The Continental Grip — Your Best Friend

Joe Dinoffer
USPTA and PTR Master Professional
President, www.OncourtOffcourt.com

3 Things You May Not Know About Spin and Grips

#1: Did you know that every single incoming ball that bounces, comes to you with topspin? It’s a fact and it doesn’t matter whether the player across the net hit the ball with topspin or backspin. When the ball bounces, the court surface “grabs” the ball and it bounces up with forwards spin or what we tennis players call topspin.

#2: Did you know that it takes more energy or force to create topspin off incoming balls, as compared to backspin or underspin? The reason is simple and it relates to the first fact about spin described above. Since the post-bounce incoming ball has topspin, returning it with backspin allows the ball to continue rotating in the same direction. But, if you return that same ball with topspin, you have to reverse the direction the ball is spinning. That requires a great deal more energy and racquet speed to accomplish.

#3: Did you know that if you had to play tennis with just one grip, the most versatile and effective single grip would be continental? In fact, many senior recreational players compete quite well with just a continental grip. Many of them learned it decades ago when the continental grip was the preeminent grip of choice in tennis, plus it requires less energy as described in point #2 above. At the same time, hardly anyone using just an eastern forehand grip (even with a two handed backhand) can play effectively at all. Why? The player using the eastern forehand grip will have four glaring weaknesses: No slice backhand, poor low forehand volleys, weak overhead, and most importantly a very weak second serve. The continental grip, on the other hand, only has two limitations: limited topspin on forehand and backhand groundstrokes. A player can, however, overcome these limitations at a recreational level with effective slice groundstrokes and the ball control offered by a continental grip.

What shots can you hit with a continental grip? It’s a long list: slice forehand, slice backhand, first and second serves, both spin and flat, drop shots, defensive lobs, volleys, and overheads. The continental grip is also the primary grip to use in defensive situations, including blocking hard hit balls and even hitting the notorious “squash shot” that has become more popular in recent years. In fact, even between the legs shots are hit with a continental grip since it allows the most wrist flexion of any grip in tennis.

At this point, some readers may be asking if we are advocating only using a continental grip and nothing else. While it can be effective, there are benefits to switching grips to permit topspin groundstrokes. So, the answer is we are not advocating that players only use the continental grip. We do want to emphasize, however, that it can be a major tool in your arsenal.

My hope is that I've convinced you of the versatility and practical importance of the continental grip. Unfortunately, believing in it and being able to play with a continental grip are two very different things. Indeed, many players think they are using a continental grip but they aren’t. Several months ago, I was a guest speaker at a large adult tennis camp. My seminar featured more than a dozen creative ways for players to improve their tennis game at home. Several of those tips utilized the continental grip. Before elaborating on some of these ideas, I have to share that out of 30 recreational players in attendance (3.0 – 4.5 level players), only about 2-3 of them really understood and had mastered hitting shots with a truly correct and full functional continental grip. The others had versions that, while somewhat close to continental, were far enough off to seriously limit their level of play on many shots. It was very surprising to us all. After all, these were all tennis junkies, had each taken hundreds of hours of lessons, play on league teams or regularly in tournaments, and are serious about improving their games. Here’s are a few things that I learned:

• Players in general are not aware of the subtleties of the continental grip, where a small discrepancy can lead to a major weakness.

• While there are many standard ways for players to check if they have a continental grip, most are not comprehensive and allow many players to fall into bad habits.

• Teaching pros are often not “strict” about reinforcing a truly correct continental grip. One of the main reasons is player resistance to even minor changes, a fact that makes teaching pros reluctant to try and “force” players to make changes their students are not committed to embracing.

Logical Questions

Why is the continental grip so difficult to master? In addition to the above three observations, you have to consider that every person’s hand and fingers are a different size, length, and thickness. In addition to the variable of each person’s hand, grips also come in different shapes and sizes. These factors severely limit the effectiveness of the standard methods to find the continental grip.

If many teaching pros are letting players get away with a modified continental grip that limits player improvement, how can I learn the right grip myself? This is where video comes in very handy as opposed to the written word. The remainder of this article including the answer to this question will be on the video clip below. It will include two main sections. First, we will identify key checkpoints to make sure you are able to recognize a 100% pure continental grip, regardless of your hand shape and finger length, as well as your grip shape and size. And, second, we will share some exercises to help you get a feel for what is arguably the most important grip in tennis!

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