Speaking of wrist snap

[TheLambsheadrep]

I'm not so sure about this...looks more like racquetball technique

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6TrKHZzetpc

[SystemicAnomaly]

I still cringe when I hear the term, wrist snap, used. Coach Kyril uses the term but doesn't really explain what he means by it. The video was a bit dark and difficult to see but it really look like his "snap" was really more about forearm pronation than wrist flexion. He probably does use some wrist articulation but "wrist snap" would suggest something different than he is actually doing.

Now it's one thing to say "wrist snap" and then demonstrate what you actually mean by that directive. However, when someone else says, "Coach K says to snap the wrist" but doesn't actually show what is meant by this instruction, then the problems arise. This happens quite a bit -- and has been going on for decades. A coach will say "snap the wrist" on the serve or on the FH and then shows what he/she really means. But then the student will tell friends or others to "snap the wrist" and not properly demo the true/actual action.

[TheCheese]

Yeah, wrist snap implies allowing the wrist to break which is something you never ever want to do.

[Povl Carstensen]

The racket is to heavy to actually use the muscles in the wrist ( underarm that is) to add any considerable power. You can feel it immediatly, and might hurt yourself. In badminton perhaps, but not in tennis.

[luvforty]

yeah, teaching 'snap' in the fh is not good idea.

[SystemicAnomaly]

^^ The "wrist muscles" are actually in the forearm. Is that what you meant? Badminton might use a little more wrist action. However, much of what is attributed to the wrist, in badminton, is actually forearm rotations -- pronation & supination.

[mxmx]

Originally Posted by TheCheese

Yeah, wrist snap implies allowing the wrist to break which is something you never ever want to do.

LOL
that's funny

[SystemicAnomaly]

^ I assumed that he meant that the wrist should not assume an extreme position of flexion -- it is not allowed to move (forward) much past the neutral position. "Wrist snap" implies that it does when heard by many students.

[TheLambsheadrep]

thanks for the input SystemicAnomaly. I'm gonna post a link to some of my forehands in my Wrist Snap Continued thread (since the other one is now locked for some reason). I fully agree the correct motion is actually a pronation, and just didn't know I was doing it naturally until I watched my strokes. And I couldn't even tell if Coach K was doing it, the whole video made me unsure of what he was actually trying to teach, but at the very least he was whipping the fuzz off his first couple at 30 seconds in

[Povl Carstensen]

Originally Posted by SystemicAnomaly

^^ The "wrist muscles" are actually in the forearm. Is that what you meant? Badminton might use a little more wrist action. However, much of what is attributed to the wrist, in badminton, is actually forearm rotations -- pronation & supination.

Yes agreed. That is why I wrote "underarm that is". In danish it is called underarm, but of course in english it is forearm.

[SystemicAnomaly]

Originally Posted by Povl Carstensen

Yes agreed. That is why I wrote "underarm that is". In danish it is called underarm, but of course in english it is forearm.

I thought that might be the case. Are you still in Denmark? A whole lot more badminton than tennis there, I bet. Have you ever seen the Badminton Showboat videos? Those Danish kids are quite talented. Do you know if any of them have turned pro?

[Povl Carstensen]

Originally Posted by SystemicAnomaly

I thought that might be the case. Are you still in Denmark? A whole lot more badminton than tennis there, I bet. Have you ever seen the Badminton Showboat videos? Those Danish kids are quite talented. Do you know if any of them have turned pro?

Yes still living in Denmark, don't really see that changing, but who knows. I just watched the videos, fun stuff, I hadn't seen them before. I do not reckognize any of the names.
Danish top player Peter Gade stopped his carreer in december. With an exibition match against Lin Dan, who came all the way from China, just for that, cool.