Straight arm forehand

[iowaviking11]

Hey ive looked at all threads containing this and still cant seem to get it right. Hitting with straight arm is natural but it seems to stuggle against pace, with double bend i can handle pace but not easy balls. Can anybody tell me how to use straight arm to hit against pace as its easier.

 

[Wes_Loves_Dunlop]

with the straight arm forehand, you need much better timing. since you have to hit the ball when your arm is straight, if the ball is too far in front of you, it will go into the net and if it is too close it will have to pace.
taking pace should be easier with the straight arm because since your arm is straight it should act like blocking the shot

 

[iowaviking11]

i try to hit it like federer but when i hit it i sort of have the inside of my elbow towards sky, then roll over ball, i think i use too much wrist, any advice

 

[firstblud]

given that i suck, a straight arm forehand is much much tougher for me than a slightly bent elbow forehand

 

[chris]

i started the straight arm forehand to just make sure your arm isnt straight out in front but to the side thats what helped me

 

[Wes_Loves_Dunlop]

i try to hit it like federer but when i hit it i sort of have the inside of my elbow towards sky, then roll over ball, i think i use too much wrist, any advice

if you have your elbow extending towards the sky it probably means you are using too extreme of a grip. if so, change to a more moderate grip like the semi western or eastern and it should give you some more power.

what grip do you use?

 

[iowaviking11]

i dont mean actuall elbow i mean the inside of it

 

[iowaviking11]

but i do use western grip

 

[ms87]

Straight arm + western grip = no

 

[drakulie]

http://www.youtube.com/user/drakulie

 

[iowaviking11]

Today i hit and straight arm didnt work well so i started hitting with a double bend and it did suprisingly well. I still think hitting straight arm is natural though and wish i could find a way to hit it.

 

[Nonentity]

Today i hit and straight arm didnt work well so i started hitting with a double bend and it did suprisingly well. I still think hitting straight arm is natural though and wish i could find a way to hit it.

like someone already said, if you are using western grip, you should stick to double bend. Federer can hit straight arm because he uses a eastern hybrid grip.

 

[iowaviking11]

alright looks like double bend is how i will have to go, but when the straight arm is working its a monster

 

[Blake0]

First off, you need better timing. there are many ways to increase the amount of time you have, and to decrease as well. One way is to shorten up your backswing when you need to (watch federer in wimbledon final against roddick, and watch how he shortens up his backswing a lot of times during the match). Also, your contact point on straight arm forehands is way out in front of you.

Main thing is shorten your backswing (when you need to), hit way out in front, and make sure you keep the same arm hitting structure (means don't finish your backswing ending up in a double bend arm structure and then straighten your arm out at/before contact.)

 

[VaBeachTennis]

Here are some good videos that demonstrate the straight arm stroke; Verdasco & Federer:

Verdasco

Federer

Gasquet

Out of the three, Gasquet's seems to be a little more complicated, at least for me. I prefer Verdasco's or Federer's.

 

[Blake0]

Here are some good videos that demonstrate the straight arm stroke; Verdasco & Federer:

Verdasco

Federer

Gasquet

Out of the three, Gasquet's seems to be a little more complicated, at least for me. I prefer Verdasco's or Federer's.

Gasquet didn't really look like he had a straight arm forehand..then again i only watched the first forehand he hit..also try watching nadal hitting.

 

[VaBeachTennis]

Gasquet didn't really look like he had a straight arm forehand..then again i only watched the first forehand he hit..also try watching nadal hitting.

I figured that someone would refute that, but look at the whole video, look at his arm at contact. At approx 1:07 in that video, he shortened his swing when he needed to like you suggested. It also shows another angle of his stroke.

 

[Blake0]

I figured that someone would refute that, but look at the whole video, look at his arm at contact. At approx 1:07 in that video, he shortened his swing when he needed to like you suggested. It also shows another angle of his stroke.

Looks slightly bent to me, but im not too sure. But i didn't mean you should shorten your backswing all the time, it's just a way to compensate for bad timing for now. What you should strive for is to read the ball earlier/ set up faster/ better ball judgement so you can take your normal backswing and still rip it back against harder hitters, and only use the shorten backswing for when you have to, or certain situations where it becomes beneficial.

 

[firstblud]

is a semi-western grip a no-no for straight arm too?

 

[Blake0]

is a semi-western grip a no-no for straight arm too?

Not really..nadal hits with a straight arm..and i think verdasco hits with a semi-western and hits straight arm.

 

[corners]

Grips and straight-arms

I think any grip is compatible with a straight-arm forehand:

Continental - Laver, Gasquet (?)
Eastern - Federer, Philipousis
Semiwestern - Verdasco
Western - Nadal

If you have a subscription to tennisplayer.net there is a ton of info on this style of forehand. One interesting article there, "How Rafael Nadal changed his forehand", by Jason Frausto, is especially worth looking at. It explains how Nadal shortened his backswing sometime going into 2008, which the author links to his improved results on hardcourts since. Nadal used to bring his hitting-arm elbow behind him on the backswing, which required him to then bring it back in front of his body before he started his swing. Now, just like Federer, his elbow never passes beyond the line of his body, so he can just fire from there.

I think this is a common hitch that develops in a lot of straight-arm forehands.

 

[VaBeachTennis]

Looks slightly bent to me, but im not too sure. But i didn't mean you should shorten your backswing all the time, it's just a way to compensate for bad timing for now. What you should strive for is to read the ball earlier/ set up faster/ better ball judgement so you can take your normal backswing and still rip it back against harder hitters, and only use the shorten backswing for when you have to, or certain situations where it becomes beneficial.

I agree, that what i was trying to demonstrate in that video of Gasquet. He shortened his swing one time in order to compensate for his timing. The rest of his strokes were pretty much full swings....

 

[iowaviking11]

I don't have a subscription to tennisplayer.net. Can you post it on here?

 

[iowaviking11]

bump......

 

[fruitytennis1]

I only hit a strait arm forhand when the balls go around shoulder hight or higher within reason. I cant aim it but it normally ends up as and offencive shot.

Also thats Federer hitting a forhand not you right drak

 

[smack that]

Straight arm + western grip = no

look at nadal and dasco

 

[iowaviking11]

i dont think nadal is a good example but verdasco sounds good. So are you supposed to bring arm back and straighten it out so its perpendicular to the net?

 

[aptennis91]

I like to feel the elbow locking (by extending the arm) the moment before contact.