How you hold the racquet decides more about your tennis than the racquet does. It sets the angle of the strings at contact, and that angle is most of what determines whether the ball dips in or sails long.
The good news is that this is a small, learnable system. There are four grips worth knowing, one numbering scheme that describes all of them, and a clear answer about which to use for what.
The bevel system
A racquet handle is not round. It is an octagon, and each of its eight flat faces is called a bevel. Every grip in tennis is described by which bevel your index finger knuckle rests on.
Hold the racquet out in front of you with the strings perpendicular to the ground. The bevel facing straight up is number one. From there they run clockwise for a right-hander and anticlockwise for a left-hander, so the numbers describe the same grip regardless of which hand you use.
This matters because it gives coaches and players a shared language. Saying “bevel three” is precise in a way that “a bit more round the side” never is.
The four grips at a glance
| Grip | Base knuckle on | Racquet face | Used for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Continental | Bevel 2 | Open | Serve, volley, overhead, slice, drop shot |
| Eastern forehand | Bevel 3 | Vertical | Flat, penetrating forehands |
| Semi-Western | Bevel 4 | Slightly closed | Topspin forehands; the modern default |
| Western | Bevel 5 | Closed | Extreme topspin; struggles with low balls |
Reading down that table, each step rotates the hand further under the handle and closes the racquet face a little more. More closed means more topspin available and less comfort on anything that stays low.
Continental: the one you cannot avoid
If you learn only one grip properly, learn this one. It is the grip for the serve, every volley, the overhead, the slice backhand and the drop shot.
Beginners resist it because it feels awkward on groundstrokes, which is fair, because it is not a groundstroke grip. The mistake is serving with a forehand grip, which feels natural and permanently caps what the serve can do. Without Continental you cannot pronate properly, which means no meaningful slice or kick, as covered in this guide to guide to the slice and kick serve.
It is also the volley grip, and for the same reason: the open face lets you take the ball in front and punch it, and there is no time to change grips at net anyway. The drills in this set of tennis volley drills assume it.
Eastern: the honest forehand
Base knuckle on bevel three, racquet face vertical at contact. It is the most intuitive forehand grip and produces a flat, direct, penetrating ball.
- Easiest grip to learn and to hit cleanly with.
- Handles low balls well, which the Western grips do not.
- Shortest journey to the Continental grip for a volley, so it suits attacking play.
- Generates less topspin, so margin over the net has to come from technique.
- Still used at the top of the game, so it is not a beginner-only choice.
If you attack and come forward, Eastern is arguably the better grip, because the change to Continental at the net is one bevel rather than two or three. The stroke itself is covered in this guide to forehand technique.
Semi-Western: the modern default
Base knuckle on bevel four. The face is slightly closed at contact, which means the natural low-to-high swing brushes up the back of the ball and produces topspin without any conscious effort.
This is what most players under forty use and what most coaches teach, because topspin buys margin. A ball hit with heavy spin can clear the net by four feet and still land in, which is a much more forgiving way to play.
The trade-off is low balls. A slice that stays below knee height is genuinely awkward with Semi-Western, which is why players who use it need a reliable slice of their own as an escape route, as covered in this guide to the slice backhand.
Western: rarely worth it
Base knuckle on bevel five, hand almost fully under the handle. It produces extraordinary topspin and a very high bounce.
It is also a specialist’s grip. Low balls are difficult bordering on impossible, slice is awkward, the change to a volley grip is long, and it takes a long time to make reliable. It suits players who grew up on high-bouncing clay and rarely come forward. For most club players it creates more problems than it solves.
Backhand grips
| Backhand | Dominant hand | Other hand | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| Two-handed | Continental, bevel 2 | Eastern forehand, bevel 6ish | The top hand does most of the work |
| One-handed topspin | Eastern backhand, bevel 1 | On the throat until the turn | Needs a genuine grip change from the forehand |
| Slice backhand | Continental, bevel 2 | On the throat | Same grip as the volley |
The two-handed backhand is effectively a left-handed forehand for a right-hander, which is why the top hand sits in a forehand grip; the technique is in this guide to the two-handed backhand. The one-hander requires a real grip change and is the more demanding shot, covered in this guide to the one-handed backhand.
Changing grips under pressure
This is the part nobody teaches explicitly and everybody has to learn. Grip changes happen with the non-dominant hand, on the throat of the racquet, during the split step and unit turn.
- Split step as your opponent strikes the ball.
- Read forehand or backhand.
- Turn the shoulders; the left hand rotates the racquet as you turn.
- The grip is set before the racquet goes back, not during the swing.
- At net, do not change at all; stay Continental.
If you are late on grip changes, the cause is usually late recognition rather than slow hands, which makes it a movement problem. The tennis footwork drills that fix that also fix this, and filming yourself is the fastest way to see it, as covered in this guide to using video to improve your tennis.
Grip size and overgrips
Separate question from grip type, and one that gets confused with it. Grip size is the circumference of the handle, and a handle that is too small encourages over-gripping and forearm tension.
- Measure roughly by fitting your index finger into the gap between fingertips and palm when holding the racquet.
- Too small is more common than too large, and more likely to cause arm trouble.
- An overgrip adds around one-sixteenth of an inch, so it can nudge a size.
- Replace overgrips when they go slick; a slipping grip makes you squeeze harder.
- If you have had arm pain, check grip size before changing anything else.
Sizing and frame choice are covered together in this guide to choosing a tennis racquet, and if you are unfamiliar with any of the terms above, this tennis terminology glossary covers them. The bevel numbering itself is set out clearly by Gripsnake if you want a second description of it.
Frequently asked questions
What are the bevels on a tennis racquet?
The handle is an octagon, and each of its eight flat faces is a bevel. Holding the racquet on edge in front of you, the top bevel is number one and the rest run clockwise for a right-hander. Grips are defined by which bevel the base knuckle of the index finger sits on.
What is the Continental grip used for?
The serve, all volleys, the overhead, the slice backhand, the drop shot and most defensive scrambling. It is the one grip every player has to own, because several shots cannot be hit properly with anything else.
Which forehand grip should a beginner use?
Eastern or Semi-Western. Eastern is the simpler starting point and produces a flatter, more direct ball. Semi-Western generates topspin more naturally and is what most modern players end up using.
Do you have to change grips between shots?
Yes, and good players do it constantly without thinking about it. The change happens during the split step and the unit turn, using the non-dominant hand on the throat of the racquet to rotate it.
Is the Western grip worth learning?
For most club players, no. It produces enormous topspin but struggles badly with low balls, slice and anything at net, and it takes a long time to make reliable.
Written by Claire Carter, a former WTA Tour professional and full-time teaching pro at Bay Club Redwood Shores, where she has coached juniors and adults for more than twelve years.
Image credits: Cristina Anne Costello (Unsplash), Kateryna Hliznitsova (Unsplash), RDNE Stock project (Pexels), cottonbro studio (Pexels), ramiz haider (Pexels). Photographs are illustrative.