Straight to bent, bent to bent and bent to straight?

[Clay lover]

Recently I am just starting to notice this technical nuance which differs from player to player, but which seems to make a significant difference. Some players, ala Murray and Ferrer, go from a relatively straight-arm takeback to a bent arm at contact. Conversely, guys like Nadal and Federer go from a bent take back to a straight arm at contact. Djokovic's arm on the other hand seems to remain bent at different angles throughout the swing.

My question is, does anyone have insight on these differing styles and their pros and cons? Despite being a poor physicist, shortening the lever in the middle of your swing doesn't seem very energy efficient to me, and I wonder if it contributes to Murray's relatively inefficient forehand (compared to the rest of the big four).

Am I right?

 

[heninfan99]

You might be right. Not sure

 

[Rickson]

I like bent.

 

[rkelley]

Which stroke?

 

[Clay lover]

Forehand 10cha

 

[Rickson]

Isn't this about forehands?

 

[Clay lover]

Yeah I never understood the confusion. Personally I go by a bent to bent swing to eliminate excessive moving components.

 

[Bender]

I noticed that bent to straight creates a lot of power and spin at the expense of accuracy. Feels fantastic though.

 

[Rickson]

The only time I ever go bent to straight is on an overhead.

 

[Enga]

Old style forhands were sometimes straight elbow all the way through. I think it offers a lot of racket head control.

I've expirimented with all a tiny bit, really hard to say what differences it makes to the end result... I ended up with bent to straight style...