Grip Envy – Making the Best of a Continental Tennis Grip

If you are a tennis player who still uses the continental grip for groundstrokes, you likely have developed grip envy. I know I have. I am envious of players who generate heavy top-spin with ease using a semi-western or a western grip.

Tennis grips have evolved. But, not all club players have.

Whether you have grip envy or not, if you are still stuck with a continental grip, your game may be perceived as old-school. The shift from bevel-2 to bevel-4 or bevel-5 does not come easily to players who fashioned themselves as serve and volley players.

If you have never bothered to find out which tennis grip you use, here is a video from Essential Tennis that will get you up to speed.

Your grip has a bearing on the style of your tennis game.

The challenge with tennis grips is that they are dynamic. Players adjust their grip based on the stroke they play. At best, the grip is a starting point.

There are many theories on how tennis grips got their names.

One theory suggests that geography was the primary factor behind the grip names. The continental grip was named after the UK’s Fred Perry while the Eastern grip was named after Bill Tilden, who was from the East coast of the US. It is believed that the Western grip was named after Bill Johnston of California.

Historically, the continental grip worked well when the playing surfaces were faster and the balls stayed knee-high or lower. The ability to react quickly made a difference. Hitting deep flat shots and waiting for an opportunity to come to the net was the style of play.

In today’s tennis, balls that kick up chest-high or above are the norm. The continental grip is a liability when your opponent hits hard loopy shots from the baseline.

While the continental grip works just fine for serves, volleys, overheads, and drop shots, returning high balls with any kind of authority is a problem. I found myself counter-punching to stay in the rally rather than dictating play.

My attempts at copying the topspin shots of Karen Khachanov and Jack Sock were disastrous. The contortions involved in hitting shots with a full western grip felt awkward and painful. There were too many adjustments to make from one shot to another.

Clearly, my technique was wrong.

The eastern grip felt better, though I found my palm straying back to bevel-2 in crucial moments of a game.

I felt like an old dog trying to learn new tricks!

So, I decided to live with my grip envy. I just had to find ways of making the best of what I had.

Assuming that there are other players like me who are stuck with a continental grip, a SWOT analysis on the continental grip felt like a good idea. So here it is.

As you can see, it’s not all bad.

At the very least, you are among highly successful players like Rod Laver, John McEnroe, Billie Jean King, and Margaret Court. 

Your name may never adorn a tennis arena, but with your continental grip, you could still hold your own at your tennis club.