Grip (tennis) - The Octagonal Handle

The Octagonal Handle

In order to understand the grips, it is important to know that the handle of a racquet always consists of 8 sides, or in other words, has an octagonal shape. A square shape would hurt the hand, while a round shape would not give enough friction to gain a firm grip. The eight sides of the handle are called bevels. We can number the bevels from 1 to 8 as follows: if the blade of the racquet is perpendicular to the ground, the bevel facing up is #1. The one next to it rotating the hand clockwise is #2 if you are right-handed, and counter-clockwise if you are left-handed, and so on.