Any people who use the straight arm forehand?

[ace_pace]

Hello everyone,

This is my first ever thread created on these forums, so please bear with me. The main topic I want to discuss about is the straight arm forehand. Basically, I've been trying to learn this for AGES and yet I still feel very inconsistent. Today, I played a match against a guy who couldn't even hold his racquet properly and lost 6-1. What shocked me was that I could even hit the ball in with my forehand. Always out or in the net. It kinda pisses me off really.

When I practice, my forehand is somewhat okay. However sometimes I end up doing a bent arm forehand, probably the result of me unwilling to move much :twisted:. I've got nothing against bent arm forehands, its just that I wanna be different

I know a lil bit about straight arm forehands. I know that its shoulder driven, and that its should be sorta whippy, like shoulder -> upper arm -> forearm -> wrist. However, sometimes I I instinctively swing using my forearm. I know that the wrist is also meant to be loose. But sometimes I instinctively get a stiff wrist. Apparently your also supposed to pronate your forearm, I tried that though and it just stuffs me up completely, although when I tried it I hit it really well a couple of time and the pace and spin is fantastic.

I use semi-western grip.

So I have a couple of questions in regards to this.
1. Whats a good way to learn and practice the straight arm forehand?
2. Does grips affect how you should swing your arm?
3. What should the backswing be like?
4. Wheres the ideal contact point/ is it way in front of your body or more out wide?

And basically, any other tips would be really great.

 

[ace_pace]

IDK how to edit the first post but 'What shocked me was that I couldn't even hit the ball in with my forehand. Always out or in the net.' is what I meant.

 

[Ryoma]

Any video of how you play?

 

[Lawn Tennis]

I tried using it. Sometimes I do almost hit that way, but it's hard to tell without watching video. I concentrate more on being loose more than I ever have the straight armed fh.

4. I think the straight arm fh forces you to connect more out in front. This can be very useful against a high deep ball as it seems to generate spin more easily.

 

[ace_pace]

Any video of how you play?

unfortunately, I dont have a video on me right now. However, I may get around to doing it later.

 

[aimr75]

not that great, but my version of a straight arm FH here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RKiIMtLtZvE

I try to not hit with a straight arm.. you dont want to lock it out.. just try and think about hitting 3 balls in front of you and you may get more extension

 

[ace_pace]

not that great, but my version of a straight arm FH here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RKiIMtLtZvE

I try to not hit with a straight arm.. you dont want to lock it out.. just try and think about hitting 3 balls in front of you and you may get more extension

So does that mean 3 balls in front of where you'd normally hit it or 3 balls away from like your body? BTW your forehand seems very good. Much more consistent that mine and seems very natural. Whenever I hit using the the straight arm forehand, sometimes it feels awkward.

 

[aimr75]

Just think about hitting through the ball.

 

[Chyeaah]

If you want to have a straight arm forehand bend your wrist more, i find that helpful. And when you hit the ball you have to be more to the left (vice versa for lefty.) Hip Movement is the main thing in straight arm, when i use bent arm i can get the ball in without hip movement because its easier to swing bent arm.

Watch Lock and Roll.

 

[ace_pace]

If you want to have a straight arm forehand bend your wrist more, i find that helpful. And when you hit the ball you have to be more to the left (vice versa for lefty.) Hip Movement is the main thing in straight arm, when i use bent arm i can get the ball in without hip movement because its easier to swing bent arm.

Watch Lock and Roll.

When you say bend your wrist more, is it loosely or stiffly bent? And when you mean hip movement, do you mean for example, facing your hips towards the fence and then turn your hips towards the ball? Sorry for the questions, I just wanna be clear thats all ;-)

 

[Clay lover]

From my experience, whenever I hit a good straight arm forehand my whole body and arm remains loose but the wrist has to remain laid back until after contact.

 

[Chyeaah]

When you say bend your wrist more, is it loosely or stiffly bent? And when you mean hip movement, do you mean for example, facing your hips towards the fence and then turn your hips towards the ball? Sorry for the questions, I just wanna be clear thats all ;-)

Before contact your wrist should be bent around 45 degrees. eg hold ur arm out straight so ur palm is facing to the front. and bend ur wrist back around 30-45 degrees. Really relaxed like its natural loosely bent.

Hip movement is major... This is when your chest is facing towards the sidefence and when you start swinging, face your chest back to the net, if you do the hip rotation only while holding your racquet you can see shortly after your hip rotation 2 things happen.

1 - Your arm naturally moves and swings by itself. This is where you get all your power from and when you become more advanced (around 5.0-6.0) you can add a little jump, try not to knee bend yet because you dont know how to hit your forehand. Knee bend is for more thrust into your hip rotation.

2 - When you rotate your hit your wrist naturally bends backwards allowing a faster swing.

 

[aimr75]

ace_pace, if you want a very detailed analysis of straight arm forehands, do a search on posts by 'tricky'

 

[ace_pace]

ace_pace, if you want a very detailed analysis of straight arm forehands, do a search on posts by 'tricky'

Thanks for the tip. I read some of the stuff tricky said. However, tbh I found all the stuff he said a bit overwhelming. All I'm really asking for is some very key elements I should remember when trying to execute the straight arm forehand. Sorry if I haven't really been all that clear, just kinda puzzled. I really like watching players with straight arm forehands. It looks graceful and powerful at the same time. I'd really like to become one of them, though I still have long way to go.

 

[ace_pace]

Before contact your wrist should be bent around 45 degrees. eg hold ur arm out straight so ur palm is facing to the front. and bend ur wrist back around 30-45 degrees. Really relaxed like its natural loosely bent.

Hip movement is major... This is when your chest is facing towards the sidefence and when you start swinging, face your chest back to the net, if you do the hip rotation only while holding your racquet you can see shortly after your hip rotation 2 things happen.

1 - Your arm naturally moves and swings by itself. This is where you get all your power from and when you become more advanced (around 5.0-6.0) you can add a little jump, try not to knee bend yet because you dont know how to hit your forehand. Knee bend is for more thrust into your hip rotation.

2 - When you rotate your hit your wrist naturally bends backwards allowing a faster swing.

I gave this a go and it helped quite a bit! I noticed a lot more pace than before with less effort. I found it very tiring though and sometimes I end up forgetting this and ending up arming the ball. Also, how do you do it on the run?

 

[FedExpress 333]

First off, the straightarm forehand is a "pull" fh. The problem is with you saying tht itis driven by the shoulder. It is NOT! It is driven by the legs, then upper body rotation! The arm is supposed to act like a "whip"of sorts, as in i does not move voluntarily. The leg drive and Upper body rotation "flings" the arm into the ball.

 

[Chyeaah]

First off, the straightarm forehand is a "pull" fh. The problem is with you saying tht itis driven by the shoulder. It is NOT! It is driven by the legs, then upper body rotation! The arm is supposed to act like a "whip"of sorts, as in i does not move voluntarily. The leg drive and Upper body rotation "flings" the arm into the ball.

1 Handed Backhand is shoulder, 1 handed forehand is not. Power is from the legs and the hip rotation only. your arm should be relaxed quite abit and if your arm is getting tired maybe the racquet is too heavy. Your arm isnt mean to swing, it swings by itself with the movement of your leg push and hip rotation. The only thing you need to do in your arm is

During the hip rotation the ball should be predictable to where your going to hit it so move your arm to that spot.

After contact when you use your arm to slow the racquet down, not really necessary but when you swing fast.

Keeping your wrist bent the same, no wrist movement throughout the stroke until you become as pro as stosur but one day her wrist will fall off...


On the run at your level just try to hit the ball in. Requires good footwork but if you want to know.

Think if it as hit the ball while your running.

You do the unit turn and try to land on an open stance right before you hit the ball. You do the hip movement.

Depends. Watch Lock and Roll.

On my running forehand i crisscross to my left foot right before contact and then hip and swing and then step onto my right foot. so only 1 foot is on the ground when doing it. hard to explain but you still have the momentum of your run after you hit.

Main point. You hit while your running, not run stop, hit. YOu land on an semi-open stance when the ball bounces and do the hip movement fast.




The hip rotation is what ALL the pros do. Its what they all have in common in their stroke, apart from the basics eg, taking racquet back, unit turn. Everyone of them. Unlike the stances, and wrist movement etc, the hip movement is the No. 1 basic of tennis, you get tired by swinging with your arm.


If you've played basketball before (using basketball because its a popular sport) when you shoot, its your legs that do the work and the hands just direct the ball. Think of it as tennis as well, your legs and hips move and your arm just swings at the ball in an upwards windshield wiper movement.

 

[Chyeaah]

This is teaching myself as well thats why i can be bothered to post. If i type it it will be easier for me to remember =D. But my forehand is my strong point, my strategy is to get such a good forehand and leave my crap backhand for later.

 

[ace_pace]

First off, the straightarm forehand is a "pull" fh. The problem is with you saying tht itis driven by the shoulder. It is NOT! It is driven by the legs, then upper body rotation! The arm is supposed to act like a "whip"of sorts, as in i does not move voluntarily. The leg drive and Upper body rotation "flings" the arm into the ball.

1 Handed Backhand is shoulder, 1 handed forehand is not. Power is from the legs and the hip rotation only. your arm should be relaxed quite abit and if your arm is getting tired maybe the racquet is too heavy. Your arm isnt mean to swing, it swings by itself with the movement of your leg push and hip rotation. The only thing you need to do in your arm is

During the hip rotation the ball should be predictable to where your going to hit it so move your arm to that spot.

After contact when you use your arm to slow the racquet down, not really necessary but when you swing fast.

Keeping your wrist bent the same, no wrist movement throughout the stroke until you become as pro as stosur but one day her wrist will fall off...


On the run at your level just try to hit the ball in. Requires good footwork but if you want to know.

Think if it as hit the ball while your running.

You do the unit turn and try to land on an open stance right before you hit the ball. You do the hip movement.

Depends. Watch Lock and Roll.

On my running forehand i crisscross to my left foot right before contact and then hip and swing and then step onto my right foot. so only 1 foot is on the ground when doing it. hard to explain but you still have the momentum of your run after you hit.

Main point. You hit while your running, not run stop, hit. YOu land on an semi-open stance when the ball bounces and do the hip movement fast.




The hip rotation is what ALL the pros do. Its what they all have in common in their stroke, apart from the basics eg, taking racquet back, unit turn. Everyone of them. Unlike the stances, and wrist movement etc, the hip movement is the No. 1 basic of tennis, you get tired by swinging with your arm.


If you've played basketball before (using basketball because its a popular sport) when you shoot, its your legs that do the work and the hands just direct the ball. Think of it as tennis as well, your legs and hips move and your arm just swings at the ball in an upwards windshield wiper movement.

Thanks for the tips! I can't wait to try the running forehand! What I meant by tiring though is my legs and body get tired after a while. Probably just a fitness problem.

 

[Chyeaah]

Oh then when your normal rallying dont rotate super fast because if you do that on every shot it will tire you out, only do a super fast upper body swing if you think that you can go for the winner.

 

[Ryoma]

Is this straight enough?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6kf_0wEpqds

 

[ace_pace]

After having a go at using my hips and shoulders only I found that it does indeed feel comfortable to hit with a straight arm. However I'm finding myself hitting inconsistently as in framing the racquet and different contact points :S

Any tips on how to minimise this?

 

[Chyeaah]

Practise. Nuff said... Use your non hitting arm to guide your hitting arm like all the pros do, that helped me alot.

 

[Chyeaah]

and @ Royma you could exaggerate the straightness abit more as a "practice" but that forehand is abit bent which could mean your using your arm too much.

Stand still and swing your arm with your legs and hips, see the straightness in that. Your arm is like bent 10 -15 degreesish hard to tell from that angle but look at verdasco's arm at contact. Full straight.

Watched it again, Your arm is straight until right before contact then it bends abit, so your using your arm too much.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kjKGCurUZ3U&feature=related Pause at 9 seconds. That is so straight i mean... Verdasco must be a straight man.

 

[ace_pace]

Played a 1 set game today. At first I went is human backboard mode and played conservatively. Got up 2-0. The guy I was playing decided to become a backboard too so then I went for my shots. I found it pretty hard to keep my arm straight while playing on the offensive, I think its my rather bad positioning. Also, I kept forgetting to hit with bent knees, making turning the body feel awkward. However whenever I hit it well, the ball had an awesome 'kick'. Ended up winning 6-1.

I have couple of questions now.
1. I now your supposed to pronate the arm, but I found that when I do the racquet face becomes too closed by the time of impact occurs. I noticed Fed and Nadal have slightly closed racquets on impact, only a small angle.

2. Im still kinda having trouble turning my body to swing my arm at the ball. I feel like I have not as much control as when I actively swing my arm.

 

[Chyeaah]

For your control thing its because your just letting your arm go right? Your meant to control your arm. The arm is around 5-10% of the stroke, just control your arm abit, dont swing with your arm, control it. Do some practice swings with a racquet without a ball and imagine your hitting a high ball, low ball, etc. Your swing pattern should look and be consistant, although i am a massive hipocrite and 1/3 of the time i swing my arm, and hit a harder ball but thats with bent forehand.

Just remember, although you turn your hip, the rotation will just provide power, use your arm to control it.

 

[darthfedererr]

just hit the forehand your body wants you to.

 

[corners]

I would check out various posts by the poster "tricky", who is a very clever expert on stroke mechanics and seems to have made studied the straight-arm forehand extensively. I've learned more from him than any other poster in this section of the forum, by far.

Start with this post: http://tt.tennis-warehouse.com/showthread.php?p=5351109&highlight=forehand#post5351109

And this one: http://tt.tennis-warehouse.com/showthread.php?p=2529825&highlight=forehand#post2529825

Basically, you first learn the textbook windshield wiper forehand with double-bend at elbow and wrist. Think of Agassi or Nalbandian, or check out FYB's forehand progression videos.

Then build on that foundation by learning what Tricky calls a turn-based or Spanish forehand, where you use one of the visualizations in the first post above to naturally let your elbow straighten out at the beginning of the forehand swing. This creates a longer, more linear line to the ball and a straight-arm contact point way out in front. If you get that down you'd have something like Verdasco's forehand.

The final progression is to pronate the forearm during the racquet drop, which is what Fed does. This naturally straightens the elbow before the forward swing (on some shots), and then has the wrist and forearm passively laying back and supinating as the shoulder accelerates the racquet forward at the beginning of the swing. This passive layback and forearm supination causes a stretch reflex in the forearm and shoulder that results in a very fast and effortless feeling swing and very fast wiper motion ending in a naturally tight wraparound finish.

But heed Tricky's warning in the second post above - don't try this forearm pronation stuff until you've got the other steps down. He said in another post that getting the timing right on a Fed-style forehand might be roughly twice as difficult as hitting a topspin OHBH, so you might want to stick with a more basic and solid forehand unless you're practicing four hours a day.

And above all make sure that what you're doing feels smooth, relaxed and natural. And try hitting dropped balls when working on your forehand.

 

[ace_pace]

For your control thing its because your just letting your arm go right? Your meant to control your arm. The arm is around 5-10% of the stroke, just control your arm abit, dont swing with your arm, control it. Do some practice swings with a racquet without a ball and imagine your hitting a high ball, low ball, etc. Your swing pattern should look and be consistant, although i am a massive hipocrite and 1/3 of the time i swing my arm, and hit a harder ball but thats with bent forehand.

Just remember, although you turn your hip, the rotation will just provide power, use your arm to control it.

I would check out various posts by the poster "tricky", who is a very clever expert on stroke mechanics and seems to have made studied the straight-arm forehand extensively. I've learned more from him than any other poster in this section of the forum, by far.

Start with this post: http://tt.tennis-warehouse.com/showthread.php?p=5351109&highlight=forehand#post5351109

And this one: http://tt.tennis-warehouse.com/showthread.php?p=2529825&highlight=forehand#post2529825

Basically, you first learn the textbook windshield wiper forehand with double-bend at elbow and wrist. Think of Agassi or Nalbandian, or check out FYB's forehand progression videos.

Then build on that foundation by learning what Tricky calls a turn-based or Spanish forehand, where you use one of the visualizations in the first post above to naturally let your elbow straighten out at the beginning of the forehand swing. This creates a longer, more linear line to the ball and a straight-arm contact point way out in front. If you get that down you'd have something like Verdasco's forehand.

The final progression is to pronate the forearm during the racquet drop, which is what Fed does. This naturally straightens the elbow before the forward swing (on some shots), and then has the wrist and forearm passively laying back and supinating as the shoulder accelerates the racquet forward at the beginning of the swing. This passive layback and forearm supination causes a stretch reflex in the forearm and shoulder that results in a very fast and effortless feeling swing and very fast wiper motion ending in a naturally tight wraparound finish.

But heed Tricky's warning in the second post above - don't try this forearm pronation stuff until you've got the other steps down. He said in another post that getting the timing right on a Fed-style forehand might be roughly twice as difficult as hitting a topspin OHBH, so you might want to stick with a more basic and solid forehand unless you're practicing four hours a day.

And above all make sure that what you're doing feels smooth, relaxed and natural. And try hitting dropped balls when working on your forehand.

Thank you both for your info. It is really helpful.

Corners, addressing your post it appears then that I am stuck on the turn-based/spanish-forehand stage. I had a pretty solid WW bent-forehand, but that was a while back. I guess I should leave that pronation thing for later then. The thing I find most difficult about it was that you have to hit through the ball more as opposed to just wind shield wiping it. I will try getting better at turn based forehand.

 

[xFullCourtTenniSx]

I hit straight armed 90% of the time, and whether I'm an ideal source or not is up to you, but I lead with the wrist. I still get hip rotation into shoulder rotation into arm action, but most of the focus on my shot goes into my wrist (because the wrist is the most defining part of my swing aside from setting up my hips/stance).

I don't think it's something you should force yourself to learn. If I remember correctly, I started with a bent elbow and ended up with a straight arm because of my emphasis on the wrist in my forehand.

I've tried mildly bent arm forehands a few years back and saw no real downside to it aside from lack of spin on certain shots (though the shot itself was simpler and therefore less likely to break down).

Basically lead with wrist (or the heel of your palm; that general area) as you start your swing with racket pointing down (most importantly just having the racket head level well below your wrist) then dragging/pulling the racket up and THROUGH (most important that you go through the ball as much as you can) the ball as quickly as you can. From there, you can add the other parts of a full forehand swing (shoulder rotation, C-loop backswing, your own flavor, etc.). I basically couldn't do it any other way comfortably (otherwise I'd still be hitting bent arm).

If you want to mold your forehand into something it's not, fine. Though there are some people with excessively bent elbows... Though some people make it work... I think mildly bent elbows are the best. Gives you the best of both worlds.

 

[enishi1357]

I have no credentials but here it is. Obviously you don't want to muscle the ball because arm will bent for sure. If you force it then it will be inconsistent.

the first video i saw on the first page was pretty good. Some pointer is to use the left hand to coordinate the ball more and work on the footwork more.

You want to get your power from your footwork, not your hip. If you footwork is good then naturally the hip will rotate. The power also comes from your prep with your left hand. To me if the follow through is too wild for a lack of a better word then most likely I am just muscling it the ball. It also helps if you hit through the ball. The trajectory should be consistently in a straight line.

 

[sepidoel]

I kinda think that straight-armed FH is more like throwing motion - while object that's being thrown is the racquet head. I feel one of the ideas is to have biggest radius of swing.

 

[Jonny S&V]

Just saw this thread, and I've been told that I hit a straight-arm forehand (note, this is from a year ago, and my game changes on a daily basis, so this is definitely not very accurate of my current game):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HKnGaNuKTRs

Man, I just watched that vid for the first time in a while... I had/have such an ugly game...

 

[ace_pace]

I hit straight armed 90% of the time, and whether I'm an ideal source or not is up to you, but I lead with the wrist. I still get hip rotation into shoulder rotation into arm action, but most of the focus on my shot goes into my wrist (because the wrist is the most defining part of my swing aside from setting up my hips/stance).

I don't think it's something you should force yourself to learn. If I remember correctly, I started with a bent elbow and ended up with a straight arm because of my emphasis on the wrist in my forehand.

I've tried mildly bent arm forehands a few years back and saw no real downside to it aside from lack of spin on certain shots (though the shot itself was simpler and therefore less likely to break down).

Basically lead with wrist (or the heel of your palm; that general area) as you start your swing with racket pointing down (most importantly just having the racket head level well below your wrist) then dragging/pulling the racket up and THROUGH (most important that you go through the ball as much as you can) the ball as quickly as you can. From there, you can add the other parts of a full forehand swing (shoulder rotation, C-loop backswing, your own flavor, etc.). I basically couldn't do it any other way comfortably (otherwise I'd still be hitting bent arm).

If you want to mold your forehand into something it's not, fine. Though there are some people with excessively bent elbows... Though some people make it work... I think mildly bent elbows are the best. Gives you the best of both worlds.

I have no credentials but here it is. Obviously you don't want to muscle the ball because arm will bent for sure. If you force it then it will be inconsistent.

the first video i saw on the first page was pretty good. Some pointer is to use the left hand to coordinate the ball more and work on the footwork more.

You want to get your power from your footwork, not your hip. If you footwork is good then naturally the hip will rotate. The power also comes from your prep with your left hand. To me if the follow through is too wild for a lack of a better word then most likely I am just muscling it the ball. It also helps if you hit through the ball. The trajectory should be consistently in a straight line.

I kinda think that straight-armed FH is more like throwing motion - while object that's being thrown is the racquet head. I feel one of the ideas is to have biggest radius of swing.

Just saw this thread, and I've been told that I hit a straight-arm forehand (note, this is from a year ago, and my game changes on a daily basis, so this is definitely not very accurate of my current game):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HKnGaNuKTRs

Man, I just watched that vid for the first time in a while... I had/have such an ugly game...

Thanks for your input. I like comparing all the information presented from different people so that I can compare and acknowledge whats generally agreed upon.

However it just dawn to me that the reason why my forehand doesnt work as it should was because of my footwork :-?. After looking at a couple of videos of Verdasco, Roger and Nadal I found that they move they're feet a lot to get into position. getting your feet into position I guess is really the key to a straight arm forehand.

I found that whenever I play, I tend to get very lazy and dont bother doing a proper unit turn. I tend to just turn my shoulders only. I realised I needed to pivot with my dominant foot first. Also, I found that my balance when executing the stroke suffered because of this. I didnt know that you had to keep your weight on your back foot until you start swinging forward.

I guess I could try moving I guess. Its just that whenever I watch the pros, they make it look so EASY.