A semi-Western grip is also known as a pancake or frying pan grip. You can accomplish this by laying your paddle flat on the ground and picking it straight up, leaving the paddle face downward. Your index knuckle should be over the fourth bevel.
Today's Up Your Game tip is based on a recent video by Shea Underwood.
In his video “Stop Making These Serving Mistakes and You'll Win More Points,” he discusses how most pros, including Ben Johns, use a completely different grip when serving the ball versus when taking other shots on the court.
Yet, most amateurs just stick with one grip, usually a Continental grip, the entire match.
While this isn’t wrong, the Continental grip is a neutral grip that favors the backhand, which doesn’t provide any advantage when hitting a serve. Instead, two other grips are worth considering if you want to add extra spin and power to your serve.
Those grips are the Eastern forehand grip and the Semi-Western grip.
The Eastern forehand grip is when you place your knuckle on your index finger over the third bevel on the paddle handle. (See image)
The extra flatness of the paddle face in both of these grips, combined with an upward swing path, helps you maximize your topspin during your serve.
Why adding more topspin helps your serve
Topspin (when you make the top of the ball rotate away from you) causes the pickleball to arc high but then dip as it approaches your opponent. This allows you to keep a strong drive inside the baseline, and it causes the ball to hop quickly into your opponent after it bounces.
If the person returning isn't prepared for this sudden change of pace or has already started to advance toward the kitchen, they're in trouble and will have difficulty making a strong return, which sets you up for an easier third shot.
To get maximum spin, try the semi-Western grip first. However, you may struggle since this is the more extreme of the two grips. If it’s not working, switch to the Eastern forehand and dial that in with a few dozen practice serves.
You’ll be happy you did.