Nearly every instructional article on this website mentions a grip of one sort or the other.  There are Eastern Grips, Western Grips, Continental Grips, and Semi-Western Grips; and Modified, Mild, Moderate, and Extreme variations of some of these.   It can be downright confusing.   Let's see if we can get a grip on this variety so we are all talking about the same thing.

To aid in the discussion, look at the photos of a racquet handle below.  There are four flat panels on the racquet, numbered 1, 3, 5, and 7.  In between, there are four bevels, numbered 2, 4, 6, and 8.  To make it easy, we will refer to all of these as Panels (for example, Panel #1, Panel #2, Panel #3, etc.).

Racquet on edge, Panel #1 up. Panel #5 directly underneath.	Racquet flat down, Panel #3 up.	Racquet upside down, Panel#5 up, #1 underneath.

Generally, when you grip a racquet, the heel of your palm (hereafter, the heel) and your index knuckle (see photo below) will be on the same panel, though most players will adjust their grips so the palm and index knuckle are on slightly different panels.  Just remember that a player adopts a grip because it feels comfortable and initially helps him to be more successful, but later the adopted grip will determine the way a player swings and his style of game.  It is difficult to change a grip, especially the wrong grip, once it has become engrained.

The Eastern Grips.  These are the classic grips that were made popular early in the 20^th century during tennis's emergence.  The Eastern Forehand grip is the common "shake-hands" grip.  You find it by coming down the strings of your racquet head with your dominant hand, keeping the hand flush to the plane of the strings as you come all the way down to the handle.  At this point the center of your palm is on Panel #3.

You hold the handle as if you were shaking hands with it, and your fingers are slightly spread out along the handle.  The thumb on the Eastern and all other grips discussed in this article is wrapped around the handle and touches the finger tips.  Likewise, the index finger is wrapped around the handle, though it is often spread wider than the group of other fingers. The index knuckle and the heel are mainly on Panel #3, though they may shift a little toward the edges of this panel, up or down.  The Eastern Forehand Grip is the grip we teach in VJTTA.  Try to get everyone to start out with this grip and to be able to find the grip on their own.

The Eastern Backhand Grip is used for the one-handed backhand.  The best way to find this grip is to hold your racquet in your left hand using a forehand grip, about half way up the handle.  Face the net and hold the racquet slightly in front of you and off to your left, with the face of the racquet parallel to the net. 

Now reach across your body and put your right hand on top of the handle, so that your palm is centered on the top panel, Panel #1.  Grab the handle, with your fingers spread slightly, and this is the Eastern Forehand Grip. The index knuckle and the heel are mainly on Panel #1, though they may shift a little toward the edges of this panel, up or down.

In both Eastern Grips, the palm is squarely behind the racquet handle for maximum leverage.  That is, behind Panel #3 on the forehand, and Panel #7 for the backhand.

The Continental Grip.  This is an all-purpose grip, as it can be used on both the forehand and the backhand ground strokes, and is also employed for volleys and the serve.   Many players also use an approximation of this grip for slice ground strokes and drop shots.  While John McEnroe used a Continental Grip for all his strokes, today it is rare for a top player to use the Continental on his regular forehand groundstroke.  The Continental is sometimes called the Hammer Grip, because it approximates the grip you would use if you held your racquet on edge and tried to hammer a nail with it.

The Continental Grip features the index knuckle on Panel #2.  From the Eastern Forehand Grip, the hand shifts slightly inward until the knuckle slides off of Panel #3 and rests on Panel #2.  The heel will shift also, but it can remain on Panel #3 or come close to resting on Panel #2 along with the index knuckle.  It just depends upon personal preference and which grip gives the player the best feel for the ball on the racquet.

The Two-Handed Backhand Grips.  In VJTTA, when we teach the two-handed backhand, we like to get the kids to make a grip change with their right hand to a Continental Grip or the Eastern Backhand grip.  They do this naturally as they perform the unit turn and simultaneously pull the racquet to the left with their left hand, and show the logo.  We feel this leads to a more effective two-handed backhand and will help them later in other grip changes.  The left hand will usually be in an Eastern Forehand Grip.   The photo on the left below shows a two hander without the grip change.  The photo on the right shows the right hand rolling more on top of the racquet handle, forming the Continental Grip.

The Semi-Western Grips.   In the Semi-Western Grip, the index knuckle is always on Panel #4.  Most pros today have grips that can be characterized as Semi-Western. John Yandell of TennisPlayer.Net has used slow-motion video to identify three distinct Semi-Western Grips, which he terms Mild, Moderate, and Extreme.  The vast majority of pros using a Semi-Western use a Moderate Semi-Western, where the heel is placed somewhere between Panels #3 and #4.   Only a few pros leave the heel on Panel #3 (the Mild Semi-Western) or move it all the way to Panel #4 (the Extreme Semi-Western).    The table below makes this clearer.  

Semi-Western Grips
Grip Style	Index Knuckle	Heel of Palm	Model Players
Mid	Panel# 4	Panel# 3	Andre Agassi, Kim Clijsters, Justine Henin
Moderate	Panel#4	Between Panels# 3 & #4	Andy Roddick, Maria Sharapova, Amelie Mauresmo, Dinara Safina
Extreme	Panel# 4	Panel# 4	Raphael Nadal, Jelena Jakovic

Mild Semi-Western	Moderate Semi-Western	Extreme Semi-Western

Many young juniors adopt the Semi-Western Grips, because when they are small and are facing opponents hitting topspin, the ball is constantly bouncing up high on them, forcing them to hit forehands above their head.  With an Eastern Forehand Grip they can't get good leverage on these high balls.  The Semi-Western helps them during this stage of their development (but see the article Beware The Western Grip).  

Some juniors adopt the Semi-Western because they mistakenly believe it will help them hit with more topspin.  Usually it just results in more balls hit into the net, because they don't correctly adjust the rest of their swing technique to the different contact points and follow-throughs that these grips demand.

The Western Grip is characterized by a movement of the index knuckle and the heel still further under the handle.  The index knuckle and the heel are now completely under the handle.  Both rest almost on Panel #5.   From this position on a forehand, the palm is facing straight up.  If the racquet were to be flipped over, the player could hit a backhand with an Eastern Backhand Grip without needing any further adjustment of the grip.  Spaniards Sergio Bruguera and Alberto Berasategui brought the Western to everyone's attention when they faced each other in the French Open Final in 1994.  No current player of any merit uses a full Western Grip today.  It's mentioned here only to complete the discussion of possible grip variations.

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