Frying Pan Grip

The frying pan grip gets its name from the way total beginners often first pick up a racquet. They hold it so the string bed sits flat and level, as though carrying a frying pan by the handle. Technically, this hand position is very close to a continental grip. That grip is appropriate for serves and volleys but poorly suited to modern forehand groundstrokes. It presents a flat or slightly open racquet face at contact, with no natural way to generate topspin on a low-to-high swing path.

Players who start with a frying pan grip on the forehand usually hit flat, low-margin shots. They struggle to add topspin no matter how steep their swing path becomes. The grip itself works against the racquet face closing through the topspin brushing motion. The standard teaching correction is to rotate the hand from the frying pan position toward an eastern or semi-western forehand grip. That grip naturally closes the racquet face relative to a low-to-high swing path. It makes topspin far easier to generate and more repeatable.