Does Wrist Snap after contact on Serve?

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Does Wrist snap after contact on Serve?


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mucat

Hall of Fame
Are there a couple slow motion videos of Pro players (one of them Federer) showing there are Zero wrist snaps!! There are wrist release after contact, but that's just what we all naturally do. We have to firm up the wrist right before and at contact, once the ball was hit, the player can relax, hence the wrist release and follow through.
 
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dking

Guest
I think that we all tend to make a "snap judgment" to the word snap. I agree with Drakulie that the wrist is relaxed and then it "straightens" into contact fluidly, but it is done with a smooth pronation (roll) and not a wrist snap. I think there is very supple wrist action but to call it a wrist "snap" is too forceful and misleading.

There are two fundamental roll actions on the serve; one in the shoulder and one in the hand/forearm. The hand/forearm roll is the smaller, faster action but the shoulder roll is the larger more powerful roll. Both of these rolls must be coordinated with each other to link into a straigtening and thrust through contact, much like any stroke. When you refer to the wrsit action as a snap people tend to overemphasize this action and then it breaks out of sync with the shoulder, causing the arm and body to pull down too quicly. The forearm/hand roll should be contained within the shoudler roll and never disrupt the flow and rhythm of the shoulder roll.
 

drakulie

Talk Tennis Guru
Are there a couple slow motion videos of Pro players (one of them Federer) showing there are Zero wrist snaps!! There are wrist release after contact, but that's just what we all naturally do. We have to firm up the wrist right before and at contact, once the ball was hit, the player can relax, hence the wrist release and follow through.

This is footage of the greatest server of all time--Pete Sampras. No wrist snap, it is all pronation. You could use the cursor to the left of the video to slow it down. Be patient, the site is slow:

http://www.dono.com.cn/tujie/sampras01.htm

http://www.dono.com.cn/tujie/sampras02.htm

Here is a sie-by-side breakdown/analysis of Sampras and Krajicek:

http://www.cwtennis.com/virtual/theserve.html
 

mucat

Hall of Fame
This is footage of the greatest server of all time--Pete Sampras. No wrist snap, it is all pronation. You could use the cursor to the left of the video to slow it down. Be patient, the site is slow:

http://www.dono.com.cn/tujie/sampras01.htm

http://www.dono.com.cn/tujie/sampras02.htm

Here is a sie-by-side breakdown/analysis of Sampras and Krajicek:

http://www.cwtennis.com/virtual/theserve.html

Thanks, I downloaded all those videos a while ago. I agree, it is pronation, rotating the forearm, NOT wrist snap. It is both bad and funny 44% think there is wrist snap.
 

drakulie

Talk Tennis Guru
mucat, I agree with you. It is just too bad people get bad infomation in the "Tips" section, whereas if they didn;t they woudl probably see great improvement in their game.
 

paulfreda

Hall of Fame
Does snapping the pronation move NOT count as a wrist snap ?

The wrist is part of/attached to the forearm.
I doubt any serious player suggests a snap which involves folding the wrist palm to inner wrist. That would clearly create tremendous inconsistency.
But a conscious rapid acceleration of the pronation motion something like what Roddick does seems to me to be a snap.
 

Amone

Hall of Fame
Does snapping the pronation move NOT count as a wrist snap ?

The wrist is part of/attached to the forearm.
I doubt any serious player suggests a snap which involves folding the wrist palm to inner wrist. That would clearly create tremendous inconsistency.
But a conscious rapid acceleration of the pronation motion something like what Roddick does seems to me to be a snap.

It's not a snap, in the case of pronation. It's a roll. I learned to pronate without any wrist movement at all, when I used a bow for the first (and last) time. See, if you don't pronate your forearm, the string'll mess it up. At least, that's what I was told, though I gave you some shorthand that was explained by showing, not with the word "pronation." Here's how! You grab your wrist, hold it steady, and then try to turn your elbow, so that the inside is pointing to the side instead of up.
 

Punisha

Professional
yes there is snap other wise your serves would suck and look like a ****** doing an overhead flail with a bat... if u can imagine a motion like a windmill



proof lies in youtube...

http://youtube.com/watch?v=hnfAxF5a8aE
not the best vid but you can see he brings his wrist close towards body after contact
 

drakulie

Talk Tennis Guru
yes there is snap other wise your serves would suck and look like a ****** doing an overhead flail with a bat

No, there is not a wrist snap. Go back to the beginning of this thread and look at all the video provided. NO SNAP-all pronation.


proof lies in youtube...

http://youtube.com/watch?v=hnfAxF5a8aE
not the best vid but you can see he brings his wrist close towards body after contact

First off, in this video you can't see what his wrist is doing immediately before, during, or immediately after contact. However, you could cleraly see his arm is rotating/pronating during the motion.
 
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