After 20 years off I played my first two tournaments recently. In my last match I shanked a lot of forehands because my racquet face was too closed. The more topspin I tried to hit the more I shanked. I'm converting a classic Eastern grip forehand to the semi-western grip modern forehand.
To remedy the shanking I sat down and watched FYB's 45 minute forehand video as well as the "progressiongs: swing to contact" video. Very disturbing for me. When I hit a forehand my palm never faces up; or if it does, it's only for a split second at the bottom of the"C" swing and I begin pronating my forearm and hand just prior to contact. This results in my palm facing forward at contact as I whip the racquet through. However, EVERY pro in the FYB videos makes contact with their palm facing the sky. I tried it tonight and I'm clearly lost. First, to even hit with my palm up I have to dip my hitting shoulder - something I see no one else doing. Second, I get no power, absolutely no control, most of the balls go down in to the net instead of giving me a nice clearance and dipping in, and best of all my ulner tendon (the golfer's elbow tendon) is sore now.
As I watch the videos here's what I *think* I see, which surely must be wrong. I see a "normal" prep - until the bottom back of the "C". Then I perceive the pro supinating the arm below the elbow in order to get the buttcap facing the ball. The palm goes from facing down to facing skyward. (This is what I think MUST be wrong. Supination should lead to injury.) Then I perceive the palm remaining facing skyward until just after contact, when the arm and wrist pronate- the "as if you're looking at your wristwatch" comment on FYB.
Obviously I'm missing something critical. Can anyone show me clearly or articulate for me what the arm is supposed to be doing in the modern topspin forehand with semi-western grip? How do you get power and control...and avoid Tommy John surgery???
Many thanks in advance for your help. I'm at the point where I want to start throwing things.:evil:
To remedy the shanking I sat down and watched FYB's 45 minute forehand video as well as the "progressiongs: swing to contact" video. Very disturbing for me. When I hit a forehand my palm never faces up; or if it does, it's only for a split second at the bottom of the"C" swing and I begin pronating my forearm and hand just prior to contact. This results in my palm facing forward at contact as I whip the racquet through. However, EVERY pro in the FYB videos makes contact with their palm facing the sky. I tried it tonight and I'm clearly lost. First, to even hit with my palm up I have to dip my hitting shoulder - something I see no one else doing. Second, I get no power, absolutely no control, most of the balls go down in to the net instead of giving me a nice clearance and dipping in, and best of all my ulner tendon (the golfer's elbow tendon) is sore now.
As I watch the videos here's what I *think* I see, which surely must be wrong. I see a "normal" prep - until the bottom back of the "C". Then I perceive the pro supinating the arm below the elbow in order to get the buttcap facing the ball. The palm goes from facing down to facing skyward. (This is what I think MUST be wrong. Supination should lead to injury.) Then I perceive the palm remaining facing skyward until just after contact, when the arm and wrist pronate- the "as if you're looking at your wristwatch" comment on FYB.
Obviously I'm missing something critical. Can anyone show me clearly or articulate for me what the arm is supposed to be doing in the modern topspin forehand with semi-western grip? How do you get power and control...and avoid Tommy John surgery???
Many thanks in advance for your help. I'm at the point where I want to start throwing things.:evil: