Racket Face Angle

In understanding the differences in the modern forehand across the grip styles, the first factor to examine is the angle of the racket face at the start of the forward swing to the ball.

In a previous article, we’ve already looked closely at certain elements in the hitting arm position at the bottom of the backswing. (Click here for Part 1) We’ve seen that every player falls into a characteristic hitting arm position with the elbow in and the wrist laid back.

With classic grips the racket face stays on edge, or may be slightly closed.

     As the grip moves underneath the      handle the racket face closes naturally.

With a extreme semi-western grip the racket angle can approach 60 degrees.

We’ve also seen that the racket height is a natural function of this position, and that when top players set up the hitting arm position the racket head itself is typically only a few inches below the level of the ball.

But if you’ve looked closely at the footage in these articles (or if you have the Advanced Tennis DVDs) you may have also noticed that this doesn’t mean that the racket face is at the exact same angle…