Western grip analysis - II

The grip you learn as a kid is the grip you will use all through your career. On the top video Ferrer uses a western grip, and on the bottom, Federer uses an eastern grip. Two aspects to consider. The racket trajectory and the body balance.

On the western grip the racket moves upwards when the player wants the ball to move foward, opposite to the eastern grip, where both racket and ball move in the same direction.

To try to generate power on the top video, western grip, Ferrer has to exaggerate on the upper and lower body rotation, wasting a lot of energy, specially because the body is extremely out of balance and not using his full leverage of the arm. He does not produce as much energy as Federer. Meanwhile, Federer with a much smaller rotation on the upper body, produces a lot of power, with the body fully balanced and using the full leverage of his hitting arm.