Wrist snap question

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SystemicAnomaly

Bionic Poster
Terms are useless in tennis without proper knowledge, feeling and a correct visual understanding of the stroke. The brain learns better and faster visually anyways.

The term snapping the wrist can have 100's of different meanings to each individual because they fill in the blanks on their own according to their knowledge. The term wrist snap is harmless because its just a term, just words. The harm comes from people not understanding whats actually going on. I can teach someone the serve and use the term wrist snap and there is nothing wrong with it. In fact growing up I remember countless coaches using this term, including ones I was taught by. What they did do which is key is show and explain to me the proper way to hit the serve. The fact that they used a term like wrist snap is insignificant.

The term can still be harmful even if a coach shows you what they mean. The problem arises when a student who has been told to "snap the wrist" will turn around an tell others that they must snap their wrist for more power. However, their suggestion will often not be accompanied by the proper instruction. This happen quite a bit -- I've heard it thousands of times from various players for both tennis and badminton. This is where the harm comes in.

After a while, "snap the wrist" just becomes a mantra -- a mantra that many do not really understand. Some players that repeat the mantra have the proper mechanics while others who repeat it, do not.
 

bhupaes

Professional

Excellent video! This has the best illustration of timing the backswing off the bounce that I've seen. IMO, the importance of this (a matter of heavy dispute here, as you know :) ) cannot be overemphasized. The various positions of the racquet and hand are shown with superb clarity, illustrating how lag happens, and how the racquet is pulled. Some details regarding arm and wrist action after the forward swing starts are not discussed, but we've discussed them ad infinitum and should be able to recognize them in the video.

Thanks for posting this, Cheetah.
 

toly

Hall of Fame
That is why I said it is almost impossible to keep the wrist laid back and pronate the forearm. The wrist will rollover by itself.
Sorry, but I think your statement is incorrect.

Let’s analyze Federer straight arm forehand. FH with bend elbow is more difficult for explanation.

When Federer rotates the arm around shoulder, he creates centrifugal force which has normal component to the racquet string plane. This force normal component (motion dependent torque) automatically rotates the racquet about the wrist in counterclockwise direction, see Rod Cross article http://www.racquetsportsindustry.com/articles/2006/07/wrist_snap_in_the_serve.html.

This normal component is function of angle (ϕ) between axes of arm and racquet. If ϕ=0, this component is zero.

On other hand, Federer usually applies arm pronation. This is also angular rotation, which also creates its own centrifugal force and motion dependent torque. Rod Cross completely ignored this fact. Moreover, this motion dependent torque pushes the hand to rotate the racquet about the wrist in clockwise direction, opposite to the torque created by arm rotation.

If the wrist is passive, pronation torque always prevails and the racquet string bed would be vertical after impact!!!

If active wrist ulnar deviation creates torque which is bigger than pronation dependent torque, then the racquet string bed will be horizontal!!!

So, Monfils is definitely hits the ball with strong active ulnar deviation, but Fish hits with passive wrist. That’s why there are so big differences in their follow through.:confused:
 
C

chico9166

Guest
Sorry, but I think your statement is incorrect.

Let’s analyze Federer straight arm forehand. FH with bend elbow is more difficult for explanation.

When Federer rotates the arm around shoulder, he creates centrifugal force which has normal component to the racquet string plane. This force normal component (motion dependent torque) automatically rotates the racquet about the wrist in counterclockwise direction, see Rod Cross article http://www.racquetsportsindustry.com/articles/2006/07/wrist_snap_in_the_serve.html.

This normal component is function of angle (ϕ) between axes of arm and racquet. If ϕ=0, this component is zero.

On other hand, Federer usually applies arm pronation. This is also angular rotation, which also creates its own centrifugal force and motion dependent torque. Rod Cross completely ignored this fact. Moreover, this motion dependent torque pushes the hand to rotate the racquet about the wrist in clockwise direction, opposite to the torque created by arm rotation.

If the wrist is passive, pronation torque always prevails and the racquet string bed would be vertical after impact!!!

If active wrist ulnar deviation creates torque which is bigger than pronation dependent torque, then the racquet string bed will be horizontal!!!

So, Monfils is definitely hits the ball with strong active ulnar deviation, but Fish hits with passive wrist. That’s why there are so big differences in their follow through.:confused:

Toly, you should join Tennisplayer and read Brian Gordon's articles on the forehand...I think you would enjoy is biomechanical perspective...Btw, if i understand you correctly, you are essentially correct with your observation.

Active wrist usage is a requirement to counter the rotational force created as the racquet rotates around the hand....Much of wrist movement is for proper racquet face orientation and for directional/shot line purposes.
 
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Cheetah

Hall of Fame
Excellent video! This has the best illustration of timing the backswing off the bounce that I've seen. IMO, the importance of this (a matter of heavy dispute here, as you know :) ) cannot be overemphasized. The various positions of the racquet and hand are shown with superb clarity, illustrating how lag happens, and how the racquet is pulled. Some details regarding arm and wrist action after the forward swing starts are not discussed, but we've discussed them ad infinitum and should be able to recognize them in the video.

Thanks for posting this, Cheetah.

yup. it's a good video for sure.
 

user92626

G.O.A.T.
There are these two ways that you can try and see an emphasis on wrist action. Maybe you'll find one works better for you than the other.

1. Keep your wrist firm and the angle between the forearm and the fist relatively fixed, hit the ball all the way into the followthrough with the configuration.

2. Keep your wrist loose like you can knock on a door with just moving your fist. On the forward swing, sort of stop your arm early, like while your elbow and forarm are aligning to your body, and then let your wrist joint move forward from that point.

For me, 2 seems to add more power :)
 

Cheetah

Hall of Fame
Toly, you should join Tennisplayer and read Brian Gordon's articles on the forehand...I think you would enjoy is biomechanical perspective...Btw, if i understand you correctly, you are essentially correct with your observation.

Active wrist usage is a requirement to counter the rotational force created as the racquet rotates around the hand....Much of wrist movement is for proper racquet face orientation and for directional/shot line purposes.

haha. he won't. I've been telling him the same forever. This is the 'mental block' i was referring to regarding the subject at hand, literally. The inability to see other possibilities outside of one's own experience. No offense to you Toly. :)
 

toly

Hall of Fame
Toly, you should join Tennisplayer and read Brian Gordon's articles on the forehand...I think you would enjoy is biomechanical perspective...Btw, if i understand you correctly, you are essentially correct with your observation.

Active wrist usage is a requirement to counter the rotational force created as the racquet rotates around the hand....Much of wrist movement is for proper racquet face orientation and for directional/shot line purposes.
Thanks to JY, two months I was the member of the tennisplayer.net and drown in his absolutely incredible video library. There is too much information to consume for old man.:(

Active wrist usage can also contribute more than 50% to RHS. Monfils regularly hits 120 mph FH, but Fish cannot due to his passive wrist.:)
 

toly

Hall of Fame
haha. he won't. I've been telling him the same forever. This is the 'mental block' i was referring to regarding the subject at hand, literally. The inability to see other possibilities outside of one's own experience. No offense to you Toly. :)
I like constructive negative comments about my posts. They usually wake me up.:)
 

Cheetah

Hall of Fame
I like constructive negative comments about my posts. They usually wake me up.:)

i don't mean to be negative. my posts sound harsh because i usually leave out the qualifiers such as 'imho' and 'i think' etc. I only have time to spew my thoughts quickly.
 

Dimcorner

Professional
This reminds me of badminton :). I play A LOT of badminton (state and out of state tournaments) and I just started getting into tennis recently.

In the old days they used to teach wrist snap but probably because the racquets back then were not as stable/stiff. Today they teach pronation (i'm talking overhead smashes here) to get the power because the racquet is much more stable and stiff. It adds LOADS more power to the shot.

Fu Haifeng hits about +300 kph smashes consistently during matches. It's interesting to watch just because the mechanics of a serve and smash are pretty similar. That and the sound of him hitting the shuttle is pretty wicked.

http://youtu.be/eH6qFJoySf8

I have only been playing constantly for about 5 months now and for some odd reason my best shots are serves, followed by overhead smashes, and then my one handed BH. I have crap for a forehand.
 

Dimcorner

Professional
Oh, where are my manners!

Hi everyone! I find this site very informative and very useful.
Hopefully I can take a vid one of these days for you guys to break down.
 

SystemicAnomaly

Bionic Poster
^ Welcome to the TW forum, DC.

This reminds me of badminton :). I play A LOT of badminton (state and out of state tournaments) and I just started getting into tennis recently.

In the old days they used to teach wrist snap but probably because the racquets back then were not as stable/stiff. Today they teach pronation (i'm talking overhead smashes here) to get the power because the racquet is much more stable and stiff. It adds LOADS more power to the shot...

I started playing badminton in the late 70s with aluminum and early graphite racquets, altho' I did play a bit with wood. Everyone was talking about wrist snap and the wristy-ness of the sport. However I later discovered that the role of the wrist was not really as advertised -- it was grossly exaggerated.

Most coaches & players back in the day emphasized the wrist so much because they didn't know any better -- not because the racquets required it. As far back as the 1960s, Dr. James Poole (one of the last of the US world-class champions), wrote a PhD paper that indicated that pronation was a major contributor of power on badminton strokes. It was his contention the the role of the wrist was emphasized more than it should be. This information seemed to be ignored (or unavailable) to most of the badminton community for several decades.

I played a lot of badminton tournaments in the 80s. When I came back to tennis in the late 80s/early 90s, I found that my serves, overheads and volleys were all intact but my groundstrokes had atrophied. I have taught tennis to quite a few badminton players. Most of them master overheads/serves (and volleys) first and struggle a bit more with groundstrokes. This is just the opposite for most other novice tennis players. Overall, the badminton players have picked up tennis quicker than most other novices tho'.
 
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sureshs

Bionic Poster
What I remember (not having played in the wood era) was that teaching in the wood era was heavily against using the wrist. It was considered very bad to play tennis like table tennis. Modern rackets made it possible to use the wrists more.
 

Dimcorner

Professional
I started playing badminton in the late 70s with aluminum and early graphite racquets, altho' I did play a bit with wood. Everyone was talking about wrist snap and the wristy-ness of the sport. However I later discovered that the role of the wrist was not really as advertised -- it was grossly exaggerated.

Yeah I can agree with that. I think I ended up injuring my wrist/forearm every now and then when I was following the "wrist" technique. In fact when I stopped trying to do what my coaches told me and doing what felt a little more natural (pronation) I had less nagging on my elbow and wrist while at the same time having more power (a LOT more power).
 

toly

Hall of Fame
^ Welcome to the TW forum, DC.



I started playing badminton in the late 70s with aluminum and early graphite racquets, altho' I did play a bit with wood. Everyone was talking about wrist snap and the wristy-ness of the sport. However I later discovered that the role of the wrist was not really as advertised -- it was grossly exaggerated.

Most coaches & players back in the day emphasized the wrist so much because they didn't know any better -- not because the racquets required it. As far back as the 1960s, Dr. James Poole (one of the last of the US world-class champions), wrote a PhD paper that indicated that pronation was a major contributor of power on badminton strokes. It was his contention the the role of the wrist was emphasized more than it should be. This information seemed to be ignored (or unavailable) to most of the badminton community for several decades.

I played a lot of badminton tournaments in the 80s. When I came back to tennis in the late 80s/early 90s, I found that my serves, overheads and volleys were all intact but my groundstrokes had atrophied. I have taught tennis to quite a few badminton players. Most of them master overheads/serves (and volleys) first and struggle a bit more with groundstrokes. This is just the opposite for most other novice tennis players. Overall, the badminton players have picked up tennis quicker than most other novices tho'.
There is example of Chanelle Scheepers serve, where wrist flexion is the major contributor to the RHS and arm pronation supplies virtually nothing. :shock:

11jqf60.jpg
 

SystemicAnomaly

Bionic Poster
There is example of Chanelle Scheepers serve, where wrist flexion is the major contributor to the RHS and arm pronation supplies virtually nothing...

Puzzling that you quoted a post about badminton strokes to discuss a tennis serve.

Nonetheless, I clearly see quite a bit of evidence of pronation in this photo sequence of Chanelle's serve. Look at the orientation of the racket face and the hand in #1 compared to #6 or #11. That change in orientation is due primarily to forearm pronation with ISR.

Yes, there is flexion as an action as well in the upward swing. However, we do not see a position of flexion in your sequence at all. The wrist moves from a c0cked position (extension + wrist deviation) to a neutral position. Quite often, when a player is asked to snap the wrist w/o a proper demonstration (and correction), the player will often exhibit a much more radical flexion than this -- the wrist ends up in an extreme position of flexion. This is my objection to the terminology.
 

Cheetah

Hall of Fame
However, we do not see a position of flexion in your sequence at all. The wrist moves from a c0cked position (extension + wrist deviation) to a neutral position.

Moving the wrist from an extended position in the direction towards neutral or flexed position is called flexation.
 

SystemicAnomaly

Bionic Poster
Moving the wrist from an extended position in the direction towards neutral or flexed position is called flexation.

Are you pushing (sic) my leg? While I would welcome a word that distinguishes the action from the position, I could not find a definition on the interweb for your word, flexation.
 

Cheetah

Hall of Fame
Are you pushing (sic) my leg? While I would welcome a word that distinguishes the action from the position, I could not find a definition on the interweb for your word, flexation.

oops. flexion.
flexion (flek´shn),
n the bending of a joint between two skeletal members to decrease the angle between the members; opposite of extension.
n movement of a limb to decrease the angle of a joint.
 
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CoachingMastery

Professional
^ Welcome to the TW forum, DC.



I started playing badminton in the late 70s with aluminum and early graphite racquets, altho' I did play a bit with wood. Everyone was talking about wrist snap and the wristy-ness of the sport. However I later discovered that the role of the wrist was not really as advertised -- it was grossly exaggerated.

Most coaches & players back in the day emphasized the wrist so much because they didn't know any better -- not because the racquets required it. As far back as the 1960s, Dr. James Poole (one of the last of the US world-class champions), wrote a PhD paper that indicated that pronation was a major contributor of power on badminton strokes. It was his contention the the role of the wrist was emphasized more than it should be. This information seemed to be ignored (or unavailable) to most of the badminton community for several decades.

I played a lot of badminton tournaments in the 80s. When I came back to tennis in the late 80s/early 90s, I found that my serves, overheads and volleys were all intact but my groundstrokes had atrophied. I have taught tennis to quite a few badminton players. Most of them master overheads/serves (and volleys) first and struggle a bit more with groundstrokes. This is just the opposite for most other novice tennis players. Overall, the badminton players have picked up tennis quicker than most other novices tho'.

SA, did you play any badminton in So. Calif? I played with Jim Poole (and coached tennis against his son), as well as with Vicki Toutz (our first US Olympic Badminton Coach), Bobby Gilmore, Monica Oritz among others. My dad ran a badminton gym in Garden Grove for over 25 years, where I grew up playing...wonder if our paths crossed!

After growing up playing badminton at a competitive level, I switched to tennis in High School...at the time, no badminton team for boys. In tennis, my drops, angle volleys, overheads and serves were very good...my ground game was less skilled.

My view is that on smashes, there is more pronation, just as in tennis on the serve and overhead...the wrist snap is not a conscious component, more of a resultant move during the post contact phase.

However, in high level badminton, the underhand strokes, (namely the serve), and quick, fast exchanges are indeed wrist actions with very little arm motion or pronation as the reaction time needed would render the player helpless in defending by having the arm and racquet move too far within the quick shot. (The underhand serve has more arm motion because the server is not reacting to an incoming shot and is usually serving very high and deep--usually for singles.) Of course the backhand serve motion is all wrist when the player is trying a quick serve over the head of the returner.
 
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toly

Hall of Fame
Puzzling that you quoted a post about badminton strokes to discuss a tennis serve.

Nonetheless, I clearly see quite a bit of evidence of pronation in this photo sequence of Chanelle's serve. Look at the orientation of the racket face and the hand in #1 compared to #6 or #11. That change in orientation is due primarily to forearm pronation with ISR.

Yes, there is flexion as an action as well in the upward swing. However, we do not see a position of flexion in your sequence at all. The wrist moves from a c0cked position (extension + wrist deviation) to a neutral position. Quite often, when a player is asked to snap the wrist w/o a proper demonstration (and correction), the player will often exhibit a much more radical flexion than this -- the wrist ends up in an extreme position of flexion. This is my objection to the terminology.

11jqf60.jpg


Scheepers uses arm pronation very actively. In fact, angular path of the arm pronation is 90°. At the same time wrist ulnar deviation also rotates the racquet 90°. So, the angle between arm axis and longitude axis of the racquet is zero. If this angle is zero pronation cannot contribute any power to the serve, but only provides proper orientation of the racquet. See explanation in http://tt.tennis-warehouse.com/showthread.php?t=361610 post #1 and #7.

Scheepers racquet face in frame1 is open around 60°, almost like waiter’s tray. Thus, she can move bend back hand before it reaches neutral position. And this unbend/snap/flex or whatever motion provides the major power to the serve, not arm pronation.

I really don’t know how we should call this motion, but I call it flexion. If you know something better just tell us please.
 
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SystemicAnomaly

Bionic Poster
^ Not really following you on that. Will need to look at what you are saying when my brain is more awake than it is right now.

...
flexion (flek´shn),
n the bending of a joint between two skeletal members to decrease the angle between the members; opposite of extension.
n movement of a limb to decrease the angle of a joint.

Yup, from various definitions that I've seen of flexion, it applies both to a position (or condition) and an action (movement). Seems to me that there should be a way to make a distinction between the two uses. Sometimes it is apparent by context but this is not always the case. This leads to a bit of confusion at times.
.
 
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Cheetah

Hall of Fame
^ Not really following you on that. Will need to look at what you are saying when my brain is more awake than it is right now.



Yup, from various definitions that I've seen of flexion, it applies both to a position (or condition) and an action (movement). Seems to me that there should be a way to make a distinction between the two uses. Sometimes it is apparent by context but this is not always the case. This leads to a bit of confusion at times.
.

i think using the same word for both is fine. it happens. like 'close the door' and 'the door is closed'

in this case, the serve, the important part is that the wrist starts from an extended position and then contributes to acceleration by moving the wrist towards a flexed position.
 

SystemicAnomaly

Bionic Poster
... in this case, the serve, the important part is that the wrist starts from an extended position and then contributes to acceleration by moving the wrist towards a flexed position.

The wrist is actually c0cked for the serve such that it employs both extension and radial deviation. The wrist moves toward a flexion position but it really only moves to a neutral position at contact for most elite servers -- it does not move to a position of flexion -- or it is only assumes only a mild a flexion (position) on the follow-thru for some players.
 

Cheetah

Hall of Fame
The wrist is actually c0cked for the serve such that it employs both extension and radial deviation. The wrist moves toward a flexion position but it really only moves to a neutral position at contact for most elite servers -- it does not move to a position of flexion -- or it is only assumes only a mild a flexion (position) on the follow-thru for some players.

yes. but toly didn't say the wrist moves to a flexed position. he only said it 'flexes' or 'uses flexion' which is the motion in that direction which contributes to the rhs. right?
 

SystemicAnomaly

Bionic Poster
SA, did you play any badminton in So. Calif? I played with Jim Poole (and coached tennis against his son), as well as with Vicki Toutz (our first US Olympic Badminton Coach), Bobby Gilmore, Monica Oritz among others. My dad ran a badminton gym in Garden Grove for over 25 years, where I grew up playing...wonder if our paths crossed!

After growing up playing badminton at a competitive level, I switched to tennis in High School...at the time, no badminton team for boys. In tennis, my drops, angle volleys, overheads and serves were very good...my ground game was less skilled.

My view is that on smashes, there is more pronation, just as in tennis on the serve and overhead...the wrist snap is not a conscious component, more of a resultant move during the post contact phase.

However, in high level badminton, the underhand strokes, (namely the serve), and quick, fast exchanges are indeed wrist actions with very little arm motion or pronation as the reaction time needed would render the player helpless in defending by having the arm and racquet move too far within the quick shot. (The underhand serve has more arm motion because the server is not reacting to an incoming shot and is usually serving very high and deep--usually for singles.) Of course the backhand serve motion is all wrist when the player is trying a quick serve over the head of the returner.

Who knows, we may have crossed paths in that other world. I did play a number of tournaments in So Cal (mostly in the early/mid 1980s). A majority of the tournaments that I played, however, were in Nor Cal -- the SF bay area and the Davis/Sac area. I was at Cal Poly SLO in the early/mid 80s. A small group of us from Poly would travel either North or South on some weekends to play tournaments. It was at Cal Poly were I met Jim Poole -- he conducted badminton clinics for PE educators in the summer for several years.

When I played in So Cal I was only playing D and C level at the time. I later played at a B level in Nor Cal venues. I recall playing in Pasedena and San Diego (Balboa Park) a number of times. I also played tournies at some other So Cal locations but I do not recall where -- one of them may have been in Garden Grove. There was one tournament that was run by John Britton I remember -- could that have been Garden Grove?

In the late 80, I believe, I went down again to So Cal for an extended clinic (1 or 2 weeks long) for int/advanced players with Tariq Wadood and Dean Shoppe. Did you have any contact with Britton or these guys?

It sounds like we hit our underhand shots differently. For the BH serve I employ a fair amount of supination using a "thumb grip". I used a short grip (high on the handle) for that. I employed a moderate amount of "finger power" (squeezing with some of the fingers) and a bit of radial/ulnar deviation. Some players, often/sometimes with a different grip, will start with the wrist in flexion and will extend the wrist for the BH serve. I abandoned that BH serve technique early on.

For a high, deep FH singles serve I employed quite a bit of body rotation, shoulder action and forearm pronation. Altho' I started with the wrist c0cked for this stroke, I employed almost no wrist action for this stroke. This is the serve mechanics that I had learned from Roger Hedge and others.

I did employ a bit of wrist action on many net kill shots. However, the wrist action was actually initiated with "finger power" -- the wrist primarily follows the action created by the sqeezing of the fingers. This is something that I employ for many, not all, tennis volleys as well.
 
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Cheetah

Hall of Fame
I used to play at Balboa park every week. Lots of good players there. I saw Rod Laver there once. Did you ever play in the sunken stadium court? Really good accoustics.
 

rten885

New User
You do not use a wrist snap in the swing. The wrist snap will alter the original grip you put on the handle and will not let you get consistent spin. You will also get a lot less power because you won't be following through enough. The wrist snap makes the swing a lot smaller. You should be snapping your elbow in the swing and following through around your neck. If you do not see the ball kicking on the other side you are moving your wrist too much
 

SystemicAnomaly

Bionic Poster
yes. but toly didn't say the wrist moves to a flexed position. he only said it 'flexes' or 'uses flexion' which is the motion in that direction which contributes to the rhs. right?

No, he did not explicitly state that the wrist moves to a flexed position. However, one could possibly interpret it as such. One statement of his was... "There is example of Chanelle Scheepers serve, where wrist flexion is the major contributor to the RHS... ". This taken with his fondness for the term, wrist snap, and his contention that the wrist is very active (not passive), one might assume that the flexion that he speaks of is a position of flexion. However, in a subsequent post, he made his intention clearer.


I used to play at Balboa park every week. Lots of good players there. I saw Rod Laver there once. Did you ever play in the sunken stadium court? Really good accoustics.

I recall the court that you speak of. I'm not entirely certain, but I don't believe that I ever played tennis at the Balboa Park courts. I was there to play badminton tournaments and I don't recall taking my tennis rackets with me to San Diego. If I ever get back down there, I'll have to check out the courts and the acoustics.
 

Cheetah

Hall of Fame
No, he did not explicitly state that the wrist moves to a flexed position. However, one could possibly interpret it as such. One statement of his was... "There is example of Chanelle Scheepers serve, where wrist flexion is the major contributor to the RHS... ". This taken with his fondness for the term, wrist snap, and his contention that the wrist is very active (not passive), one might assume that the flexion that he speaks of is a position of flexion. However, in a subsequent post, he made his intention clearer.

yea, i just noticed now that toly said that flexion is the major source of power for the serve. that is 1000% not correct.

Balboa park stadium court sounds like this http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BOKptwpu--0&t=2m17s
 
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TheLambsheadrep

Professional
I know this topic has been discussed for some time (as I have been reading this thread and from http://tt.tennis-warehouse.com/showthread.php?t=112708 and http://tt.tennis-warehouse.com/showthread.php?t=173305, plus http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2577481/ and other articles in this thread), but as I am now truly realizing how to get more topspin on the ball (I have a few threads on how I changed the balance of my sticks to increase whippiness and therefore spin) via mechanics, I would like to inquire about it again in a slightly different way.

I hope most everyone can agree with at least this one chunk of my post's thinking - with slow motion video, it is easy to see that almost every pro (male pro at least) has their wrist lag behind the rest of their arm starting from the end of the racquet take-back through accelerating to contact (or for people that know high-low-high, when you are at low and going to high) (by the way, this topic is specifically for the forehand, even though I believe the principle is the same for backhands. If anyone wants to chime in about the BH please do so, but again, all of what I'm writing is about the FH). One of the (main?) reasons I believe this happens is because the pros get their whole body into the shot, and the turning of the hips and shoulders first drags the arm along which then drags the wrist along. Essentially, whip lash that travels through your arm, or the wave-motion of a towel when you give someone a rat tail (and the tip of the towel making contact is the wrist). I have not seen any video of Fed/Nadal/Djo locking their wrist back at a 90ish degree extension angle through the back swing, as it seems to happen spontaneously when the arm moves from the end of the racquet take-back to contact (low to high). While I've been focusing on the top male pros, I did read and see that Sharapova does lock the wrist back, just putting that out there.

Now, the question I see people disagreeing on I believe can be summed up as asking "around contact, does the wrist catch up with the rest of the arm naturally or forcibly?" I think this is being asked since people want to know how much, if any, wrist action they should voluntarily put into their forehand. When you watch the slow motion video and see the lag and bending-back (natural extension) of the wrist, it is possible to equate the wrist's movement up to and through contact as a "flick of the wrist" or "brushing up with the wrist" (which between naturally and forcibly, would qualify as forcibly). To add to this, when watching the same strokes in real time you can see that there's general acceleration through contact, and utilizing the wrist's properties as a joint to increase swing speed is certainly a feasible reason in why acceleration occurs (again, forcibly).

Personally, when I see the slow motion video and the very cool frame-by-frame pictures (starting on page 2 here), I can't help but notice that the wrist seems to move faster than the arm when they both are nearing contact. This to me highly suggests that there's a level of forced or voluntary wrist movement since the arm is not being yanked back or decelerating (if that were the case, it would mean the forehand would physically be like a rat tail, since us expert rat-tailers out there know that pulling back on the towel at the right time increases the whip/flick at the end, and leads to a more satisfying crack and "OUCH!" from the victim :twisted: ).

I am trying to see the argument that it's forearm pronation, but I'm really struggling and it may be that I don't fully understand it outside of the serve. I know that pronation for the serve accelerates the racquet through contact, so that could explain the wrist catching up with the arm at forehand contact. It can explain why the wrist turns over on almost every shot of a modern forehand (like it does for the serve). Also, it goes hand in hand with the slow motion video/pictures showing the angle between the racquet and arm to be 90ish at contact, so the motion of pronation in that case would look like someone waving "hi" sideways (fingers going from 3o'clock to 12o'clock (going past 12o'clock would requite shoulder movement) with their palm facing their opponent across the net) and would effectively brush up on the ball. But can you really have forearm pronation without any wrist involvement? I'm trying myself and watching PT videos on wrist and forearm pronation and to me they feel the same and look the same. I know I involve my wrist when I pronate on serve.



Toly, when you say Monfils and other pros have wrist ulnar deviation and pronation, you are implying that there is also wrist radial deviation through/just after the ball contact, correct (since as far as I know, wrist ulnar deviation is just the dropping of the outstretched hand sideways toward the ulnar styloid)? Like I said above, this would look like someone waving "hi" sideways around contact and would effectively brush up on the ball, right? Then after contact the wrist turns over (you point out that the racquet is closed) so the arm can fully extend/follow through safely and naturally?
 

toly

Hall of Fame
Toly, when you say Monfils and other pros have wrist ulnar deviation and pronation, you are implying that there is also wrist radial deviation through/just after the ball contact, correct (since as far as I know, wrist ulnar deviation is just the dropping of the outstretched hand sideways toward the ulnar styloid)? Like I said above, this would look like someone waving "hi" sideways around contact and would effectively brush up on the ball, right? Then after contact the wrist turns over (you point out that the racquet is closed) so the arm can fully extend/follow through safely and naturally?
About wrist ulnar deviation, see please http://tt.tennis-warehouse.com/showt...09#post6013209 post #180 and about forces - http://tt.tennis-warehouse.com/showt...38#post7046738 post #103.
 
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TheLambsheadrep

Professional
Rod Cross does say this in his "Wrist Snap In the Serve" article (a good read, but kinda hard to differentiate between when he's talking about a serve or ground stroke):

"The action of the wrist in a groundstroke is quite different to that in a serve and it depends on the speed at which the player swings the racquet. At low speed, a player can keep the wrist locked during the whole swing. In a high speed swing the racquet will rotate so fast that it will forcefully unlock the wrist if the player tries to keep it locked. Usually, the player relaxes the wrist beforehand and allows the racquet to pull the wrist around smoothly. However, the player can still flick the racquet head vertically upwards using wrist action to generate topspin, even though the racquet pulls the wrist around in the horizontal direction."

So he does acknowledge that the wrist can be used to flick the racquet head vertically. He doesn't say the pros do this, but I have a feeling he put it in there for a reason...
 

toly

Hall of Fame
"However, the player can still flick the racquet head vertically upwards using wrist action to generate topspin, even though the racquet pulls the wrist around in the horizontal direction."

So he does acknowledge that the wrist can be used to flick the racquet head vertically. He doesn't say the pros do this, but I have a feeling he put it in there for a reason...
You can do it if your grip is continental/eastern, but you don’t want to do that in case of semiwestern/western grip.
 

TheLambsheadrep

Professional
You can do it if your grip is continental/eastern, but you don’t want to do that in case of semiwestern/western grip.

Why just C or E? In a lot of the photos for SW and even W forehands, the racquet face is perpendicular to the ground at about 90 degrees at contact. I would think as long as that is the case, vertically flicking/brushing up on the ball with the wrist is fine regardless of the forehand grip...
 

toly

Hall of Fame
Why just C or E? In a lot of the photos for SW and even W forehands, the racquet face is perpendicular to the ground at about 90 degrees at contact. I would think as long as that is the case, vertically flicking/brushing up on the ball with the wrist is fine regardless of the forehand grip...
4zynwm.jpg


Sharapova's grip is close to SW/Western. According to photo above she cannot use wrist radial deviation to create topspin. This motion moves the racquet away from the ball. That is why she employs very energetically wrist ulnar deviation that moves the racquet forward.
 

TheLambsheadrep

Professional
4zynwm.jpg


Sharapova's grip is close to SW/Western. According to photo above she cannot use wrist radial deviation to create topspin. This motion moves the racquet away from the ball. That is why she employs very energetically wrist ulnar deviation that moves the racquet forward.

OK, I think it's because this picture looks like it was taken after contact, but I don't see why she couldn't use wrist radial deviation if the picture is of before contact to brush up on the ball. Since the racquet face is a little more angled down to the ground and pointing between 1 and 2o'clock out from her body, it would just naturally end with the wrist turning over so her hand would essentially be making a "thumbs down." Does that not count as radial deviation?
 

Cheetah

Hall of Fame
4zynwm.jpg


Sharapova's grip is close to SW/Western. According to photo above she cannot use wrist radial deviation to create topspin. This motion moves the racquet away from the ball. That is why she employs very energetically wrist ulnar deviation that moves the racquet forward.

Omg. what the...??
No offense Toly but this has got to be the most incorrect post I have ever seen here on TT.

I cannot believe what I just read.
 

toly

Hall of Fame
OK, I think it's because this picture looks like it was taken after contact, but I don't see why she couldn't use wrist radial deviation if the picture is of before contact to brush up on the ball. Since the racquet face is a little more angled down to the ground and pointing between 1 and 2o'clock out from her body, it would just naturally end with the wrist turning over so her hand would essentially be making a "thumbs down." Does that not count as radial deviation?

imqmtd.jpg


The wrist can rotate the racquet about two orthogonal axes. Djokovic palm is horizontal, thus wrist deviations can rotate the racquet about vertical axis only. In picture 1, from above view, Djokovic rotates the racquet counterclockwise by using wrist ulnar deviation and racquet moves forward. If he used wrist radial deviation, picture 2, the racquet would move backward, away from the ball.
 

toly

Hall of Fame
Omg. what the...??
No offense Toly but this has got to be the most incorrect post I have ever seen here on TT.

I cannot believe what I just read.
You must learn medical terminology, otherwise it is impossible to communicate with you.:shock:
 
This is a trebuchet catapult.

350px-Trebuchet_Castelnaud.jpg


This is a schematic of a trebuchet in action:

trebuchetphy2.jpg


Note how limp it keeps it's "wrist".
[Really no surprise - there is no "muscle" to keep the wrist in any one position - it is after all just a rope!]

But man, oh man!

Just look at that great "wrist" action - seen even better in this simulation:

treb4.GIF





Sort of reminds me of the great "wrist action" in a tennis serve strobe photo:

strobe-tennis-serve-1.jpg





The above doesn't conclusively "prove" the "wrist snap" in tennis is a passive motion, resulting from a "loose wrist" being allowed to move quickly through its natural range of motion because of forces being generated much more proximally.

But it does get one thinking ...
 
The forearm muscles that control the wrist [there is no muscle in the wrist - it is a joint] can be activated relatively early in the forward stroke to maximize a "laid back wrist" and slightly delay the forward slap - but in the power phase of the stroke it is "letting go" of any built up tension that will allow the greatest power in the stroke.

But even in "laying back the wrist" it would be more productive to do so passively as a result of holding the arm in the proper position so that rotational and linear forces generated from the body leave the relatively heavy racquet and arm behind, as the body begins to whip around and forward.
 
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user92626

G.O.A.T.
Charlie,

So where does the bulk of the power come from? What should I focus on to generate as much power as I could? Legs, hip, shoulder, or what? Thanks.

What's the exercise for that?
 

Cheetah

Hall of Fame
Charlie,

So where does the bulk of the power come from? What should I focus on to generate as much power as I could? Legs, hip, shoulder, or what? Thanks.

What's the exercise for that?

Power comes from timing and technique. It comes from all the above groups working together. If you try to isolate one of those areas as the main source of power you'll most likely have a weak or broken kinetic chain. You should work towards achieving the fastest rhs and not the 'most power'.
 
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