Best way to fix overusing wrist in forehand technique?

[tennisobsessioned]

I shadow swing perfectly with my forehand and always think I have good technique, yet when I play matches or practice i tend to overuse my wrist right before contact. a video link is provided as to what i'm referring to. idk if it has to do with my weight transfer or what so please tell me if you have any tips or what the most common way to fix this is

 

[Dragy]

Your wrist looks good on its own, not problematic. What you lack is torso uncoil (and coil may be more full).

Watch some pros and figure out:
- How their full coil looks? It usually happens right around ball bounce.
- How uncoiled they are my the moment of impact? Particularly on strong shots from the middle, inside-out shots?

You may also want to work on spacing to make full uncoil comfortable.

Once you get full coil and uncoil, your wrist will be just finishing the job.

 

[StringSnapper]

Your wrist looks good on its own, not problematic. What you lack is torso uncoil (and coil may be more full).

Watch some pros and figure out:
- How their full coil looks? It usually happens right around ball bounce.
- How uncoiled they are my the moment of impact? Particularly on strong shots from the middle, inside-out shots?

You may also want to work on spacing to make full uncoil comfortable.

Once you get full coil and uncoil, your wrist will be just finishing the job.

What do you think of the uncoil/coil at 0.02?

 

[tennisobsessioned]

Your wrist looks good on its own, not problematic. What you lack is torso uncoil (and coil may be more full).

Watch some pros and figure out:
- How their full coil looks? It usually happens right around ball bounce.
- How uncoiled they are my the moment of impact? Particularly on strong shots from the middle, inside-out shots?

You may also want to work on spacing to make full uncoil comfortable.

Once you get full coil and uncoil, your wrist will be just finishing the job.

one main issue i always feel though is that my racket is dropping below my wrist which i don't see pros doing. will the coiling motion really fix that part of the forehand?

 

[Dragy]

one main issue i always feel though is that my racket is dropping below my wrist which i don't see pros doing. will the coiling motion really fix that part of the forehand?

Well watch some more maybe, as they clearly do!

 

[Dragy]

What do you think of the uncoil/coil at 0.02?

IMHO lack of uncoil, maybe because of bad spacing. His arm goes to the ball before uncoil is complete. Compare with Sinner above.

 

[tennisobsessioned]

Well watch some more maybe, as they clearly do!

im more referring to this part of my technique, very different timing compared to sinner unfortunately

this video at 0:29 is a good example of what i want to be doing but am not actually doing

also do you have any advice for spacing if that really is the only issue?

 

[Dragy]

im more referring to this part of my technique, very different timing compared to sinner unfortunately

Well I can find Tiafoe pictures for you, but it is less “typical” for good technique, I agree.

Bach to coil and uncoil. Your current rhythm of the swing is very short. You do more of a racquet flip than full swing. Hence you lack the “alignment” phase, like here:

If you coil more and earlier (full coil, elbow and racquet high and back by ball bounce), you then can “find the slot”. So you don’t just pull from that position on your picture, but transition to “buttcap forward“ with initial uncoil, and then strike the ball.

So — prepare earlier, initiate the uncoil earlier, get to full uncoil right about when you are going to strike the ball. Only “wrist it” right into the ball, on top of the full powerful swing. Not instead of the swing.

 

[tennisobsessioned]

Well I can find Tiafoe pictures for you, but it is less “typical” for good technique, I agree.

Bach to coil and uncoil. Your current rhythm of the swing is very short. You do more of a racquet flip than full swing. Hence you lack the “alignment” phase, like here:

If you coil more and earlier (full coil, elbow and racquet high and back by ball bounce), you then can “find the slot”. So you don’t just pull from that position on your picture, but transition to “buttcap forward“ with initial uncoil, and then strike the ball.

So — prepare earlier, initiate the uncoil earlier, get to full uncoil right about when you are going to strike the ball. Only “wrist it” right into the ball, on top of the full powerful swing. Not instead of the swing.

do you have any thoughts on this other wall hit from the other day? its much different technique than my match play and i felt more relaxed hitting with more freedom in power. what was i doing right that i wasn't in the other video and what should i keep in mind when im playing a match to keep better technique?

 

[Dragy]

do you have any thoughts on this other wall hit from the other day? its much different technique than my match play and i felt more relaxed hitting with more freedom in power. what was i doing right that i wasn't in the other video and what should i keep in mind when im playing a match to keep better technique?

This looks like mimicking Federer, focusing on straight arm and wrist release to smack the ball.

It’s valuable as part of development, but it’s not a good reliable final stroke to use in match. It will be much better if proper “Windshield wiper” is added (what you actually do better in match video), and overall better use of body, coil-uncoil. Less focus on power by the arm. Power comes from uncoiling and clean delivery.

I guess, as one possible explanation, what you think is “better” and what you do on the wall is just not consistent to bring it to much. And again, is unlikely to be. So when it’s live ball, you intuitively adjust. And while it’s not perfect, to my eye, it’s better than the wall smacking in the other video. More real, better technique.

I would enhance the former (what you show in match) rather than try to use the latter (wall smacking). Its advice tailored to you, not everyone is in same place.

 

[tennisobsessioned]

This looks like mimicking Federer, focusing on straight arm and wrist release to smack the ball.

It’s valuable as part of development, but it’s not a good reliable final stroke to use in match. It will be much better if proper “Windshield wiper” is added (what you actually do better in match video), and overall better use of body, coil-uncoil. Less focus on power by the arm. Power comes from uncoiling and clean delivery.

I guess, as one possible explanation, what you think is “better” and what you do on the wall is just not consistent to bring it to much. And again, is unlikely to be. So when it’s live ball, you intuitively adjust. And while it’s not perfect, to my eye, it’s better than the wall smacking in the other video. More real, better technique.

I would enhance the former (what you show in match) rather than try to use the latter (wall smacking). Its advice tailored to you, not everyone is in same place.

so just to summarize i guess, would you say that focusing on turning my torso when i have a forehand during points will help me more?

 

[Dragy]

so just to summarize i guess, would you say that focusing on turning my torso when i have a forehand during points will help me more?

I would start with having earlier and fuller prep by bounce and accomodating full uncoil by the time you strike at the ball. Then see how it works and looks. I think your hand action around contact is decent in match video, and to add more juice and more "looks" you can work with the body and swing rhythm rather than anything else.

Spacing and timing is also always a thing to consider, though, so watch out if you get late or crumped when trying things.

 

[tennisobsessioned]

I would start with having earlier and fuller prep by bounce and accomodating full uncoil by the time you strike at the ball. Then see how it works and looks. I think your hand action around contact is decent in match video, and to add more juice and more "looks" you can work with the body and swing rhythm rather than anything else.

Spacing and timing is also always a thing to consider, though, so watch out if you get late or crumped when trying things.

yes, spacing is really difficult for me sometimes and it stops me from feeling comfortable to keep a rally deep with spin. is there any way to reinforce it so it can happen almost subconsciously?

 

[Dragy]

yes, spacing is really difficult for me sometimes and it stops me from feeling comfortable to keep a rally deep with spin. is there any way to reinforce it so it can happen almost subconsciously?

Well there're drills, but nothing beats mindful practice. I would emphasize:
- Split-step and early rush for position, then calm downto load
- Get around the ball more, better to move towards the ball while hitting than to get jammed
- Extend off-arm along the baseline early, as the ball bounces, and mindfully have the contact point around or past fingertips, not closer; can do some catching drills with the off-arm, where you need to reach for the ball with straight off-arm

Also, not many promote it, but facing fast and deep balls it's good to actually get more open stance and shift away from the ball (not fall back though) while uncoiling: still full uncoil, drive the right shoulder forward before hitting the ball, but clear away the left shoulder.

 

[TennisCJC]

I do think you are a bit too wristy but the cause may be you lack of core rotation. Draggy pointed this out in his first post. It looks like you don't get much from the hip rotation so you compensate by releasing the wrist at contact. I would concentrate on 2 things: 1. turn to the side and load weight on to you back (R) foot and 2. rotate off the back foot in to contact - get the sensation of the back R hip driving the shoulders and arm into and through contact. It feels like the back R hip is driving through the ball. You could also work on hitting through the ball with a static wrist. Don't let the wrist angle change until after you reach full extension. Your wrist drops into the slot position when you start to pull forward nicely but try keeping that position unchanged until after contact.

 

[10sbeast888]

as said above, not enough rotation.

imagine - you hit the ball with the hips, and let the arm/hand follow.

your wrist aciton seems ok per se.