Nadal's TopSpin Forehand & Injuries

[Pancho]

I am a huge fan of Nadal and have been immitating Nadal's topspin forehand with full western grip and been able to get tons lots of Topspin and pace and beating guys I have never beaten before in my Men's 5.5 league. However, I have been getting some wrist and elbow pain and have switched to semi-western grip. However, when I switched to semi-western, it created less topspin and I'm quite unhappy as guys can return my shots now. How do I create massive "Nadal" like topspin with a semi-western grip?

Also, I realized that guys that hit with massive topspin in my league tend to get injured more (incidently just like Nadal) that guys that hit flater shots. Conincidence?

Also, I realized that Bjorn Bjorn hits with a flater forehand in the senoir tour. Gone are his trademark topspin forehands that had won him all those grand slams. Is he going flater to prevent himself getting injured?

 

[The Gorilla]

I am a huge fan of Nadal and have been immitating Nadal's topspin forehand with full western grip and been able to get tons lots of Topspin and pace and beating guys I have never beaten before in my Men's 5.5 league. However, I have been getting some wrist and elbow pain and have switched to semi-western grip. However, when I switched to semi-western, it created less topspin and I'm quite unhappy as guys can return my shots now. How do I create massive "Nadal" like topspin with a semi-western grip?

Also, I realized that guys that hit with massive topspin in my league tend to get injured more (incidently just like Nadal) that guys that hit flater shots. Conincidence?

Also, I realized that Bjorn Bjorn hits with a flater forehand in the senoir tour. Gone are his trademark topspin forehands that had won him all those grand slams. Is he going flater to prevent himself getting injured?

he's going flatter because he needs to hit winners now, he's not the iron man he once was, he can't gring his opponents into the dust.

 

[Amone]

Pancho-- There are two ways of fixing your wrist problem [that I know of], depending on the cause of it. The elbow pain is something I know nothing about.

Your wrist pain could be due to the sheer demand of the Western grip on your wrist. The only cure I know of is to stop using it, which you have said is bad. And it is, it's always bad to have your winning strategies prevented by your body. There are more knowledgeable people out there than me who can help there, maybe. The other cause I know is, for lack of a better phrase, weak wrists. I spend a little too much time on the computer, I suppose, so for a good while I had a mild case of carpel tunnel... tennis strengthened my right hand decently, but only since last summer or so, have my wrists stopped having problems on hard returns. So if that's it (it doesn't sound like that's your problem) then strengthening your forearms and wrists will fix that, theoretically.

 

[gb.tennis.junky]

I am a huge fan of Nadal and have been immitating Nadal's topspin forehand with full western grip and been able to get tons lots of Topspin and pace and beating guys I have never beaten before in my Men's 5.5 league. However, I have been getting some wrist and elbow pain and have switched to semi-western grip. However, when I switched to semi-western, it created less topspin and I'm quite unhappy as guys can return my shots now. How do I create massive "Nadal" like topspin with a semi-western grip?

Also, I realized that guys that hit with massive topspin in my league tend to get injured more (incidently just like Nadal) that guys that hit flater shots. Conincidence?

Also, I realized that Bjorn Bjorn hits with a flater forehand in the senoir tour. Gone are his trademark topspin forehands that had won him all those grand slams. Is he going flater to prevent himself getting injured?

geez. i hope you just emulated the extreme western grip and aren't trying to emulate his 'helicopter forehand". haha

well, what can i say?
there are things you can lemulate from pros and others you don't want to emulate.
that's the case for grips.
a grip is very personal, it's what you feel comfortable hitting with and what's most suited to your morphology and physionamy.
nadal uses an extreme western grip, which he's been using ever since his childhood probably, so that's what he feels comfortable with. plus his body had all the time to adapt to such a grip.
whereas, you don't. you may think you feel comfortable with but you're probably not.

 

[Bagumbawalla]

I saw a slo-mo of Nadal's forehand making contact with the ball. You could see the muscles quaking as if a shockwave just hit them.

When you have so much power swinging abruptly up at the angle required for a massive western topspin-- unless you center the ball, or have massive arms/wrists, you will be constantly torquing your wrists.

Even if you change your grip-- in order to create the same spin, you need to hit at the same angle and speed- and the chances of off-center hits are the same.

My sugestion is to hit with a flatter shot most of the time, as your normal stroke, then when you need/want that extra topspin/pace go for the western style shot.

Though, normally I wouldn't recommend changing back and forth between grips during a match, it can be done. At any rate, it would be better than tearing up you arm.

B

 

[Ten_is]

I mentioned earlier last year that Nadal plays too stiff and he will get injured. Not Fed.

I was right.

 

[Ten_is]

sorry to stay off topic here.

I would say focus on your takeback and proper foot and shoulder setup to hit harder.
Your opposite foot of your racket on your forehand must be a little further foreward and step into the shot more. You don't need a HUGE topspin to beat your opponent to the pulp.

You need to figure out how to take time away from your opponent and focus on hitting clean shots to different angles. Think angles here. Otherwise you will not become a better player. Especially one that hits as hard as he can with as much topspin just to try to hit winners. That's not really tennis in my opinion. That's 90% of the older guys who just love to hit hard baseliners who think they're amazing.

Best of luck!

 

[The Gorilla]

Pancho-- There are two ways of fixing your wrist problem [that I know of], depending on the cause of it. The elbow pain is something I know nothing about.

Your wrist pain could be due to the sheer demand of the Western grip on your wrist. The only cure I know of is to stop using it, which you have said is bad. And it is, it's always bad to have your winning strategies prevented by your body. There are more knowledgeable people out there than me who can help there, maybe. The other cause I know is, for lack of a better phrase, weak wrists. I spend a little too much time on the computer, I suppose, so for a good while I had a mild case of carpel tunnel... tennis strengthened my right hand decently, but only since last summer or so, have my wrists stopped having problems on hard returns. So if that's it (it doesn't sound like that's your problem) then strengthening your forearms and wrists will fix that, theoretically.

how did you cure yourself of carpel tunnel?

 

[Amone]

how did you cure yourself of carpel tunnel?

If I said cure, I apologize. I'm not sure cure is the right word. Basically, I just stretch my wrist a lot (once or twice an hour in passing) and do different things that ended up strengthening my wrist.. as a result, it doesn't hurt much any more (if at all, I don't remember the last time I felt like my wrist was really hurting...) and that's good enough for me.

 

[The Gorilla]

If I said cure, I apologize. I'm not sure cure is the right word. Basically, I just stretch my wrist a lot (once or twice an hour in passing) and do different things that ended up strengthening my wrist.. as a result, it doesn't hurt much any more (if at all, I don't remember the last time I felt like my wrist was really hurting...) and that's good enough for me.

thx, I'm pretty much in the same boat, too much time on my computer, stretch my arm quite a lot etc..

 

[BlankenshipBabaganoosh]

people who like nadal obviously know little about the games heritage

 

[Amone]

I apologize, Blanken, but I had to call this one. People who like Ichiya Kumagae obviously don't know anything about tennis' heritage either... (note: 1920s player similar to Nadal)

 

[tlm]

Hey pancho, i hit this way also western grip+ big topspin.It can be hard on the arm, you need to have good forearm+ wrist strength.I would suggest forearm workouts+wrist excersizes, increase your strength + let it rip.

 

[Pancho]

Hey pancho, i hit this way also western grip+ big topspin.It can be hard on the arm, you need to have good forearm+ wrist strength.I would suggest forearm workouts+wrist excersizes, increase your strength + let it rip.

OK. I will do forearm and wrist exercises in order to get rid of the aches. Yes, I am using the same extreme western grip a la Nadal. When I use semi-western, I lose the edge, the balls just doesn't have enough topspin.

I see why Bjorn has not use his trademark topspin forehand in the senior tour and just hits flater. I understand why Nadal has way more injuries than Federer. Some ATP Players today have figured out how to tackle Nadal's massive topspin forehand.

 

[NamRanger]

OK. I will do forearm and wrist exercises in order to get rid of the aches. Yes, I am using the same extreme western grip a la Nadal. When I use semi-western, I lose the edge, the balls just doesn't have enough topspin.

I see why Bjorn has not use his trademark topspin forehand in the senior tour and just hits flater. I understand why Nadal has way more injuries than Federer. Some ATP Players today have figured out how to tackle Nadal's massive topspin forehand.

People watch Nadal, and see you doing that forehand. They will then realize that all they have to do is hit flat to your forehand and deep and you will be able to do nothing because of your extreme grip. I suggest you get rid of it, it's a worthless forehand now except on clay (which if you play on, that's fine, but if not). It also causes plenty of injury because of the straight arm, and abrupt swipe upwards.

 

[tlm]

I do not think that the western grip forehand is useless,I know a lot of my opponents would agree.Just because you use a western grip does not mean you have to hit with a straight arm.

I play 6 days a week+ hit this forehand all the time with no injury issues, also hitting flat to my forehand gives me no problems.

 

[Pancho]

I do not think that the western grip forehand is useless,I know a lot of my opponents would agree.Just because you use a western grip does not mean you have to hit with a straight arm.

I play 6 days a week+ hit this forehand all the time with no injury issues, also hitting flat to my forehand gives me no problems.

Yes, western grip/Topspin forehands are huge weapons on the ATP tour these days unless you're Fabrice Santoro (Slice forehand) or Blake (Flat forehand). I really admire Nadal's massive topspin because you can hit as hard as you can and it stays in the court and clears the net so safely - a high margin of error. If anyone can hit like Nadal's forehand topspin, you can really give your opponents trouble.

 

[fx101]

Probably the biggest reason people get wrist injuries with a western grip is because they don't know how to hit with it properly. Usually they try using wrist wrap (torquing the wrist) at contact to generate spin. This is wrong. Your wrist should be laid back. The majority of the spin comes from the windshield wiper or over the head (Nadal's swingpath) motion generated by your forearm, not your wrist. Unlike every other tennis grip a stiff wrist is what you need here, and it is the reason Nadal doesn't end up with carpal tunnel. But seriously. Don't switch to western if you're fine with your grip. If you naturally developed it then that's o.k. because your body has adapted to it and probably your wrist has developed that angled stiffness nescessary. If not, you will probably just end up hurting yourself.

 

[Bagumbawalla]

I hate to even mention "what Federer does" because most people can't do what he does (at least, not so well), but he normally hits with an eastern-style forehand, however, under certain conditions and for certain shots, he rolls his grip back into a western position to gain the advantage of the extra topspin.

Last weekend, I practiced doing the same thing (changing grips for different shots), with mixed results. For me switching between an eastern and semi-western worked out better than going to the full western, but was not really worth the extra motion/thought involved-- I think I will stick to the eastern as my only grip and generate topspin by changing the angle of attack on the ball, the way I normally do.

But for those of you who are not as old, and set in their ways as I am, the grip-changing may work for you.

B

 

[metsjets]

i love hitting against you topspin guys. a little bit of judgment, and the ball pops right into my strike zone

injuries=you're doing something wrong.