exercises for wrist strength?

[Nonentity]

i recently took up the 2 handed backhand, and it led to a sore left wrist, which is probably normal considering i never used my left hand for tennis before and i went to hitting the 2 handed backhand with high pace.

before i start playing with 2 handed backhand again, i want to make sure my wrist can handle it. What kinds of workouts should i do?

thanks in advance

 

[Xenakis]

These exercises that charlierfederer posted a few times include some wrist work..

http://www.asmi.org/SportsMed/media/thrower10.swf

Other than that, try some regular static stretches (warm up your arm first) and focus on your technique when playing, try and keep your wrists as loose/relaxed as possible, they should not be tense at all, so loose that if you relaxed any more the racquet would fly out of your hand.

Might be worth doing some drills against a wall or with a partner to get that set so you don't tense up during play (AFAIK the wrists are not be used as a form of muscle power during play, just a relaxed part of the 'kinetic chain')

I had a bad wrist when I got back into playing a few months ago (after years of not playing at all), so much so it would hurt when I hit a volley and especially on a mis-hit (made me want to drop the racquet it hurt so much).

I worked on relaxing my wrists and I wore a wrist brace for a while and it went away (after about a week or so)

Most of what I do in terms of stretching comes from stuff I learned for music, but from seeing a physio and reading books and stretching the same stuff applies so I still do the same stretches.

Try this youtube vid by a sax player who suffered from tendonitis, the stretches he shows you how to do should help you avoid wrist and tennis elbow issues (there are some more in his videos too.) These are 'static' stretches, try and warm up your arm a bit before doing them (jog on the spot, go for a walk or get a resistance band and try doing some light work with that first.)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MXwfabQdcck

Good luck.

 

[Ken Honecker]

I've a question about the next link in the 'kinetic chain'. Just what does your forearm do in tennis? I recall a thread talking about oldtimers having oversized forearms on their racquet arms but I've never noticed mine feeling like they are doing anything. Although it might be just because I'm a weight lifter with big arms.

 

[SystemicAnomaly]

Technically, the wrist is a joint (or a collections of joints) and contains no muscles of it own. So "muscular strength of the wrist" would actually be forearm strength. Various muscles of the forearm are responsible for all wrist articulations. For the most part, exercises for the forearm are what you are really after.

The wrist joint(s) consists of (carpal) bones. It also contains ligaments and some tendons and nerves run thru the wrist. Pain in the wrist can be an inflammation of those tendons, a ligament sprain, nerve damage or something else. For more about wrist pain, check out this page:

orthopedics.about.com/od/handwrist/a/wristpain.htm

.

 

[SystemicAnomaly]

I've a question about the next link in the 'kinetic chain'. Just what does your forearm do in tennis? I recall a thread talking about oldtimers having oversized forearms on their racquet arms but I've never noticed mine feeling like they are doing anything. Although it might be just because I'm a weight lifter with big arms.

The forearm is involved in pronation and supination of the hand/wrist. It is also responsible for wrist articulation (or various movements of the hand). The hand contains a few of its own muscles but much of the actions of the fingers, such as squeezing, are due to muscles in the forearm.

 

[Ken Honecker]

I realize all that but either I am not doing something I'm supposed to with my ground strokes or I'm just blessed with a strong forearm as it has never told me it was doing anything during a game.

As for pronation on the serve believe it or not but after having played off and on for close to 40 years I really don't think I am doing this much at all and it is something I've added to my list of things to do come Spring since freezing weather is predected this week.

 

[SystemicAnomaly]

^ Try wearing one of those elbow braces that ppl use for TE. If you adjust it so that it fits snugly, you should be able to feel some forearm muscles tighten when you squeeze the handle. If you don't have one of those straps, you can do it with your opposite hand. Wrap your thumb & first 2 fingers around the forearm, close to the elbow. When you pronate, supinate, or squeeze the finger, you should be able to feel some action going on in the muscles & tendons of the forearm. You should also be able to feel some muscle action for flexion and other articulations of the wrist/hand.

 

[coachdavidh]

At the U of Minnesota, we have had tremendous success with this forearm circuit:

(pdf file): Forearm Circuit for Tennis

It is easy for us to implement, and the kids enjoy it and have become quite a bit stronger.

 

[mike53]

At the U of Minnesota, we have had tremendous success with this forearm circuit:

(pdf file): Forearm Circuit for Tennis

It is easy for us to implement, and the kids enjoy it and have become quite a bit stronger.

Thanks Coach. Another great workout, excellent in its simplicity. Are we doing the specified two sets by performing the entire routine twice or by performing each exercise twice within the routine?

Thanks in advance, Mike

 

[coachdavidh]

Thanks Coach. Another great workout, excellent in its simplicity. Are we doing the specified two sets by performing the entire routine twice or by performing each exercise twice within the routine?

Thanks in advance, Mike

You can really do it either way, but we typically perform it like a circuit (i.e., all the way through once, then once more).