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The grip shift and the unit turn across the grip styles.
In Part 1 of this new series on the one-handed backhand we looked at the two major grip variations, the Classic grip and the Extreme grip, and showed how the players construct their grips by the way they connect the hand to the racket. (Click Here.)
Now let’s start to work our way through the stroke itself, including the commonalities and the variations between the grip styles. In this article we’ll cover the initial preparation, including the grip shift and the unit turn. We’ll discover something very surprising about the grip shift. Then we’ll see the core similarities between the classic and the extreme versions when it comes to the first move.
Grip Changes
The first element to look at in the preparation is the grip change itself. You might assume that with the more extreme backhand grips, or even with the strong classic grip used by Roger Federer, the grip change could become a challenge.
Most pro players use a forehand grip with part of the hand shifted under the racket handle to Bevel 4 or even further. To get from there to the modern one-handed backhand grips,…