Shakehand vs hammer grip on ground strokes

[ralph]

Over the last two years my grips on both the forehand and backhand ground strokes have changed from shakehand to more hammer shapes. I found that I can more easily hit the modern strokes using more hammer style grips. I changed my grip on the backhand so that I could deal with high backhands more easily, but I also found the grip added more spin to lower balls. On my forehand the hammer grip allows me to finish on the side of my shoulder and to hit the inverted forehand more consistently. I would describe my grips as tending toward the semi western. What is the tendency of the pros regarding shakehands vs hammer style on their groundies.

[stotty]

Shakehand and hammer are very vague references to grips, but if you saying your grip is close to semi western, then this would be the preferred grip for many pro's. Some pro's are even further round the grip than this even, with some erring towards full western.

[rakitzis]

Slotty, I believe the poster is referring to the spread of the fingers on the handle, regardless of the bevel choice (Continental, Eastern, etc). I have recently made a similar change in order to get more power on the serve, by drawing my index finger closer in, more of a "hammer" grip.

[stotty]

Slotty, I believe the poster is referring to the spread of the fingers on the handle, regardless of the bevel choice (Continental, Eastern, etc). I have recently made a similar change in order to get more power on the serve, by drawing my index finger closer in, more of a "hammer" grip.

Thanks for clarifying that, rakitzis. We don't have the terms shakehand and hammer over the pond. Personally I like to spread the fingers more. I find spreading the fingers gives me more subtlety and feel.

[ralph]

Hope I can clarify. For the backhand I saw a video by Leo Alonso where he suggested to better hit a high backhand basically use the Guga grip where the hand is rotated more to the right and the knuckles are more parallel to the grip. I tried it and it worked. I found my backhand in general was more consistent using this grip. For the forehand my heal is on bevel 3, and my index knuckle is on bevel 4 with that knuckle pushed straight down. With that grip I can more easily invert my forehand and finish on the side of my shoulder which flattens out my ball.

[arturohernandez]

Maybe you can send some pics and a video? Even a before and after so we can compare.

[nytennisaddict]

i go shakehands for all grips, *except* the 1hbh (more towards western).
i personally need the feel/feedback on the base of my index finger to help me "know" where the racquet head is, how fast i'm swinging, etc...