Too much arm?

[Zeppy]

I'm a right hander with a one handed backhand. After a few years of horrible habits and bad techniques, I am trying to rebuild my forehand and backhand. I realize a way to improve my ground strokes is to practice but I'm worried I might be using bad technique.

This is what I've noticed from my perspective.

Like what many have recommended in this forum is to not worry about the wrist and let it do it's own thing. Well, whenever I hit a forehand or backhand I notice that my arm tenses up, I grip my racket harder and my wrist stiffens.

What I'm wondering is if I'm heading towards the right direction or am I focusing on too much arm strength? If I'm heading in the wrong direction, how can I let my arm relax while hitting the tennis ball?

And when should I start to pronate when hitting the tennis ball? I've watched some videos of Roger Federer and he seems to pronate right at the moment he makes contact with the tennis ball.

[fuzz nation]

I prefer to think of pronation as a result of other things; not a move that you want to actively try and accomplish. With the right grip, back swing position, and swing path through the hitting zone, appropriate pronation will happen without you worrying about it.

You certainly don't need exceptional arm (or hand) strength for good strokes, but it sounds like you could be trying to catch up to the ball with a tense arm and a late swing. Bad timing will rob any stroke (or a serve) of its potential. Take some practice swings without hitting a ball and if you can repeat a smooth, full stroke, you have to learn to initiate that movement early enough to hit an incoming ball on time with that same smooth swing. I didn't say that you "simply" need to learn this because it takes some work.

Get a trained set of eyes on you with a lesson to get some proper cues for good mechanics and timing. Learning good habits also requires unlearning bad ones and a teaching pro will be able to spot the areas you need to fix much more effectively than we can, especially since we're not looking at video of your shots.

[LeeD]

Focus on a relaxed grip thru the whole prep and swing right up to contact.
Then, don't focus on the grip.