How the drills are coming along

Drills, drills, drills. Tonight I spent an hour on court hitting drives and figure 8's. It took a really long time to find my length and to hit the ball low off the floor and off the back wall. I also had a really bad time keeping the ball straight. I'd like to blame it all on seeing the ball, but I know the footwork and bending low was a problem tonight too. In addition, I finally accepted the fact that I have a problem with my grip. Besides causing my thumb to have a split in the skin, I also have a hard time keeping the racquet face from rotating. I tried having my thumb on the side of the grip. It had the effect of keeping the face of the racquet steady in one position, but I had much less finesse with that hold. My normal hold with the thumb underneath just doesn't grip the racquet secure enough. I think that contributes to mishits and not hitting the ball straight. I'll need to work on finding the proper grip.