other things being equal, Straight arm impart more pace&spin than double bend ?

[phoenicks]

as the title suggest, we know that straight arm FH user on tour has some of the biggest spin and pace, i.e Nadal, Federer, Verdasco.

what izit about staright arm technique that enable them to swing faster and hit a heavier ball apart from the fact that straight arms offer a better leverage?
Can any guru here enlighten me about the advantageous aspect of straight arm technique on the ability to hit a heavier ball ( as well as some of the cons and don'ts about straight arm technique. )

Thanks in advance !!!

[tricky]

Straight arm FH has three major advantages.

1) There is a very long line to the shot. This really lets you drive through a ball, and the sensation is that the racquet is very "heavy" into the ball.

2) Without the tucked position, the forearm can more freely rotate. This gives you much bigger wiping action (thus heavier spin per ball.) With a strong SW grip, you may occasionally end up with the "lasso" reverse fnish that you see with Nadal on certain balls.

3) Generally, your contact zone is expanded. This is especially true with SW and W grips, where you can pretty easily drive through balls even lower than waist high.

There's two major cons:

1) The contact point moves farther out, and so the ballstriking is more challenging, especially with more extreme grips.

2) Straight arm FH only really works if you already have great WW FH mechanics. If you try taking your swing and literally straightening it out, then you may notice the swing breaks down, or that your arm gets tendonitis.

[Grizvok]

I've hit a straight armed forehand my entire life, not sure if it has to do with my pretty conservative eastern/extreme eastern grip or what, but it was natural for me.

Tricky's analysis is pretty thorough. The biggest pro with this technique I've noticed that he mentioned is the ability for the forearm to freely rotate much more naturally then with a double bend. You can regularly lay on the topspin pretty thick.

The hardest challenge is that the contact zone is going to be out further from your body. Your footwork has to be pristine when you get to higher levels of play because you really need to be able to create the necessary distance to hit the ball in the perfect contact zone and against the better players the ball is going to be coming pretty quickly.

However, this also means that your reach and ability to hit good shots on the run may be even better with the straight armed technique because the contact point is naturally out further.

[phoenicks]

Straight arm FH has three major advantages.


2) Without the tucked position, the forearm can more freely rotate. This gives you much bigger wiping action (thus heavier spin per ball.) With a strong SW grip, you may occasionally end up with the "lasso" reverse fnish that you see with Nadal on certain balls.

3) Generally, your contact zone is expanded. This is especially true with SW and W grips, where you can pretty easily drive through balls even lower than waist high.



I experienced this 2 benefit when when I attempt to try straight arm forehand, because I got sick of double bend technique because of the inconsistency I was striking ball differently frequently, the type of spin and pace orientation is just not the same. The degree of my elbow bend was also hardly the same everytime I hit the court, hence my striking zone is also a bit inconsistent, sometime closer to the body while sometimes further from my body, but generally I hit better when the ball is further away from me.

Untill last october, when I meet my new coach in the school, I finally got a taste of straight arm as my coach hit straight arm and recommend straight arm to his student. And after watching many Verdasco and Federer clips, the technique begin to grow on me. The best thing is striking zone expanded, high & low ball was less of a problem for me.

but damn right you are, ww fundamental is necessary as some of the beginner student of my coach learn straight arm forehand as a beginning fundamental have trouble hitting rallying ball, as their ball is very flat, low skidding ball ( also partly due to my coach encouraging them hitting very flat ball in his tennis drill ).

[Blake0]

Maybe thats why my straight arm forehands are always flat now...my WW forehand motion's off...