Does the wrist just stay relaxed on the forehand?

[Kylo Reed]

If you've looked for what the wrist does with any online tennis gurus, most of them say that the wrist should remain loose on the forehand. Then, on contact, your wrist should "snap" but only due to the passive prestretch (lag) you've created.

Is there anything I'm missing or is that pretty much all the hitting arm wrist does?

Also, what is a good way of measuring how relaxed the wrist should be? I have a pretty good idea of what too firm means (you won't get into the lag position). But I can't articulate the exact amount of tension you should have in the forehand in order the keep the racket stable and resist the force of gravity.

 

[watungga]

Wrist factor only matters during racquet takeback and it correlates with the tightness of your grip.
If the racquet lag is your primary objective, you must relax your grip, then <***your question**> here.

 

[TennisCJC]

your wrist never ever "snaps" anywhere in the forehand process. Grip the racket fairly loosely, as you transition from take back to forward movement, the wrist lays back (extends). keep it roughly at that same relative angle into and through contact. You may release it after contact.

 

[NuBas]

If you look at the arm, its not only the wrist but entire arm, should and elbow joint work in unison with the wrist. Every once in a while when you hit a swing shallowly at a ball then you might feel you are using your wrist but you strive to hit full strokes so no way can you rely only on your wrist. This is only talking about the arm, you are able to generate arm movement from unit turn, lower body etc.

I think one of the common mistakes is beginning players try to control the racquet and ball which they end up using their hand/wrist cause its what we do when we use a tool like a pen to write. The control instead comes from the coordination of your swing, like for example when you kick a soccer (futball) ball you don't only use your ankle to kick, you use all your leg including your butt muscles.

So when you kick a ball do you think about lagging your ankle or laying it back? No, it just happens naturally. Wrist is different but similar idea. Does this make any sense?

Ideally you wrist should be soft but it all depends on the shot, however it should never be tense. How your fingers grab the racquet determines your wrist softness, if you grip harder then the wrist will tense up a bit and if you relax your fingers then you wrist will also loosen.

 

[tennisbike]

First let go of the idea that there is only one way to hit a forehand. I merely suggest that you experiment.

Try this, hold the racket with 2, I actually can only hold with 3 fingers. Then the only thing your fingers can do is to control the angle of the racket. Then use the motion of the hand/arm to control the motion of the racket. You might be surprised that you can hit very good topspin without manipulating the racket head, when you get your timing and your arm/hand motion right. There is actually zero wrist action on the grip.

You probably won't be successful at first, but it is definitely doable. And when you get it, your forehand would have improved.

 

[5263]

If you've looked for what the wrist does with any online tennis gurus, most of them say that the wrist should remain loose on the forehand. Then, on contact, your wrist should "snap" but only due to the passive prestretch (lag) you've created.

Is there anything I'm missing or is that pretty much all the hitting arm wrist does?

Also, what is a good way of measuring how relaxed the wrist should be? I have a pretty good idea of what too firm means (you won't get into the lag position). But I can't articulate the exact amount of tension you should have in the forehand in order the keep the racket stable and resist the force of gravity.

The swing will cause a loose wrist to swing around too much,...so the work of the wrist at the basic level should be to restrict it from coming around too early or too far. When and how much the wrist is allowed to move is based on the type shot you are hitting.....also... Certain high level shots will use some radial diviation to enhance topspin.