How exactly are you hitting your forehands?

[phaaam]

Odd question, I know but bear with me. When just prior to contact, do you snap your wrist for topspin OR do you angle your racket so that the topspin would be generated naturally? I find that the latter produces more consistent topspin and more consistent forehands overall. It actually allows me to play with a semi-western and even a Western grip. When I used an Eastern grip, I had to do some pre-contact changes in my wrist (ie. the snap) to get the topspin or consciously angle the racket to get the spin. However, with the Semi the angle is already there from just holding the racket all I have to do is push the racket in front of me; no need for snapping. If you need clarification on what I'm asking here, let me know, I'm sure it's confusing trying to picture it and trying to analyze your own styles of play, but that's what this section's for! Thanks everyon! =)

 

[chaddles]

Firstly I am only a 3 to 3.5 player at best so I will be interested to hear what others have to say too.

I am using the eastern grip so when I want a deep top spinner, I hit up and forward through the ball as quick as I can, and simultaneously snap the wrist on contact and finish with the racquet over my left shoulder. I get good consistancy from the eastern, except when I go for the really big top spinner and I have to hit up a lot more, and I lose a lot of the pace and sometimes hit too forward and it goes deep.

Lately I have tried the semi-western and western in practice hits and am finding it very strange - I don't think that I am hitting it out far enough in front or something, and I tend to hit a lot into the net or mishit badly. So I am wondering if it is worth persisting with it or if I should just stick to the eastern - it seems to work well for the Fed..

 

[S H O W S T O P P E R !]

I find that even though the wrist is the main creator of topspin, you can create just as much spin by using your knees and a loop. Try using the sit and lift instead of snapping the wrist.

 

[chaddles]

Sorry if this is a stupid question, what do you mean by a loop?

I do use the knee bend and try to drive up through the ball, but as a match goes on and I tire, get lazy and forget to do it - then I start doing a lot of unforced errors.

 

[phaaam]

Yeah, that's what I've been doing, bending my knees and as the ball gets closer I rise up and swing my racket "through" the ball (with an angled racket) and hence creating spin and plenty of pace for chest high or below shots. I'm not exactly in a "sitting position" although ideally, if I had time I probably would go that far down and then actually jump up for that extra spin. It's really hard to describe.

However with my experience without doing wrist snapping, the Semi-Western grip is a lot more comfortable for this and the Eastern for flatter shots and returning low shots. So to summarize:

Eastern:
-good for returning lower shots
-less natural to do the "full-body" topspin

Semi-Western
-good for higher shots
-more natural for the full body topspin

Feel free to comment as I would like to hear more about the experiences and drawbacks; obviously wrist snapping might be easier and better for long matches but using your body to generate the spin might add more pace as well and not just the topspin (that probably just as high rpm as the wrist snap).

 

[coyfish]

At the 3.5 level you shoulnd't be worrying about "wrist snapping." The topspin will generate naturally with eastern grip if you just go from low to high with the proper contact point.

Sometimes in special situations I wrist snap for extra spin if the ball is very low and I can't get under it enough.

Im a 4.5 player and the only form of wrist "snap" i use is pointing the buttcap to the ball prior to contact. This is for power . . . not spin. It also happens naturally as you improve.

If you need extra snap on routine groundies to generate spin then your technique is off.

 

[NamRanger]

Wrist snap is more like a wrist release. It's a combination of a laid back wrist and the torque / force produced by the combination of leg/hip/chest/shoulder rotation.

 

[firstblud]

i don't think there should be a conscious snapping of the wrist

 

[NamRanger]

i don't think there should be a conscious snapping of the wrist

There is no conscious snapping of the wrist, of course. You do have to think "loose" in a sense though, because if you're too tight with your wrist, your ball is going nowhere.

 

[lenderbender]

yea your going to be throwing your timing off with a conscious wrist snap without having your fundamentals nailed i.e. your gonna mishit (imo)

 

[Power Player]

You do not need to snap your wrists on a forehand and it is not a main creator of topspin. That is not even true.

I make sure my shoulders are turned and my buttcap is pointed towards the ball/opponent/net (whatever you prefer). This locks in my wrist and I swing to contact withmy hips opening up in sync with the racquet face square at the net for contact. I then break my wrist after contact on the follow through. This happens naturally.

The topspin is generated from the low to high motion of the swing and completed with a windshield wiper finish.

 

[jiejenn]

my footwork + bend my knee or jump when the ball are taller than me + twist my hips + using my shoulder + my wrist = how I hit =)

 

[jiejenn]

by the way, back in the day I was using maybe (eastern) can't really remember since I have been using Western Grip ever since, after each tennis session my wrist always hurt so badly. But now I learned, if you are using eastern, if you want to generate spin, you want to use both your hips and your shoulder but don't put too much force on your wrist or else you will damage it.

Source: Personal experience. I am not going back to Eastern Grip!!! Never!!