The grip you choose to use in your tennis game will also decide what type of game you will ultimately play. Following is a simple guide to determine which grip to use and with which shots they work best with.

The Eastern Grip is popular with beginners and is commonly used with forehands because of its comfort. The grip is pretty universal and can also be used to hit backhands, serves and volleys. Hold the racket in front of you in your left hand (or right hand if you’re a left-handed player). Rotate the racket so that the face (strings) of the racket is perpendicular to the ground. Lay the palm of your free hand flat on the face of the racket.

 Move your palm toward your body, down the shaft of the racket, until it hits the end of the handle. Wrap your fingers around the handle and space them slightly apart. Your thumb and forefinger should lay almost directly on top of the handle, forming a V which points toward your right shoulder (toward your left shoulder if you’re left-handed). Your thumb should lie across the top of the handle.

Continental Grip Instructions The continental grip is generally used by more advanced players especially when serving and volleying. Grab your racket and hold it in an Eastern grip.

Ease your grip and turn the racket with your left hand (or right hand if you’re a left-handed player). Turn the racket until it is perpendicular to the ground, or pointing to the "12 o’clock" position. Then, if you are right-handed, turn the racket to about the "1 o’clock" position. If you are left-handed, turn the racket to the "11 o’clock" position. Wrap your fingers around the handle and space them slightly apart. The V formed by the thumb and forefinger should point toward you, and the thumb should lie along the length of the handle. The bottom knuckle of your index finger should lie right on top of the racket.

Western Grip The Western grip is excellent in forehand play but feels awkward for beginners, especially when used for backhands, serves and volleys. Advanced players often use it to enhance their forehand play. Again, start by holding the racket with an eastern grip. Relax your grip and turn the racket counterclockwise until the top of the racket points toward the "11 o’clock" position. Left-handed players should turn the racket clockwise to the "1 o’clock" position. Wrap your fingers around the handle and space them apart slightly. The V formation should point to your right (or left), and your thumb should lie across the top of the handle.

The Continual Evolution of Tennis Rackets

Two components which make a good tennis racket in today’s came are materials that are light and stiff. Manufacturers are constantly finding new ways to adopt new materials in making stiffer rackets, without adding weight. Graphite still remains the first choice amongst tennis racket makers. Racket weight over the past twenty five years have not changed drastically, losing only a couple ounces. Fiberglass, boron, titanium, Kevlar, Twaron and ceramics are being used along with graphite in many of today’s top tennis rackets.
Wilson, forever innovators, in 1987 came up with an idea for increasing racquet stiffness all while using materials they were comfortable with. Wilson’s Profile racquet was the first "widebody." In retrospect, it seems strange that no one thought of the idea sooner to increase the thickness of the frame along the direction in which it must resist the impact of the ball.
The Profile was a monster of a racquet, with a frame 39 mm wide at the middle of its tapered head, more than twice the width of the classic wooden frame. Ten years later, extreme widths became obsolete as other widebody innovations came to life. In general, today’s modern tennis racket frames are larger than what was standard in the pre-widebody era.
The racquet makers have, to some extent, suffered from their own success. Unlike wood racquets, which warped, cracked, and dried out with age, graphite racquets can last for many years without a noticeable loss of performance. A 10-year-old graphite racquet can be so good and so durable that its owner has little motivation to replace it. The racquet companies have met this problem with a stream of innovations, some of which, like the oversized head, wider frame, and lighter weight are evident in almost every racquet made today.
So what’s next in tennis racket technology? Andy Roddick is already hitting 150 mile an hour serves with his Pure Drive Babolat Tennis Racket. Raphael Nadal is constantly lifting the ball ten feet over the net, forcing his opponent to camp way behind his baseline and well then there’s Roger Federer, doing things that has the great Pete Sampras already calling him the greatest player to ever step onto a tennis court.
Exciting times for a game that never ceases to amaze even the hardest core player as we review the histor of the tennis racquet

The beginning of modernization

Reagrding the history of the tennis racket, The Open Era of tennis saw many exciting, long rallies even on the fastest surfaces such as grass or cement as tennis rackets were made of sandwiched wood. It wasn’t until the mid sixties, when Wilson’s T2000 metal racket caught on. While metal rackets could be found as early as the late 1800’s, it was never widely used. Wilson’s T2000 tennis rackets were lighter and stronger than any wooden racket and Jimmy Conners, one of the first pros to adopt this new technology used it for most of the 1970’s and found Grand Slam success after success. The long neck, steel frame soon became a best seller.
The T2000 was faced with stiff competition in 1976 when the first popular oversized racket was introduced by Prince. In those days, oversized meant around 95 square inch hitting area. 
While these new rackets helped introduce more players to the game, thanks to forgiving rackets with their huge sweet spot, light weight and increased power, it created a re-learning experience for more powerful, advanced tennis players. Wooden rackets were much stiffer, which made shots more predictable, while the new, lighter aluminum tennis rackets gave too much flex and simultaneously power, resulting in shots ending up in unfavorable results. Off center shots with power distorted the frames and also changed the string direction, causing shots to deviate from their desired target areas. 
Advanced players needed a stiffer frame material, and the best material proved to be a mixture of carbon fibers and a plastic resin to bind them together. This new material acquired the name "graphite," even though it isn’t true graphite such as you would find in a pencil or in lock lubricant. The hallmark of a good racket quickly became graphite construction. By 1980, racquets could pretty much be divided into two classes: inexpensive racquets made of aluminum and expensive ones made of graphite or a composite. The playing days of wooden tennis rackets came to an end, sending them to the dark corners of our closets.

Power or Game Improvement Rackets
Generally when choosing a tennis racquet in the game improvement or power category, tennis rackets that fall under this category are oversized or super oversized tennis rackets. They can range anywhere from 108 to 135 square inches, weigh merely 8 to 10 inches unstrung and are longer. Longer tennis rackets are 27 to 29 inches. These tennis rackets are stiff and are either head heavy or evenly balanced to keep most of its weight in the sweet spot hitting zone. They help players with short, less powerful swings, requiring that extra little advantage out of a tennis racket. Players suffering from slight tennis elbow or lack basic techniques will find these rackets forgiving and perhaps what they are looking for when choosing a tennis racquet
Here are some of the top game improvement racquets:

Babolat Drive Z Oversize
Head Size:110 sq. in. / 710 sq. cm.
Length: 27.5 inches / 70 cm
Weight: 9.3oz / 265g
CLUB PLAYERS with a short swing looking for both power and maneuverability – as well as comfort.
CORTEX SYSTEM: FILTER+ DAMPENER Filters and dampens vibrations for maximum comfort

Prince O3 Silver
Headsize:: 118 sq in OVERSIZE
Length:: 27.75
Weight:: 8.8oz / 250g unstrung
Powerful racket with larger hitting spot, helpful for players with short swings.

Wilson n1 nCode Rackets
An ultra stiff game improvement racquet designed to offer the kind of power slow swinging beginners need. The n1 features Wilson’s nCode Technology. nCode takes the construction of racquets to the molecular level and nCode racquets are said by Wilson to be twice as strong, twice as stable and up to 22% more powerful than ordinary racquets. The n1 definitely delivers a lot of power and the 115 sq. inch, Oversize head features a large sweetspot. The open (16/19) string pattern makes spin easy to generate on faster swings and offers a lively feel. Even though the n1 is light and maneuverable, its head heavy balance provides good stability on both groundstrokes and volleys. With plenty of pop at net, this is a great choice for both singles and doubles players who like to finish the point with a winning volley. Best suited to 2.5-4.0 NTRP level players.

HEAD METALLIX 10 Tennis Racquet
Strung with Head Synthetic Gut PPS 17.
Full cover included, Plastic still on handle.
Made of a specially designed Matrix of carbon fibers and a new crystalline metal alloy.
Metallix is one of the lightest and strongest new materials today.
No chain is strong enough to harness the power of HEAD Metallix.
HEAD Stabilizer that eliminates racquet vibration and ensures the ultimate in comfort on every shot.
Flexpoint system: Power. In control.
Head size: 124 sq.in. (800 cm2).
Weight (unstrung) 8.6 oz (245 g).
Length: 27 1/3 in. (695 mm).

Many historians agree that tennis was first played by monks somewhere in France. It is uncertain if it started in either the 11th or 12 century, but one gruesome fact is that the first so called rackets were made out of human flesh.
It started off more like handball, played first by hitting against a wall, then later over a crude net. (In the southwest of France, people still practice this “ancient” sport). While hitting a ball with bare hand proved a little too uncomfortable after a while, players adopted the use of gloves and more creative folk increased the hitting area and incorporated webbing between their fingers. Others simply used a hard, wooden paddle. The forms varied depending on regions. 
After two or three hundred years of practice, the first device we could legitimately call a racquet came to light, with strings made of gut bound in a wooden frame. The Italians are often credited with this invention. By 1500, racquets were in widespread common in the practice of tennis. The early rackets had a long handle and a small, teardrop-shaped head.
The ancient game had many similarities to today’s game of squash, being it was played indoors, the shape of most rackets had an oval head, like a squash racket and slow balls were used. The greatest difference being tennis rallies were done over a net, not against a wall.
Racquets saw only minor changes between the mid 1800’s and the end of the wooden racket era more than 100 years later. Wooden rackets did get better during these 100 years, with improvements in laminating technology. Sandwiching thin layers of light wood together was a revolution, but they still weighed just under one pound, even with a relative small hitting surface around 65 inches or so.
While these rackets of this era cannot compare to the power and technology of today’s tennis rackets, the evolution from its first days did come a long way.