Hold the racquet in a relaxed way, for

the forehand you should be able to

hold the racquet with your index
finger and thumb and same for the
backhand. Keeping the grip relaxed
will give you more flexibility in
maneuvering the racquet and allow
you to switch between forehand and
backhand easily.
The forehand in tennis and other
racket sports such as table tennis,
squash and badminton is a shot
made by swinging the racket
across one's body with the hand
moving palm-first. (Wikipedia)
The backhand is a tennis/badminton shot in
which one swings the racquet around one's
body with the back of the hand preceding the
palm (Wikipedia)