One handed backhand ideal wrist position

[ballmachineguy]

Hit today trying to keep wrist extended the entire time - didn’t work. It started extended, moved to neutral at end of backswing/start of forward swing and then, as any 1hbh would with typical index knuckle on top bevel, moved to extended through contact and WW finish.

 

[Curious]

Hit today trying to keep wrist extended the entire time - didn’t work. It started extended, moved to neutral at end of backswing/start of forward swing and then, as any 1hbh would with typical index knuckle on top bevel, moved to extended through contact and WW finish.

So your wrist was never in flexed position, which is good.

 

[BevelDevil]

A modified grip. Index knuckle on bevel 2, heel pad on bevel 1. Because of the heel pad position it still feels like a good Bh grip to me.

I would guess that this is where the flexing comes from, since it will help close the racket face. So I think moving to a more eastern grip would eliminate the flexing. Maybe try knuckle on the 1/2 edge.

 

[Shroud]

I guess flexed wrist is the worst technique mistake you could make on one handed backhand, that being the weakest anatomically. For some unknown reason I’ve always had a tendency to do that. Some one handers look almost like having an extended wrist throughout the stroke but I was thinking it should at least be neutral. Thoughts? ( please swipe to see the three pictures below ).

http://imgur.com/a/fatbnuP

extended here. Its the strongest wrist position...but I have an extreme grip. If you are falling forward toward a wall you extend the wrist to put the palm on the wall and break the fall. no one keeps a neutral wrist in that scenario because its not as strong..

 

[tonylg]

extended here. Its the strongest wrist position...but I have an extreme grip. If you are falling forward toward a wall you extend the wrist to put the palm on the wall and break the fall. no one keeps a neutral wrist in that scenario because its not as strong..

Definitely slightly extended at contact, but I think the suggestion is that it should remain static in that position throughout the swing.

I'd suggest it should move from neutral (or even flexed), through extended, to more extended on follow through.

 

[Shroud]

Definitely slightly extended at contact, but I think the suggestion is that it should remain static in that position throughout the swing.

I'd suggest it should move from neutral (or even flexed), through extended, to more extended on follow through.

I can't explain it but basically its like opening a door. The wrist is extended throughout going from left to right as a right hander.

 

[Chas Tennis]

Top one hand backhands in the ATP. The wrist joint extension or flexion is clear throughout the forward swings of most backhands. I see one that is different in about the first 6 or 8 players.

While you are looking note the angle between the forearm and an racket shaft at impact. Imagine especially the forearm-to-racket shaft angle as viewed from above.

 

[Dragy]

extended here. Its the strongest wrist position...but I have an extreme grip. If you are falling forward toward a wall you extend the wrist to put the palm on the wall and break the fall. no one keeps a neutral wrist in that scenario because its not as strong..

When going to punch someone into face noone puts wrist into extended position - slightly flexed is the strongest!

What I mean, let's keep unsafe analogies in our lockers
An issue with fully extended position might appear because of stretched foreram muscles (superficial flexors group), which may stress elbow tendons and ligaments. You personally play with stiff frames and extremely stiff stringbeds, which makes me conclude you've got balls elbows of steel and are not in position to judge this part

I advocate avoiding both fully flexed and extended positions, staying around the neutral range - maybe neutral to moderately extended.

 

[Chas Tennis]

Is the Eastern Backhand Grip the same hand position on the racket handle as the Western Forehand Grip? Of course. the palm is on top the racket handle for the Eastern Backhand Grip and on the bottom of the racket handle for the Western Forehand Grip and the racket swings in the opposite direction relative to the body. These grips require a certain apparent forearm-to-racket shaft angle at impacts. (as viewed from above).

For this forehand, the apparent forearm-to-racket shaft angle shows well from the above camera view. Remember, it is not a real angle with two intersecting lines. Grip unknown.

Fuzzy Yellow Balls video with Toly processing applied. I wish we had an overhead camera view of the one hand backhand.

Serena Williams' forehand from high viewing angle.

Note - the selected grip fixes the racket to the palm of the hand. The wrist joint is nearby to the palm, but separated by a little. The wrist joint works together with the grip to show the apparent forearm-to-racket shaft angle seen in videos - but it is not really an angle, since the wrist joint is next to the racket shaft in the palm of the hand.

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The top part of my REPLY BOX is often greyed out in the last few days. Does anyone else experience that?
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[pronostix]

Most important thing is : You should hold the racket loosely and the wrist should be relaxed/flexible/passive!!!

If you want a description it starts slightly cocked back when the racket is back and vertical then you let it drop it goes to neutral and throught the swing it goes to the extended positon naturally as a result of the forward momentum. Basically you should let it move on its own.

Not unlike backslapping somebody

The wrist something I barely focus on about when hitting a backhand. Think more about rotating the shoulders, putting the racket back vertically and letting it drop and accelerate by pushing on the legs, staying on the balls of your feet, transferring the weight forward, 'kinetic chain', breathing out when starting the swing...

The big muscles do the work the wrist stays flexible as the last part of the kinetic chain

 

[Shroud]

When going to punch someone into face noone puts wrist into extended position - slightly flexed is the strongest!

What I mean, let's keep unsafe analogies in our lockers
An issue with fully extended position might appear because of stretched foreram muscles (superficial flexors group), which may stress elbow tendons and ligaments. You personally play with stiff frames and extremely stiff stringbeds, which makes me conclude you've got balls elbows of steel and are not in position to judge this part

I advocate avoiding both fully flexed and extended positions, staying around the neutral range - maybe neutral to moderately extended.

Yet when falling forward toward a wall no one breaks the fall with a slightly flexed wrist...

That punch analogy seems to assume an eastern bh grip.

Weird. The fact that stiff frames and ridiculously stiff stringbeds havent destroyed my elbow and that the BH is usually the culprit, shows that I am right about the wrist, at least with a sw grip. Try hitting that with a slightly flexed wrist.

 

[Dragy]

Yet when falling forward toward a wall no one breaks the fall with a slightly flexed wrist...

That punch analogy seems to assume an eastern bh grip.

Weird. The fact that stiff frames and ridiculously stiff stringbeds havent destroyed my elbow and that the BH is usually the culprit, shows that I am right about the wrist, at least with a sw grip. Try hitting that with a slightly flexed wrist.

Of course that punch analogy is BS. As wall analogy is irrelevant as well. We are not pushing/holding against anything powerful. If we held the racquet at the balance point - it could be something. In practice, OHBH (and actually any other stroke mostly) requires two kind of actions:
- Pulling the handle. Forward and towards the ball at major acceleration, where swing speed is acquired. Across to stimulate RH coming around into contact. Grip irrelevant, can pull with any.
- Lifting RH up - rotating the racquet. This part relies on thumb for BH.
The grip is determined by contact point and required stringbed orientation. The most natural and injury-free way to have it there is best. With 170g+ mass of the hoop, accelerated to decent speed, there’s nothing to resist at impact with your palm - ball gets dominated.