Does Gasquet's wrist ever change?
- Thread starter Rickson
- Start date
Rickson
G.O.A.T.
Federer has a slight bend on his forward swing, but it can be considered relatively straight or almost straight, just like the wrist can be considered neutral. If you want to knitpick, Roger definitely has a bend in his arm.
Roger's backhand
Roger's backhand
Going on the forward swing with a slightly bent arm can lead to some issues with the elbow though. A bent elbow usually means you lead with the elbow, which causes extreme stress on the tendons in that area, which usually results in what we like to call, tennis elbow. Bad.
Better to just bite the bullet and go a fully straight arm. Less chance for injury (in my own opinion at least).
Strangely enough my elbow actually feels worse after an hour of hitting backhands with an absolutely straight (locked) arm vs. not "locking" it absolutely straight. I think with it locked perfectly straight more stress is transmitted to the elbow because that's the only place it can go.
JohnYandell
Hall of Fame
If you look at video of a few hundred one-handed backhands frame by frame, you'll see that all the players straighten out the elbow early in the forward swing.
You can't look at a piece of moving video and see this. One thing to note is that if you "straighten" out your own arm--ie, fully extend the elbow--the shape of the arm is often still slightly curved. That's the case with Roger.
The arm and racket swing like a one piece gate from the front shoulder.
One of the few players who had trouble getting his arm straight early was Sampras. I have quite a bit of video showing that his errors on that side are related to this tendency. When he was late getting his arm straight, there are a far higher percentage of errors.
There are many different shapes and heights to the backswings--the elbow more or less bent, the racket tip pointing higher or lower, the hand higher or lower. But as the hand drops and the racket starts forward the straight hitting arm (accounting for the curve mentioned above) is a commonality.
In the modern game you now see an increasing number of wiper finishes on the one-handed backhand. When the players increase their hand and arm rotation, the entire hitting structure rotates as a unit. Sometimes in these more extreme finishes, you see some forward flex of the wrist--probably a passive consequence of the extra torque.
The Gasquet clip at the front of this thread is pretty blurry but that appears to be what is happening there.
We have to be careful though with generalizations based on one video clip. If you look at a player over the full range of shots and court positions and spins, then you have a better basis for a general understanding.
You can't look at a piece of moving video and see this. One thing to note is that if you "straighten" out your own arm--ie, fully extend the elbow--the shape of the arm is often still slightly curved. That's the case with Roger.
The arm and racket swing like a one piece gate from the front shoulder.
One of the few players who had trouble getting his arm straight early was Sampras. I have quite a bit of video showing that his errors on that side are related to this tendency. When he was late getting his arm straight, there are a far higher percentage of errors.
There are many different shapes and heights to the backswings--the elbow more or less bent, the racket tip pointing higher or lower, the hand higher or lower. But as the hand drops and the racket starts forward the straight hitting arm (accounting for the curve mentioned above) is a commonality.
In the modern game you now see an increasing number of wiper finishes on the one-handed backhand. When the players increase their hand and arm rotation, the entire hitting structure rotates as a unit. Sometimes in these more extreme finishes, you see some forward flex of the wrist--probably a passive consequence of the extra torque.
The Gasquet clip at the front of this thread is pretty blurry but that appears to be what is happening there.
We have to be careful though with generalizations based on one video clip. If you look at a player over the full range of shots and court positions and spins, then you have a better basis for a general understanding.
Last edited:
drakulie
Talk Tennis Guru
I now see what you are saying. My eyes have seen the truth!!!At contact, his arm is bent like a pretzel, and his wrist is so hyper-extended, his bones are stickiing out of the skin.
Thanks! Can't believe I hadn't noticed before.
You may need to take a break from this thread. His wrist is obviously flexed on the takeback. Would bent be a better word?
I think for the most part it's a personal thing. However, there are some guidelines IMO. At contact any change from neutral will introduce another angle of leverage at contact potential leading to inconsistency. Also, in the neutral position you have both sets of muscles on the arm counterbalancing the wrist joint, and I would guess this is a greater position of strength than having the wrist flexed at contact. There is also the question of what happens during supination on the 1HBH. It would seem to me that a bend in the wrist could cause additional problems with the racquet face angle at contact if you are supinating versus a neutral position.
If you mean adjust the racquet face with your wrist position, I would argue that it's not necessary for a topspin backhand. If you adjust anything about the stroke, I would say it would be the takeback and swing. At contact I think you always want a stable wrist and you're better off short swinging and blocking the ball where you can maintain some control of depth and direction, and even spin in many cases.
For me, when I want to rip a backhand, or place a backhand, or hit a ton of topspin on my backhand, I never think about the wrist. I suspect that Gasquet has a fairly neutral wrist position at contact and his wrist is bent on his takeback simply because of the way he likes to pull the racquet back and high with his other hand. That other hand is probably the reason his wrist takes such a bend, not because he's bending it.
Ultra2HolyGrail
Hall of Fame
Thanks for your wonderful analysis. Maybe you should get not only your wrist wired up so you can't bend them but also your arm and elbow so they are perfectly straight with no bend. I'm sure you would play amazing tennis eliminating all those flaws.
drakulie
Talk Tennis Guru
Actually, if you comprehend what you read>> based on your analysis, I will be doing the opposite,,,,,,,>>>> Have my bones ripped away from my elbow, and wrist so I could really bend them in any direction I need.
Ultra2HolyGrail
Hall of Fame
Agreed. On my two hander i think my left arm is perfectly straight at contact. This could be a reason why two handers get TE in their non dominate hand.
No, most 2HBH players actually get TE because their tendons are weak in their left arm. Even with perfect technique, you still put stress on the elbow. Most people have done very little work with their non-dominant arm, thus why they have lots of injuries when they use a 2HBH.
drakulie
Talk Tennis Guru
Actually, he gets tennis elbow on his left arm because on his stroke>> he supinates the left arm, while pronating the right one. (he really likes to bend his arms to get as much power and control as he can)
Ultra2HolyGrail
Hall of Fame
Ultra2HolyGrail
Hall of Fame
I've looked at nalbandians backhand and it does not seem his non dominate hand is fully extended. But that's one clip, and i agree with the other poster that said not all shots will look the same. :roll:
Ultra2HolyGrail
Hall of Fame
^^Your arms look like toothpicks 
Ultra2HolyGrail
Hall of Fame
^^^^^^^^^^
Djokovicfan4life
Legend
Well, last time I checked, what a player does before contact affects what they do at contact.
So it's a directional thing then. Who decides which direction is flexed and which is extended. Is this something I would need a college course on kinesiology or medicine to know? I'm surprised at how much one can learn in the TW forums. ;-)
Rickson
G.O.A.T.
Don't be lame and take it out of context, you know exactly what I mean. The arm can bend as long as it's straight when it comes in contact with the ball.
Nice site.
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