Should I snap my wrist for the windshield-wiper forehand?

[dominikk1985]

How loose? Will i not lose control if i let my wrist go loose?

Start with a more fixed wrist. Lay it back as the forward swing and then keep it there until after contact. The windshield comes from internally rotating the shoulder and forearm (like turning a door knob or screw driver).

Advanced players can add a little bit of wrist snap but I wouldn't recommend it for beginners.

 

[Curious]

No No No. Please No. The WW part of the swing occurs after the ball is already gone from your racket NOT before. WW is just the natural FOLLOW THRU from a good swing. Don't try to WW swipe the ball at contact. You'll be setting yourself back years. I wasted literally 2 years learning this the hard way. Dont be me back here in 2 years asking why your FH is launching out of the court or into the net every other shot.

Just swing low to high, get your contact angle correct for the right launch height. The trick is to balance how much you swing upwards vs how much you plow thru the ball. This determines how much pace you'll hit with. The TS will come naturally if you are swinging low to high as the strings brush up the ball with your wrist relaxed.

Please do not try to swipe a WW turn at contact. Not everyone can be Jack Sock. And even Sock screws it up often.

Low to High. Get the right racketface angle for the ball you're hitting and net clearance you want. Balance upward swing vs plow thru. WW is merely your relaxed arm following thru AFTER contact has come and gone.

I still feel there is active windshield wipering done on purpose. I want to try it to see it myself. Will post a video.

 

[Curious]

Low to High. Get the right racketface angle for the ball you're hitting and net clearance you want. Balance upward swing vs plow thru. WW is merely your relaxed arm following thru AFTER contact has come and gone.

WW requires forearm pronation, internal shoulder rotation and that is not necessarily the result of simply swinging low to high.

 

[travlerajm]

No No No. Please No. The WW part of the swing occurs after the ball is already gone from your racket NOT before. WW is just the natural FOLLOW THRU from a good swing. Don't try to WW swipe the ball at contact. You'll be setting yourself back years. I wasted literally 2 years learning this the hard way. Dont be me back here in 2 years asking why your FH is launching out of the court or into the net every other shot.

Just swing low to high, get your contact angle correct for the right launch height. The trick is to balance how much you swing upwards vs how much you plow thru the ball. This determines how much pace you'll hit with. The TS will come naturally if you are swinging low to high as the strings brush up the ball with your wrist relaxed.

Please do not try to swipe a WW turn at contact. Not everyone can be Jack Sock. And even Sock screws it up often.

Low to High. Get the right racketface angle for the ball you're hitting and net clearance you want. Balance upward swing vs plow thru. WW is merely your relaxed arm following thru AFTER contact has come and gone.

Yes. Windshield wipe happens naturally after contact as the path of least resistance and least effort in decelerating the racquet.

 

[mad dog1]

I still feel there is active windshield wipering done on purpose. I want to try it to see it myself. Will post a video.

Like I said...rabbit hole...which will in turn lead you to the wrong conclusions and more rabbit holes.

 

[vex]

WW requires forearm pronation, internal shoulder rotation and that is not necessarily the result of simply swinging low to high.

I agree, it’s the result of you naturally wrapping your arm across your body on the follow thru.

Listen, you can try to slap the ball by firing your forearm or wrist and spank the moment of contact with an early WW swing. But unless your Jack Sock
It’s just going to lead to a wildly inconsistent FH.

What happens is the wrist snap and forearm turn prior to contact changes the angle of your racket face before and during contact with the ball. Every little degree of change causes a massive difference in launch angle and accuracy. Your FH will launch too high sending the ball long or launch to low hitting the net. For every time that happens you’ll spank a FH where the stars align and the angle is perfect and the snap adds more topspin. But unless your Jack Sock and you’ve hit like that for 5 hours a day all your life you won’t control it at a level that allows you to play consoistent Tennis. You’ll just have a wild FH. TTW has had many threads discussing this point.

@mad dog1 correctly calls it a rabbit hole for a reason. Can it produce awesome shots? Yup. Will you nuke a gorgeous FH once in a while and say, “wow this is great!” Yup. Will you also triple your Unforced Errors and mess up your current FH? Yup.

I literally just clawed out of the rabbit hole after wasting 2 years buying new rackets, trying different string, thinking I wasn’t snapping hard enough at contact to keep the ball down, thinking I needed to close my racket face more, thinking I needed to switch FH grips, practicing so many FHs I gave myself tennis elbow... complete dead end rabbit hole. All while my simple, clean, low to high 2HBH was at 4.0 level.

If you still don’t believe me watch this vid and repeated pause and go frame by frame. You’ll see that Fed doesn’t turn his wrist AT ALL until the ball has already left the racket:

 

[watungga]

Following this gave me the forearm strain

How can we report this video as a high risk and dangerous?
Its wrong and should be shutdown.

 

[vex]

How can we report this video as a high risk and dangerous?
Its wrong and should be shutdown.

Lol just watching this makes me cringe. It’s the Tennis equivalent of a Scientology recruiting video haha

 

[mad dog1]

How can we report this video as a high risk and dangerous?
Its wrong and should be shutdown.

Let’s get @Curious to try it and report back!

He will sacrifice himself for the sake of science!

 

[vex]

Even Sock who I made fun of for trying to hard to add topspin to the detriment of his consistency does NOT really snap his wrist until after the ball is gone. Check it out, go frame by frame. Any wrist turn is de minimus until the balls gone and largely just his follow thru

 

[mad dog1]

Even Sock who I made fun of for trying to hard to add topspin to the detriment of his consistency does NOT really snap his wrist until after the ball is gone. Check it out, go frame by frame. Any wrist turn is de minimus until the balls gone and largely just his follow thru

Think @Curious needs to ask TTPS about the WW motion cuz TTPS is an expert on topspin now after having worked with his D1 coach. He truly has a special understanding of topspin that no one else has. After all, more topspin just makes the ball go into the net!

 

[Curious]

Like I said...rabbit hole...which will in turn lead you to the wrong conclusions and more rabbit holes.

This must be the quickest I have got out of that rabbit hole. No, can't be bothered by this WW thing. I tried today. Low to high swing is more than good enough for me. It all happens too quick, man. No time to think about WW. Life is not in slow motion.

 

[watungga]

It has been commonly understood that the term windshield-wiper came to popularity due to racquet's insane follow-through.

It was not really intended to be called as a freakin' forehand stroke!

 

[mad dog1]

This must be the quickest I have got out of that rabbit hole. No, can't be bothered by this WW thing. I tried today. Low to high swing is more than good enough for me. It all happens too quick, man. No time to think about WW. Life is not in slow motion.

Hahahahaha!!! I’m so disappointed!

 

[Vanhalen]

The OP hasn’t been here since 2014, but carry on.

 

[StringSnapper]

I watch vids on youtube on how to do the windshield wiper forehand and almost all of them says snap the wrist for more spin. I practice this kind of technique and after a while my forearm got strained from doing it. So should I really snap my wrist or what?

By the way, I am trying to switch from a flat forehand to a windshield wiper one.

Thanks for those who will enlighten me

Nooo! You should be actively trying to resist the snap actually

 

[vex]

The OP hasn’t been here since 2014, but carry on.

The current discussion hasn’t been in reply to the OP but rather a follow up question...

 

[vex]

Think @Curious needs to ask TTPS about the WW motion cuz TTPS is an expert on topspin now after having worked with his D1 coach. He truly has a special understanding of topspin that no one else has. After all, more topspin just makes the ball go into the net!

TTPS: “I see thru the lies of the topspin fanatics!”

 

[Deleted member 23235]

How loose? Will i not lose control if i let my wrist go loose?

firm enough to hold a bird and not let it get away... loose enough to not crush it.
think about throwing the racquet at the contact..
any type of "active" snapping IMO will throw off your timing, or worse, lead to injury...
while i understand what folks mean by "snap" it's more like the racquet is "whipping" at the end of the swing... which is why i just say throw the racquet at the contact... let the "whip" happen naturally;... hit 1000's of balls, and evemtually you'll find it...
kinda like "snapping" a wet towel... it's a feel thing

 

[TennisCJC]

The WW action is smooth and flowing and not a snap of the wrist. The forearm pronates. I've seen some players trying to time a WW action at contact as a method to hit topspin in a jerky manner - like that go to contact and then try to pronate the forearm upward. It looks jerky. One guy I know has a horrible FH because he has a jerky exaggerated WW action. Think of the WW action as flowing into the follow through. the racket path is a long arc and the path is set as you go into contact. do not muck with the path. Yes, you can consciously practice a WW follow thru - that's great but let it be smooth and flowing and not snatching at the ball.

 

[Hmgraphite1]

The WW action is smooth and flowing and not a snap of the wrist. The forearm pronates. I've seen some players trying to time a WW action at contact as a method to hit topspin in a jerky manner - like that go to contact and then try to pronate the forearm upward. It looks jerky. One guy I know has a horrible FH because he has a jerky exaggerated WW action. Think of the WW action as flowing into the follow through. the racket path is a long arc and the path is set as you go into contact. do muck with the path. Yes, you can consciously practice a WW follow thru - that's great but let it be smooth and flowing and not snatching at the ball.

That's my old forehand. I did this before I had even heard the term ww.
The reason was death grip on the racquet, arm the ball, no rotation, the only way to realign the racquet at the last split second to make contact was the result.