linked to her grip shift.

My sense is that some players do this without thinking and can handle it just fine. Others may prefer one grip. Sampras hit with an eastern FH and hit topspin/flat half volleys with a slightly different grip.

What happens when someone decides to slice all day against this new western continental grip.

Will it hold up?

I am very skeptical.

[stroke]

Yes, Geoff's real world enthusiasm was enduring. Good stuff.

[don_budge]

Philipp Kohlschreiber, who uses the unigrip, is into Wimbledon qf's.

Geoff,

I really liked your article. I also play with a unigrip when hitting topspin fh's and one handed bh's, but more often on my bh's, I end up hitting a continental grip slice bh because I do not get prepared in time to hit topspin. I am going to try keeping my non dominant hand close on the handle prep as you suggest, I am only a very average 4.0 player but I love tennis and reading instructional pieces on it.

I like reading old threads. Here were two comments you made...stroke. You mention Philipp Kohlschreiber and as I watched the highlights of his match against Nick yesterday I was trying to detect if he was changing the face of the racquet. It was pretty tough but it looked to me as if he was changing it between his forehand and his backhand.

GeoffWilliams was so into his own article. It was great fun to see him write with such enthusiasm in response to all of the comments.

[stroke]

I remember that piece by Geoff. Definitely back to the future.

[don_budge]

Blast from the Past...GeoffWilliams - The Uni Grip

https://www.tennisplayer.net/members/classiclessons/geoff_williams/weaponize_onehanded_backhand/

https://www.tennisplayer.net/bulletin/forum/tennisplayer/2158-weaponize-your-one-handed-backhand

[stroke]

Watch pro level badminton, table tennis and squash to see future tennis possibilities. I keep waiting for someone with a Michael Jordan leaping ability to make ball contact with their serve somewhere around the service line by using a badminton fast twitch smash( maybe choke up the racket) from the tennis serve hesitation point. A highly developed Novak slide on both wings using a squash shot would greatly add to width coverage( if one can control depth and keep ball from rising). I don’t know if underhand serves from table tennis can ever play a significant role in serving at the pro level, but certainly could at the amateur level and perhaps bring back a vertical game instead of just horizontal. I mentioned some of these cross sport possibilities to college coaches in the 70’s and was branded a “kook”. But I suppose I was awed by the Laver, Nastase, McEnroe racket masters of the day.

I think Nick when he is engaged and focused like he was vs Nadal and Alex is a bit of a glimpse into what is possible. I have always thought Roger was the best level of tennis I have ever seen but Nick is something.