I played my nemesis J C again and lost again, for probably the 8th time in a row but I think this might have been our closest ever match at 6-3, 7-5. Not to mention he even served game point at 5-5 when I wasn't looking most likely on purpose. I felt pretty positive about the match also because I used a new grip I had never used before on both the forehand and backhand. Never had even practiced it and had my best result. On backhand I used a eastern forehand/eastern backhand grip. On forehand I used a continental/eastern forehand grip. This meant on forehand I had my hands overlapped (as opposed to like carrying a basket) and I think overlapped is in general the way to go for any two handed grip. Makes it a bit smoother. On backhand I was able to hit a bit more topspin and get more power while not sacrificing control. (As opposed to the usual eastern forehand/continental grip which gives good control but not much topspin).

The remaining problem is that on the backhand I'm hitting it right to him way too often. On the forehand I actually make him run like every other shot. On the backhand I'll hit it right at him 2 or 3 times. With the extra pace he wasn't taking control of the point quite as much but still he was doing so a bit more than me. I kept getting stuck in hitting my backhand to his forehand (he's left handed). Trading back and forth way too much.

So I wonder if a double continental grip would help me with my placement. The problem is I would lose my topspin. And I don't hit high balls as well with it. Also I enjoy hitting topspin. So I'm not sure if I should stick with the eastern forehand/eastern backhand and see if the placement improves. Or continue to be wishy washy and go back to the double continental. I had abandoned it before rather suddenly. I have to be very precise with it due to the lack of topspin. Some days it's hard to be so precise and it kind of takes the fun out of tennis. Also has a slightly robotic/clunky feel, but that could be from lack of practice.

Going to go watch Agassi on youtube. He was the one person I know of who basically hit a double continental.

Yes. Him and Marat Safin. And the info on the internet is incredibly stupid. Makes me think people who play tennis are incredibly stupid. But relatively speaking they're mostly doctors, engineers, professors. But online it's a stupid fest. They can't even figure out what to call a given grip. Stupidity as far as the eye can see.