Advanced Pickleball Grips Explained! Continental vs Eastern 

Great demonstration on the different grips. The terminology becomes confusing since different sites explain eastern, semi-eastern, western, semi-western differently. I just avoid the terminology and just think in angles of the paddle. Its good to hear you say that great players constantly change their grip, many sites say you don't have time to change your grip so stay with the one you're most comfortable with. As I become better I realize there is a lot of misinformation out there.

Thank you. Not enough videos on this topic.

This video was incredibly helpful 👏. I learn more from RU-vid than any in-person group lesson at the Rec Centers! I appreciate all the time and effort ya'll put into creating these videos.

This could not be more oddly timed. I just watched your topspin video where you mentioned an “Eastern” grip but I wasn’t sure what it was. This was next up on my recommended. Great vid, great channel!

I was raised using the eastern forehand and eastern backhand grips as a tennis player. Love it!

I was wondering about this. I have been a 4.5 tennis player for 30+ years. I used a grip that is in between an eastern and semi western for my forehand. I find it hard to drive the ball in pickleball with a continental grip. For slice approach shots and volleys the continental is my go to grip. Thanks for this video.

Suuuuuuch a good video. I was struggling with this and when I heard what you said about changing back and forth when it makes sense it resonated with me. Because my shoulder was getting hurt keeping it with a continental grip on a forehand smash when I had time to turn it to a semi Eastern. Question. What grip do you use on a drive or drop?

You mentioned top players are constantly switching their grips. Can you provide any more detail about how often they are doing this and in what situations?

While I get the idea of changing grips, I find it way easier to keep with one grip for all shots. Simplifying that allows me to focus more on adjusting my body positioning so that I am hitting in front of my body and making sure my footwork and mechanics are sound. On another note, I love the way you keep your explanation simple and do it with plain English (without using lingo/jargon). Keep up the great videos!

Great video. Are you changing grips using one hand or are you using your other hand to support the paddle as you change the grip?

Great explanation.

Just an aside, I haven't played tennis in 30 years. Played Table Tennis off an on for years.... I picked up Pickleball about 2 months ago... watched tons of videos , got some advice on court... played pretty well with some natural athletic ability... understanding continental, eastern/semi-western, western, etc... I played well. However, I was gripping the grip above the butt with the pinky. I totally forgot what I was taught 30 years ago to have my pinky on the butt of the grip (some even play half off)... with my hand higher up it increased forearm strain leading to tennis elbow pretty quickly (I have been playing 3-4 days a week since I started), decreased control... just inconsistent. So so so many Pickleball videos on the standard continental, eastern/semi-western, western, etc... almost no videos on the basics of holding a racket/paddle (other than in tennis videos). There are a lot of non-racket/paddle sports people that pick up Pickleball without any instruction other than youtube videos. Wow what a difference when I saw a video and remembered... duh... get your pinky on the butt of the paddle! Huge benefit. Instructors should reinforce this more (kinda like the best instructors do in golf starting with the basics of the grip no matter how advanced someone is).

This is great video. Love it. But I want to add another point to it: By using forehand eastern grip or backhand eastern grip, your palm is on the large flat side of the handle. And the thumb wraps around the handle. This offers a much stronger support for the topspin stroke or volley. Also, the wrist does not need to rotate much, resulting in more stability.

Wow! I think you have the most subscribers so far in pickleball. 😲

How fast do you switch grips and how fast do you switch them?

Thanks

Where can we buy that shirt? I don't see it on the website.

Sorry a bit confused. So does the grip on the handle change or just a different angle by the wrist position?

Great vid! As your title says, this should mostly be done as an advanced player and less for any beginner players who should keep it simple 👍

What about while you’re drinking, you switch your grip often? I’m curious about adding more top spin to my forehand dinks

What grip do you use when serving?

i use a grip like the continental but i just have my index finger going up the handle

So Continental is more for the short game no volley zone?

Not me thinking there is hammer or handshake grip. I can totally see the difference between the two grips in this video.

There's a common misconception that the grip positions used in tennis for generating topspin can be directly applied to pickleball. This isn't effective because the mechanics of pickleball strokes-both forehand and backhand-bear a closer resemblance to those used in table tennis, not traditional tennis. For those familiar with both sports, the tennis terminologies like "continental," "Eastern," and "semi-Eastern" grips don't translate well to pickleball. This is due to the different spin conditions encountered in pickleball, which are more akin to those in table tennis. The angle of topspin in pickleball varies based on the spin characteristics of the incoming ball, similar to table tennis, rather than tennis which uses a stringed racquet. There's a helpful example of this in a RU-vid video that discusses these differences in depth. Please remember that pickleball is more closely related to table tennis than it is to tennis. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-M4q_pRQI6Sk.html

My personal opinion is that changing grips during a point is a bad idea. It's another thing to deal with while you are already making multiple other strategic decisions during a point. Maybe it works for some people, but personally, I would not encourage it for the vast majority of players.