Western Grip

This hold puts the palm almost entirely underneath the handle. This extreme rotation naturally closes the racquet face, demanding a very steep low-to-high swing path to square the face at contact. The result is heavy topspin on balls at shoulder height or above — it excels on slow clay where high-bouncing balls are the norm. Rafael Nadal's forehand uses a close variant and is the most famous example of extreme topspin production. The downside is severe: approach shots, low balls, volleys, and anything below the waist become awkward because the face cannot be squared without extreme wrist action. Players who use it almost always need a second hand position for the net game and the serve.

The topspin advantage comes directly from the closed face geometry at neutral wrist position. Because the face is pointing downward in the ready position. The swing must travel sharply low-to-high just to square the face at contact — and any acceleration beyond that produces heavy topspin. Players using it have been measured producing 30-40% more topspin revolutions per minute than eastern players at the same swing speed. This translates into balls that bounce much higher and deeper after landing. That bounce is what disrupts opponents at the baseline and makes it so effective on clay.

Managing this forehand in a complete game requires a deliberate compensatory strategy. Low ball drills — deliberately drilling underspin slice approaches, low hard-court balls, and serve returns on fast surfaces — must be prioritised in practice. This is because match play inevitably produces contact situations it does not handle naturally. The open stance is the other compensator: bending the knees to bring the contact zone down into comfortable territory avoids the face-closing problem that causes trouble from a standard upright position on low balls.