Forehand wrist/arm "feeling"

[samalo0]

Hey guys,
I've been working on my forehand for a while, and although I've reached the point where I can hit it in consistently with low pace, I keep having the sneaking suspicion that I don't swing properly.

The reason I say this is that if you allow yourself to relax your arm and wrist, you can certainly hit much harder than if you tense to control your arm. But when I relax my arm, I lose my consistency.

I think the problem is in the laying back of the wrist.

My question is, when you swing forward, with what pressure do you lay your wrist back and grip your racquet as it comes around? Shortly after contact, your wrist "breaks", and loses the laid back position, unless you tense it and attempt a windshield type of motion.

I've been watching this video of Federer:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kmhvKafCYsk

And I do think his arm is very relaxed as it comes around; his wrist is laid back, but it does not look tensed, and it doesn't look like he is gripping the racquet in a death grip.

Thanks for any help; I would particularly like a desciption of the correct "feeling" you should have in your arm and wrist during the swing.

 

[fuzz nation]

It's probably not realistic as I see it to seek a completely relaxed arm and wrist, but a "gorilla grip" will create a lot of tension and kill a productive swing. With good body and shoulder rotation through the forehand stroke, the wrist doesn't have to break too much through contact because the arm sort of travels with it. A full forehand stroke often finishes with the elbow pointed in the general direction of the target (depending on your style) and that doesn't require excessive release in the wrist.

Grip pressure... mildly firm? How about no more than 3 on a scale of 1-5. What I think is important to avoid on the forehand is taking back the racquet only partially - this often forces your wrist to break open farther as you start to swing forward and can make for an unpredictable racquet path. Lay it back into a natural position from where you can essentially pull the handle up and forward around your body. Your wrist won't hinge so much as mildly roll over through contact - just don't actively try and roll your wrist. You don't need to.

The next time you're out practicing, take your mind off your arm and wrist by concentrating on initiating your swing through the forehand side with your weight transfer and turn. Instead of swinging with your arm, drive your swing through the ball by moving off your back foot.

 

[Bagumbawalla]

How do we know the elements of a good stroke?

Coaches, instructors, students watch the best players play and take carefull note of what happens during that players stroke in much the same way that a choreographer or musician witnesses a dance or hears a new melody and tries to record it for the future in their own notations.

Then they say something like a good stroke starts in this position with the wrist just like so, and then...

But that is not how the player, himself or herself, thinks of the stroke. They see it as one fluid, graceful, powerful motion- not as a series of wrist, elbow, arm positions and tensions.

So, I suggest that you forget (for now at least) about the inscrutable, atomic details of the groundstroke motion-- and just try to learn or immitate the full, broader motion. Practice in front of a mirror or picture window until it just looks and feels right compared to the pictures and videos.

Because, if you get that right, you don't even have to think about all those other things. They just fall into place by themselves.

 

[Jonny S&V]

How do we know the elements of a good stroke?

Coaches, instructors, students watch the best players play and take carefull note of what happens during that players stroke in much the same way that a choreographer or musician witnesses a dance or hears a new melody and tries to record it for the future in their own notations.

Then they say something like a good stroke starts in this position with the wrist just like so, and then...

But that is not how the player, himself or herself, thinks of the stroke. They see it as one fluid, graceful, powerful motion- not as a series of wrist, elbow, arm positions and tensions.

So, I suggest that you forget (for now at least) about the inscrutable, atomic details of the groundstroke motion-- and just try to learn or immitate the full, broader motion. Practice in front of a mirror or picture window until it just looks and feels right compared to the pictures and videos.

Because, if you get that right, you don't even have to think about all those other things. They just fall into place by themselves.

Hmm, Timothy Gallaway anyone?

Anyway, I would agree about the practicing in front of a mirror, especially during these winter months.

 

[phoenicks]

Grip pressure... mildly firm? How about no more than 3 on a scale of 1-5. What I think is important to avoid on the forehand is taking back the racquet only partially - this often forces your wrist to break open farther as you start to swing forward and can make for an unpredictable racquet path. Lay it back into a natural position from where you can essentially pull the handle up and forward around your body. Your wrist won't hinge so much as mildly roll over through contact - just don't actively try and roll your wrist. You don't need to.

Great insight there, I saw some of my fren did this when they try to shorten the swingpath, but without sound foundation, trying to shorten take back will sometimes lead to not breaking the wrist back after the swingback, which causes late contact and timing issue.

And I remember reading a Landsdorp articles that shortening takeback will even causes one to not swing through the ball properly and "brush up" the the ball too much. That said, I am not trying to say you should take a very long loopry take back, just long enough for you to swing through the ball properly and not have a late contact issue.

 

[Bungalo Bill]

Hey guys,
I've been working on my forehand for a while, and although I've reached the point where I can hit it in consistently with low pace, I keep having the sneaking suspicion that I don't swing properly.

The reason I say this is that if you allow yourself to relax your arm and wrist, you can certainly hit much harder than if you tense to control your arm. But when I relax my arm, I lose my consistency.

I think the problem is in the laying back of the wrist.

My question is, when you swing forward, with what pressure do you lay your wrist back and grip your racquet as it comes around? Shortly after contact, your wrist "breaks", and loses the laid back position, unless you tense it and attempt a windshield type of motion.

I've been watching this video of Federer:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kmhvKafCYsk

And I do think his arm is very relaxed as it comes around; his wrist is laid back, but it does not look tensed, and it doesn't look like he is gripping the racquet in a death grip.

Thanks for any help; I would particularly like a desciption of the correct "feeling" you should have in your arm and wrist during the swing.

Learn this and you will build your forehand: http://tt.tennis-warehouse.com/showpost.php?p=2468999&postcount=3