Straight DOMINANT hand at contact of 2HBH

[Clay lover]

A lot of pros have a straight non-dominant arm (left hand for righties) at contact but their dominant arms are always bent. Roddick and Hewitt may look like they have both arms straight due to their takeback but actually when they make contact, their right arms are still bent. The only pros I can think of who have BOTH arms very straight at contact are Andre Agassi and Rafeal Nadal. It's interesting that despite the differences in their grips and the spin they produce, both of them have very consistent 2HBHs, with one being more effective dictating play and hitting the angles, while the other one is one of the best of all time on the run.

What exactly about their straight arms has helped them with hitting the 2HBHs?

EDIT: by dominant I mean the hand they usually hold the racquet with

 

[jmverdugo]

Ok, first, I am not sure about the DOMINAT hand thing, if you ask me, in my THBH the dominant hand is the left hand (I am righty), that is the one that creates the power and spin. Now About the straight arm, I just checked and in the contact point both my left and my right hand are almost straight and the elbows away from the body. I tried to do it with the arms bents and I end up with my elbows really close to the body and the contact point is close to the body too and overall it felt odd and tight.

So if you ask me I think that is not like they wanted to hit with straight arms, they just want to have a contact point more in front of their bodies and they have a very loose stroke. JMO.

 

[DavaiMarat]

Basically the benefits are two fold.
1) Straight arm = longer levers. From the center of rotation (which is your hips) you have a longer lever now vs. bent arms. This give you a exponential increase in racquet head speed.

2) Greater accuracy. Less moving parts means sweeter contact.

In the game you'll notice a lot of men use straight two handers while women usually hit with bent. You'll notice a lot of the men when keep thier back straight and weight balanced while women will will torque there entire upper body and end up moving into the court a lot more then the men.


That said, no pro always completely hits with both arms straight all the time and vica versa. In the end, it's all personal preference though. Whatever works for you.

 

[yellowoctopus]

Basically the benefits are two fold.
1) Straight arm = longer levers. From the center of rotation (which is your hips) you have a longer lever now vs. bent arms. This give you a exponential increase in racquet head speed.

2) Greater accuracy. Less moving parts means sweeter contact.

Wondering if the logic discussed here is pretty much the same for the straight vs. bent arm forehands?