user92626
G.O.A.T.
I approve!
Embracing WTA forehand
- Thread starter Curious
- Start date
user92626
G.O.A.T.
That's why these guys have a short career.
That’s a nice one there and is enough extension, but I think it was an outlier for you.
Curious
G.O.A.T.
I can't claim that I extend fully on all forehands, due to inconsistent distancing from the ball and variations in contact points. I'm an adult learner in the end.
Dragy
Legend
What if you compare their upper arm and elbow and disregard the forearm and elbow bend?
Btw Fedal are gone and joined Connors and McEnroe, Alcaraz is the new king of straight armers!
Curious
G.O.A.T.
Exactly what I came up with 5 min ago! Proper extension is the extension of upper arm and elbow pointing towards the net. If it crosses towards the torso before going up and forward like that, it's not good extension.
Btw why is this extension thing so important? Because it shows that you had a full, unrestricted throw of your arm and racket at the ball.
There isn't a proper or ideal, it's whatever comes naturally to the player. Some people have straight arm w/ lots of extension others bent arm with left. Doesn't matter (but I think you know this
)
Curious
G.O.A.T.
Do you believe that there are some fundamentals and also trivial stuff? And what category is this in?There isn't a proper or ideal, it's whatever comes naturally to the player. Some people have straight arm w/ lots of extension others bent arm with left. Doesn't matter (but I think you know this
Of course there are fundamentals! Arm extension is not one of them IMO.
ballmachineguy
Hall of Fame
You are doing the wrong thing with the arm, if you are trying to get a certain amount of extension.
user92626
G.O.A.T.
I don’t think (and did not mean to suggest) that extension has anything to do with straight vs bent arm. It’s about how far forward does the arm/racket travel vs crossing the body too early. And we’re talking baseline hitting, not short spinny angle shots or ones that have to quickly get up and down over net.
Dragy
Legend
3.5 level is brilliant because you have infinite variety of styles and ways to play. Higher up it gets tighter and tighter.
Curious
G.O.A.T.
This is a great definition.
zill
Legend
Everything is sorted if you just aim to hit and extend FORWARD. The rotation of the body before and after contact takes care of the 'crossing the body' part, naturally.
Curious
G.O.A.T.
Don’t you think everyone already intends to do that yet their arm collapses into their torso far too often?
I think the reason is the wrong contact point. If it’s not far enough laterally and frontally the arm hugs the torso too soon.
zill
Legend
My fh is 7 steps as you know. 4 of those steps is about the forward swing up to, including and after contact so yes it is a complicated issue I guess.
Curious
G.O.A.T.
What are those 4 again? Mine is 1 step with 2 components only.
zill
Legend
What are those 4 again? Mine is 1 step with 2 components only.
1. Swing forward
2. Snap
3. Snap extension
4. Swing extension
The money is all in the snap and snap extension because it's just prior to and after contact with the ball. There is one and only one way to do it properly. Most don't know how to do it properly and even think there is no such thing.
Curious
G.O.A.T.
Forward swing is one of the steps in forward swing!
zill
Legend
Forward swing is one of the steps in forward swing!
yep that is the first puzzle you have to figure out. There is no 'swing' in the snap.
Curious
G.O.A.T.
This is very interesting. I believe you know how to do it but explain it differently than I do. And I know how to do it, too.
zill
Legend
If you did you wouldn't be asking all the questions about the forward swing here and looking at how pros do it.
Curious
G.O.A.T.
I know it now.
The arm collapse is only possible when the FH is accelerated incorrectly. No need to worry about arm anything when the FH is unloaded correctly with lag and acceleration.
Curious
G.O.A.T.
The swing path doesn’t matter?
zill
Legend
Curious
G.O.A.T.
There’s nothing better than video evidence.
zill
Legend
ok lets see it.
You mean, like, how to high?
Disagree. If jammed for space especially horizontal space then racket arm and off arm will both collapse. Racket arm won’t be able to extend and off arm won’t be able to remain up. Just try my simple experiment mentioned above without a racket in your hand.
Curious
G.O.A.T.
Low to high, away and forward.
I'm assuming we're talking about a 'normal' topspin forehand - defensive shots, jams etc. and their associated racquet creativity are different animals.
user92626
G.O.A.T.
How many ways or directions can we accelerate the FH?
Curious
G.O.A.T.
I guess it’s about hitting through the ball with penetration vs swiping across it thinly. The latter happens all the time in rec tennis. When you watch pos even during warm up their balls shoot forward with seemingly very little swing effort.
user92626
G.O.A.T.
To me, how much penetration or swiping is dictated by player's intent on topspin. Not really about EXTENSION.
Djokovic can extend well and swipe hard at the ball like how he handles a short ball.
My confusion is ..where exactly do we extend our swing if it's not already toward our placement target?
Like, we already have a target to send the ball to, we're gonna swing the ball toward it. What other extension are you guys referring to?
Curious
G.O.A.T.
zill
Legend
Curious
G.O.A.T.
Yes it is. There’s one more element that i purposely didn’t mention not to cause confusion but I’m sure those who know how to swing a forehand would figure out what it is.
zill
Legend
Yes it is. There’s one more element that i purposely didn’t mention not to cause confusion but I’m sure those who know how to swing a forehand would figure out what it is.
Go on show it.
Curious
G.O.A.T.
Internal shoulder rotation.
That’s why I said one step, two elements. As a whole arm swings forward. Elements: shoulder flexion + ISR.
zill
Legend
Do a vid for the ISR for people who are not familiar with this terminology.
Curious
G.O.A.T.
The arm swings forward and rotates inward at the same time. That’s about it.
user92626
G.O.A.T.
When you cross your arm into your body, shouldn't you TURN the body along? Turn it to the left side as not to crush the bicep or chest muscle.
