Still Serving With a Frying-Pan Grip? Serena's Ex-Coach Fixes It Before the Toss
Still Serving With a Frying-Pan Grip? Serena's Ex-Coach Fixes It Before the Toss
Patrick Mouratoglou's new serve masterclass doesn't start with the toss or the trophy pose. It starts with how you hold the racket, where your hand sits on the handle and which way your feet point. Most club players get at least one of those wrong before the ball even leaves their hand.
Breakdown based on Patrick Mouratoglou's Serve Masterclass, Episode 1, plus our self-checks and drills for club players. ~10 min read.
FIX MY GRIPThe short version
Not forehand, not backhand: the continental grip in the middle. One grip for every serve.
The butt of the handle sits in your palm. More range of motion, a looser wrist, more power.
Index finger slightly apart from the others, adding pressure on top of the handle to help pronation.
Your dominant eye decides how far you can turn. Then visualise the serve before you toss.
Why the serve starts in your hand
Mouratoglou, the coach behind Serena Williams for a decade and founder of his own academy, opens the series with a number: at pro level, around 70% of points are decided within the first four shots. Serve, serve plus one, the return. If the serve is shaky, the rest of the point is uphill.
Club players usually try to fix a bad serve in the air: a better toss, a bigger swing, more knee bend. Episode 1 goes the other way. Everything in it happens before the ball is tossed: the grip, where your hand sits on the handle, how you stand, what you think about and even which balls you pick.
Get the setup right and half the serve fixes itself. Get it wrong and no toss will save it.
Ditch the frying pan: serve with the neutral grip
The most common beginner mistake, according to Mouratoglou, is serving with a forehand grip: the "frying pan," with the strings facing the net. The problem is pronation, the natural inward turn of the forearm that whips the racket through the ball. With a forehand grip, pronating fights the way you're holding the racket, and he's blunt that it puts your wrist at risk.
His fix is the neutral grip: "not a forehand, not a backhand, but in the center." Most coaches call it the continental grip.
How we teach finding it: hold the racket so the frame edge points at the net, as if you're about to hammer a nail with it. Shake hands with the handle from there. The V between your thumb and index finger should sit on the top edge, not on the flat top of the handle.
The neutral grip, straight from the masterclass. Screenshot: Patrick Mouratoglou (YouTube).
Two hand details almost nobody checks
Same grip, two small adjustments. Both come straight from the masterclass. Screenshots: Patrick Mouratoglou (YouTube).
"Look at my finger," Mouratoglou says. Separating the index finger slightly from the rest of the hand lets you put extra pressure on the top of the grip, and that helps the pronation. Think trigger finger, not fist.
Choke up and you limit how far the racket can drop and swing. Hold it low, with the butt of the handle in your palm, and your range of motion goes "way, way further." More range means a more relaxed wrist and more power. Fun detail: he admits he holds it too high himself because he taught himself as a kid. "Do not copy me."
Use one grip for every serve
Some players shift their grip slightly toward a backhand grip for a kick second serve to get more spin. Mouratoglou says it works, but he doesn't recommend it, because you're telling the returner what's coming.
His story: when Marcos Baghdatis played juniors, he faced Gilles Müller, then the world's top junior. Baghdatis noticed Müller's grip changed slightly before slice serves, and the arm angle changed with it. He knew where the serve was going every time.
According to Mouratoglou, 90% of pros never change their grip, whatever serve they hit. Flat, slice and kick all come from the same hold.
Let your dominant eye pick your stance
Pros stand in all sorts of ways. Mouratoglou's point: don't copy them, because your stance should come from your dominant eye. His rule number one is that your dominant eye must face the court when you serve. Otherwise you lose your sense of where you're aiming.
Our 20-second dominant-eye test: make a small triangle with your thumbs and index fingers at arm's length. Look through it at a fence post with both eyes open. Close your left eye. If the post stays in the triangle, you're right-eye dominant. If it jumps out, you're left-eye dominant. Mouratoglou has a separate masterclass on the dominant eye if you want to go deeper.
Bounce, see it, then pick the right ball
You control the time before you serve. Whether you bounce the ball twice or twenty times, Mouratoglou says what matters is what's happening in your head: visualise the serve before you hit it.
And those pros who ask for three balls and hand one back? Newer balls fly faster and are harder for the returner to control. Looking over the balls is also a reset: a moment to let go of the last point and focus on the next one. In a club match you can't always pick, but you can always take that reset.
Two balls, picked on purpose. Screenshot: Patrick Mouratoglou (YouTube).
The 30-second pre-serve check
Our drills to make the new grip stick
These are RocketGrip drills for club players, built around the masterclass cues. Ten minutes at the start of a session is enough.
Spin the racket in your hand, close your eyes, and settle into the continental grip by feel. Open your eyes and check the V. 10 reps. Do it on the sofa too.
Serve from the service line at half speed with the neutral grip, low hold and spread finger. 3 sets of 10. Step back to the baseline only when 7 of 10 land.
Before each serve, say the target and spin: "slice, wide." Then hit it. Count how often the ball matches the call. 20 serves per side.
Your partner calls the serve type as soon as you start your motion. If they're right more than half the time, something in your grip or setup is giving it away.
Gear note: a handle you can find without looking
Every cue in Episode 1 happens on the handle: which bevel your hand sits on, how low you hold it, where your index finger presses. Switching grips is technique work and no product will do it for you. But the handle under your fingers decides how easy it is to land in the same spot every time.
That's why we built the Octopus Tennis Undergrip. It goes under your usual overgrip and is designed to give a more secure, tacky feel and a customisable handle shape, so you can set up a handle that suits your hand while you rebuild your serve grip. Mouratoglou has nothing to do with it.
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Frequently asked questions
What grip should I use to serve in tennis?
The continental grip, which Patrick Mouratoglou calls the neutral grip: halfway between a forehand and a backhand grip. It lets your forearm pronate naturally and lets you hit flat, slice and kick serves without changing your hold.
Why is a forehand grip bad for the serve?
With a forehand ("frying pan") grip, the natural pronation of the serve works against how you're holding the racket. Mouratoglou warns this puts the wrist at risk, and it also limits spin. If you already have wrist pain, see a qualified professional before changing your technique.
How low should I hold the racket on the serve?
Low, with the end of the handle in your palm. Mouratoglou explains that holding it low gives the racket a bigger range of motion, which lets your wrist stay more relaxed and creates more power.
Should I change grips for my kick serve?
Mouratoglou advises against it. It can add spin, but a sharp returner may spot the change and read your serve. He says 90% of professional players never change their grip, whatever serve they hit.
How does my dominant eye affect my serve?
Your dominant eye should face the court. For right-handers, left-eye dominant players can turn their shoulders and feet more (roughly 45° to the baseline) for extra power, while right-eye dominant players keep the head straighter toward the court.
How long does it take to get used to the continental grip?
It depends how often you play. Expect your serve to feel weaker for a few weeks before it gets better. Start from the service line, keep the grip in matches as well as practice, and give it several weeks before you judge it.
Watch Mouratoglou's Serve Masterclass, Episode 1
The grip and hand position are much easier to copy once you've seen his hand on the handle. Use the timestamps to jump straight there.
Video won't play? Watch on YouTube →
Neutral. Low. One finger out.
Fix the serve before the toss. Continental grip, butt of the handle in your palm, index finger spread, the same grip on every serve, and a picture of the serve in your head before you bounce.
Then give your hand a handle it can find in the same spot, every point.
OCTOPUS UNDERGRIP →- ★ 4.7/5 from 50,000+ RocketGrip customers
- 60-day money-back guarantee
Source: "90% of Club Players Hold the Racket Wrong on Serve | Serve Masterclass Ep. 1" by Patrick Mouratoglou (YouTube), October 2026. RocketGrip is not affiliated with Patrick Mouratoglou or the Mouratoglou Academy. This article summarises and builds on his publicly available video; the grip-finding cue, dominant-eye test, comparison table, self-check, mistakes list, drills and gear notes are ours. No endorsement implied. Screenshots are from the credited video and used for commentary; other images are illustrations. This article is general coaching information, not medical advice. If you have pain while playing, see a qualified professional.