Heavier racket wrist problems

[Rafaboy]

Can you guys help me out? Im a 5.0+ player. Why does it seem that whenever i switch to a heavier racket, (strung weight) my wrist starts to hurt? shouldnt a heavier racket actually absorb more of the shock at impact, and give a less effortless
drive thru? am i using too much wrist in the off-hits?

My Pure Drive and APD never gives me any problems, but when i switch to my Wilsons,
6.1-90, or my Steam 99s, my wrist hurts big time the next day and for days to come. Its not due to any difference in string tension, and I love the wilsons, so i dont wanna dump them. but i just dont get it. thanks guys.

 

[isilra]

A heavier racquet protects your elbow, not your wrist. I don't know how you hit the ball but maybe you are using a lot of wrist ulnar deviation instead of elbow pronation in your shots, it's possible that you can hurt your wrist if you do so.

 

[corners]

Can you guys help me out? Im a 5.0+ player. Why does it seem that whenever i switch to a heavier racket, (strung weight) my wrist starts to hurt? shouldnt a heavier racket actually absorb more of the shock at impact, and give a less effortless
drive thru? am i using too much wrist in the off-hits?

My Pure Drive and APD never gives me any problems, but when i switch to my Wilsons,
6.1-90, or my Steam 99s, my wrist hurts big time the next day and for days to come. Its not due to any difference in string tension, and I love the wilsons, so i dont wanna dump them. but i just dont get it. thanks guys.

The heavier racquet will do a better job of protecting your wrist from impact shock. But the heavier racquet will also put more stress on your wrist during your swing. As Isilra wrote, there might be something about one of your strokes that predisposes your wrist to injury when you swing a heavy racquet. In that case, you should probably figure out what that technique fault is, because if a heavy racquet is causing irritation it seems likely that even a light racquet will eventually cause injury down the road. Just my two cents, though.

 

[ART ART]

Maybe your grip is too small, and that makes you use more your wrist. With a larger grip you can relax your hand during strokes, and your racket won't fall.

 

[BlueB]

I ruined my wrist completely as a youngster, playing with heavy wooden racquets. I took me 20+ years to come back to tennis.
I seem to be happiest with 11oz to 12oz racquets, nowadays. Over 12oz it starts to hurt. Funny enough, my elbow and shoulder are of the same "oppinion"! Elbow doesn't like under 11oz nor over 12oz. Shoulder doesn't like over 12oz.

 

[Rafaboy]

Thanks so much, guys. I can see that it is a combination of all your suggestions, that is causing my wrist problems.

When i got the Steam 99s, I started to feel invincible. I could hit all my mnight and still land in. So I started to ignore proper form and hit with my wrist in any position. Combining the extra weight causing me to swing a little late often, and my wrist in an awkward position, and there you have it.

Strange thing is, when i demoed this racket, it felt fine.

 

[maxpotapov]

The heavier racquet will do a better job of protecting your wrist from impact shock. But the heavier racquet will also put more stress on your wrist during your swing. As Isilra wrote, there might be something about one of your strokes that predisposes your wrist to injury when you swing a heavy racquet. In that case, you should probably figure out what that technique fault is, because if a heavy racquet is causing irritation it seems likely that even a light racquet will eventually cause injury down the road. Just my two cents, though.

That's what I thought, heavy bat protects from impact shock but makes it harder on your muscles and joints to swing it.

I'm using my 360g/12.7 oz, 3 pt HL racquet just to fine tune my swing. And it takes a lot of experiment to balance the load between muscles and wrist/elbow/shoulder, so that nothing is pulled or strained as I try to maximize racquet head speed.
Heavy racquet gives you prompt feedback if something is wrong, even as you shadow swing. With lightweight racquet you don't even know what you're doing until it's too late for your elbow or wrist.

 

[ATP100]

Most of the time, players hold the racquet tighter than needed. This
causes wrist/elbow/shoulder problems.

 

[Relinquis]

try making your heavy racquet more headlight while maintaining the weight. move the lead more to the bottome half of the handle.
3pts headlight wouldn't be terribly maneuverable for a heavy stick.

 

[corners]

That's what I thought, heavy bat protects from impact shock but makes it harder on your muscles and joints to swing it.

I'm using my 360g/12.7 oz, 3 pt HL racquet just to fine tune my swing. And it takes a lot of experiment to balance the load between muscles and wrist/elbow/shoulder, so that nothing is pulled or strained as I try to maximize racquet head speed.
Heavy racquet gives you prompt feedback if something is wrong, even as you shadow swing. With lightweight racquet you don't even know what you're doing until it's too late for your elbow or wrist.

Yeah, that's a good point too. I agree that a heavy racquet can give you valuable feedback on how to swing with relaxed form with balanced participation from lots of different muscles from hand to foot, using the whole kinetic chain, and not overloading one particular joint.

It sounds like the OP started muscling the ball with a jerky swing. Be careful Rafaboy, but I wouldn't blame it all on the racquet. Take a step back with the 99S, maybe, play some minitennis and then slowly back up towards the baseline, focusing on relaxed, easy swings. You should be able to adjust to the higher swingweight of the 99S without hurting yourself. Sometimes telling yourself, "I can only swing at 50% effort!" can really help. You'll be surprised how good of a ball you can hit with only half effort and you might figure out what you're doing wrong by comparing the feel of hitting at half effort with what you've been doing.

Check out this vid of Justine Henin moving from half-court to full-court groundstroke practice. She was using a racquet weighted a little like the steam - lightweight but with a high 350 swingweight - but notice how smooth her swing is. She starts to speed up her swing near the end by bending her knees more, making her backswing a little bigger, and swinging faster, but not harder. Everything is still very compact and easy, she's just moving a little faster. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lb_yYgT-CL4

 

[ART ART]

Most of the time, players hold the racquet tighter than needed. This
causes wrist/elbow/shoulder problems.

100% correct!

This is the key!

 

[superdave3]

100% correct!

This is the key!

The above is quite true. If you are a 5.0 player, you probably have determined the proper grip size, but if the grip is just 1/8 too small or too large, it could give you problems (especially too small). Do you use extreme grips? The reason I ask is that players at my club who either have extreme grips or those that use just a continental for everything seem to be the ones with wrist problems. Most players I know use the standard eastern backhand grip (or continental on slice only), and an eastern or semi-western grip, and do not have problems. I use the eastern backhand and semi-western forehand, and normally keep my wrist straight on all shots except the serve and overhead, where pronation is important. I don't know your style of play, but if you hit more "wristy" shots you will be more prone to problems.

 

[mikeespinmusic]

Add some weight under the grip or inside the handle towards the butt, Not too much as it'll annoy you on serve.

 

[Rafaboy]

Thanks for all the advice, everybody. I ahve made the changes collectively, and I am startign to feel back to normal again. funny how, once you deviate from your style and timing, memory of the fundamentals seem to be lost for good.

So, i started all over and paid strict attention to form and tming. It was great! wrist feels pretty good after an hour hitting session, and smoothness in play was back again.

This is a great forum!

 

[tata]

With heavy racquets, a relaxed grip and loose arm pays big dividends. It's about getting the racquet head up to speed and let it do the work for you through the hitting zone...like you're holding a whip.

 

[Rafaboy]

With heavy racquets, a relaxed grip and loose arm pays big dividends. It's about getting the racquet head up to speed and let it do the work for you through the hitting zone...like you're holding a whip.

ok thanks! i have a tendancy to muscle everything, on off-feeling days.

 

[tata]

ok thanks! i have a tendancy to muscle everything, on off-feeling days.

Yea that can happen when you're just not feeling things right. Once your movement and footwork go down, you start to reach and arm the ball instead of getting there quick, prepare and swing.