is it ok to keep a laid back wrist in the backswing?

[SpinningForehand]

I have a habit of moving my wrist in my forehand when i think it is supposed to stay laid back through contact. Is it ok if i just start my forehand out with a laid back wrist because if i do this, my wrist does not move until after contact which is what i want. Is it ok if my backswing is just moving my racket butt cap so its pointing to the ball witha laid back wrist by moving my elbow back slightly?

[SystemicAnomaly]

No, I don't think that it is a good idea to lay your wrist back on the backswing. What I think that you are describing might be too stressful to the wrist. Also, I can't imagine that it would be a very fluid motion.

The initial movement of the racket should be primarily due to your unit turn (turning your body to the side) rather than independently moving your arm. Your wrist should be fairly neutral (perhaps slightly laid back) as you do this. Once you are ready to swing you can use your arm to initiate a loop. As the racket head drops below your hand (assuming a topspin shot), the wrist is allowed (not forced) to start its lay-back. The wrist lay-back is facilitated on the start of the forward swing by pulling the racket handle forward as the racket head is allowed to drag behind for a shot while. (Not that the body is already starting to turn back to the net by this time).

As you you continue the forward swing, the wrist is held firm its extended (laid back) position, while the body continues to turn and the forearm is pronated -- this will accelerate the racket head forward to meet the ball.

Why do you want your wrist to move after contact? It should continue to remain laid back until your follow thru is pretty much complete.

[ramseszerg]

If you want to experience tennis elbow to be able to sympathize with other players, sure. The muscles you will be using to lay the wrist back will get inflamed.

[lolsmash]

http://www.tennis.com/uploadedImages/Your_Game/Instruction_Articles/Forehand/2007_08_17_sharapova_forehand_1.jpg

http://www.tennis.com/uploadedImages/Your_Game/Instruction_Articles/Forehand/2006_04_17_ana_ivanovic.jpg

correct me if I'm wrong but the ladies seem to do it.

[ramseszerg]

http://www.tennis.com/uploadedImages/Your_Game/Instruction_Articles/Forehand/2007_08_17_sharapova_forehand_1.jpg

http://www.tennis.com/uploadedImages/Your_Game/Instruction_Articles/Forehand/2006_04_17_ana_ivanovic.jpg

correct me if I'm wrong but the ladies seem to do it.

No. For Ana's pictures: the racquet and the arm make somewhat of an angle, like 150 degrees. But if you look at the hand and the forearm, the wrist is not laid back intentionally. And for the pictures above that, the angle seems to be 90 degrees not because the wrist is laid back intentionally but because that's the natural L shape the racquet and the arm make. What the OP is suggesting is to use his forearm extensors to lay the wrist back so much, all the way to the angle it would be at contact. The swing forward and the inertia of the racquet is supposed to do that, not your forearm extensors.

[Bagumbawalla]

My advice is "stop thinking about your wrist".

Imagine those martial-arts sticks connected by a short chain or rope (nun-chucks?). If you are striking something wit them; when is the power/force the greatest? When the chain is laid back? When the chain is straight? When the chain is forward?

The answer is obvious, and, therefore, also, the answer to your question.

Imagine your wrist is a short chain or a hinge (which it is). Allow it to move freely. Pay attention to timing your shots so all the forces are aligned for maximun smoothness and power.

Nothing should be forced, unnatural, awkward.

If you are serious about improvement, buy some tennis books on the basics and try to immitate the pictures and explainations.

[wihamilton]

I have a habit of moving my wrist in my forehand when i think it is supposed to stay laid back through contact. Is it ok if i just start my forehand out with a laid back wrist because if i do this, my wrist does not move until after contact which is what i want. Is it ok if my backswing is just moving my racket butt cap so its pointing to the ball witha laid back wrist by moving my elbow back slightly?

It's an option. I know a girl ranked in the top 10 in the nation who does this. The point of the backswing is to get you to the correct hitting arm position. The details (of the backswing) are ancillary -- wrist position / loop size / etc.

[BeHappy]

doesn't matter when you lay back your wrist as long as it is relaxed and not forced.

In fact, there is a school of thought that this is a more efficiant way to take the racquet back as it your arm is basically reaching the hitting arm position earlier.

If you do this, (even if you don't for that matter!), take your racquet back with the racquet face square, (ie, perpendicular), to the ground,as this is the position the racquet face will be in when you strike the ball.

[chess9]

I have two students who hold their wrists very firm, and basically ARM the ball. These are older adults. SOOOOOO...I've taken to having them lay back the wrist early as an intermediate step, then progressing to a slightly more relaxed grip throughout the swing. The problem is that the tension in the wrist can be very hard to remove from older players who have learned to steer the ball with a very tight death grip on the club, er, racquet. ;)

I notice a lot of the Russian girls lay back the wrist early. It can't be an awful thing to do, but I wonder if it's optimal.

-Robert

[Caladbolg]

No, I don't think that it is a good idea to lay your wrist back on the backswing. What I think that you are describing might be too stressful to the wrist. Also, I can't imagine that it would be a very fluid motion.

The initial movement of the racket should be primarily due to your unit turn (turning your body to the side) rather than independently moving your arm. Your wrist should be fairly neutral (perhaps slightly laid back) as you do this. Once you are ready to swing you can use your arm to initiate a loop. As the racket head drops below your hand (assuming a topspin shot), the wrist is allowed (not forced) to start its lay-back. The wrist lay-back is facilitated on the start of the forward swing by pulling the racket handle forward as the racket head is allowed to drag behind for a shot while. (Not that the body is already starting to turn back to the net by this time).

As you you continue the forward swing, the wrist is held firm its extended (laid back) position, while the body continues to turn and the forearm is pronated -- this will accelerate the racket head forward to meet the ball.

Why do you want your wrist to move after contact? It should continue to remain laid back until your follow thru is pretty much complete.

hey! i've been thinking alot about this whole "laid-back wrist" thing,and with my forehand i feel that i probably don't do this(lay it back), does this happen naturally on your forehand, or do you conciously have to lay it back? because what i thought was that on the forehand you take back your racket, then as you begin your swing, you move your wrist forward for the racket-head to meet the ball faster,this is wrong right? because in all the videos i've seen of Federer's forehand, i notice he always keeps his wrist laid back during his swing, and it's later after contact that he brings it forward to wrap around his arm, but i find it very hard to take a full swing with my wrist laid back, i don't get it, help!

[SpinningForehand]

hey! i've been thinking alot about this whole "laid-back wrist" thing,and with my forehand i feel that i probably don't do this(lay it back), does this happen naturally on your forehand, or do you conciously have to lay it back? because what i thought was that on the forehand you take back your racket, then as you begin your swing, you move your wrist forward for the racket-head to meet the ball faster,this is wrong right? because in all the videos i've seen of Federer's forehand, i notice he always keeps his wrist laid back during his swing, and it's later after contact that he brings it forward to wrap around his arm, but i find it very hard to take a full swing with my wrist laid back, i don't get it, help!

I think it should happen naturally if you point your racket's buttcap towards the ball in the backswing, this should cause you to turn your hips, and when you turn your hips , you will see that your wrist is already in the laid back position. But, i am not sure either, somebody should clear this up.

[Rickson]

I have a habit of moving my wrist in my forehand when i think it is supposed to stay laid back through contact. Is it ok if i just start my forehand out with a laid back wrist because if i do this, my wrist does not move until after contact which is what i want. Is it ok if my backswing is just moving my racket butt cap so its pointing to the ball witha laid back wrist by moving my elbow back slightly?

Yeah, that's fine if you don't mind looking like Richard Simmons hitting a forehand for the first time. That would be one ugly takeback!

[Bungalo Bill]

I have a habit of moving my wrist in my forehand when i think it is supposed to stay laid back through contact. Is it ok if i just start my forehand out with a laid back wrist because if i do this, my wrist does not move until after contact which is what i want. Is it ok if my backswing is just moving my racket butt cap so its pointing to the ball witha laid back wrist by moving my elbow back slightly?

You can do this, however, this is older instruction. It largely was taught as the game advanced and the laidback wrist became more popular. It is best used with an Eastern grip.

Keep working on keeping enough pressure on the handle to hold the racquet but allow for elasticity and smoothness in your swing. Eventually, once you got a handle on the laid back feel move to more of a relaxed motion in the backswing.

[WildVolley]

A slightly laid back wrist is fine. Both Federer and Nadal initiate their backswing with a slightly laid back wrist. However, it is still relaxed and not forced because the racquet lays back significantly more on the forward motion of the swing for both of these players.

Watching video, I see that many top pros will bring the racquet back fairly close to the body on the backswing, and that often makes it appear that it is quite laid back.

[Bungalo Bill]

Yeah, that's fine if you don't mind looking like Richard Simmons hitting a forehand for the first time. That would be one ugly takeback!

Very funny.

[mark rodgers]

I think it's perfectly fine to lay your wrist back when you take the racquet back. The idea is to get your arm into the "double bend" position at takeback while you coil your core into the "load" part of the swing. Your arm will already be in the ideal posture when you unload. That's the way I was taught.

[SystemicAnomaly]

hey! i've been thinking alot about this whole "laid-back wrist" thing,and with my forehand i feel that i probably don't do this (lay it back), does this happen naturally on your forehand, or do you conciously have to lay it back? because what i thought was that on the forehand you take back your racket, then as you begin your swing, you move your wrist forward for the racket-head to meet the ball faster,this is wrong right? because in all the videos i've seen of Federer's forehand, i notice he always keeps his wrist laid back during his swing, and it's later after contact that he brings it forward to wrap around his arm, but i find it very hard to take a full swing with my wrist laid back, i don't get it, help!

As you drop the racket head (during the loop) and start your forward swing, pull the butt of the racket forward and allow the racket head to lag (drag) behind for a bit. Should action should get the wrist to lay back without really forcing it.

As you are about to meet the ball, accelerate (whip) the racket head forward to catch up to the racket handle. You do not need to uncock or snap your wrist to do this. Rotating both your body and your forearm should get your racket head into the proper position at contact without flexing your wrist.

After contact, the wrist might not actually stay in a fully laid-back position. Don't worry too much about this. On the other hand, don't force it to uncock by slapping it forward.

Does this or any of the other replies help with your dilemma?

[Rickson]

Very funny.

I see you were visualizing, BB.