Using wrist to generate forehand topspin and power?

[Tennissiz]

I took a few weeks away from tennis and felt my timing was off when I started hitting again. I lacked the power, placement, and consistency I had previously. So I took a lesson and now my strokes are even worse.

The pro told me the reason I lacked power in my forehand was because I wasn't whipping my wrist to accelerate the racquet head enough. He also changed my natural low to high swing path and told me the topspin should be generated only after impact with the wrist. When he demonstrates the wrist release he bends his wrist backward and then forward with no pronation or rolling of the forearm.

When I try to incorporate this wrist motion into my swing, I feel like I am swinging around centrifugally instead of linearly through the ball. I am frequently mishitting the ball now and every swing seems to feel completely different from one shot to the next. I have no control whatsoever and the balls are flying everywhere!

This is so frustrating! Can anyone help???

 

[MTChong]

Don't consciously do it please; it can be very detrimental to your arm's safety.

 

[Tennissiz]

Don't consciously do it please; it can be very detrimental to your arm's safety.

I have noticed my forearm has been feeling quite sore trying this technique.

Any advice on what I can work on instead?

 

[kchau]

work on your stroke being more upward.

 

[Tennissiz]

work on your stroke being more upward.

Well, I think my low to high swing path was what prompted him to change my technique in the first place. He wanted the racquet head to stay on the some level as the height of the ball and to use the wrist to generate the topspin instead.

I had a few shots where I "connected" and the ball felt so heavy and seemed to stay forever on the strings and then just exploded off the stringbed with power. The pro got really excited on those shots but I had no clue how or why those shots were different from all the othe wild shots I hit.

 

[JCo872]

I took a few weeks away from tennis and felt my timing was off when I started hitting again. I lacked the power, placement, and consistency I had previously. So I took a lesson and now my strokes are even worse.

The pro told me the reason I lacked power in my forehand was because I wasn't whipping my wrist to accelerate the racquet head enough. He also changed my natural low to high swing path and told me the topspin should be generated only after impact with the wrist. When he demonstrates the wrist release he bends his wrist backward and then forward with no pronation or rolling of the forearm.

When I try to incorporate this wrist motion into my swing, I feel like I am swinging around centrifugally instead of linearly through the ball. I am frequently mishitting the ball now and every swing seems to feel completely different from one shot to the next. I have no control whatsoever and the balls are flying everywhere!

This is so frustrating! Can anyone help???

This link should help quite a bit:
http://www.hi-techtennis.com/forehand/topspin.cfm

Unfortunately you got some terrible advice from that pro. Look at the video clips in the link above and you will see that driving through the ball (and lifting up) with the wrist fixed is the way pros hit topspin. This keeps the racket face facing the ball for several inches through contact. "swinging around centrifugally", as you mentioned is the reason for your lack of power and control.

I suggest you show the pro the link above as well. He is teaching incorrect technique to people, unfortunately.

 

[Brooklyn_bum]

I kind of understand what he's talking about but I don't know why he discouraged you from low to high swing. I whip my wrist after I hit the ball at the end of my stroke but I still keep the low to high swing path.

When I was playing with a 5.5 buddy, he also encouraged me to hit the ball at a higher bounce (on the up bounce). So it was difficult to use low to high swing path. But it was still not centrifugal. He still told me to finish the stroke high. This actually improved my forehand but it only works well with someone who hits hard and heavy topspin. If I play some who hits more flat I still use low to high.

 

[Marius_Hancu]

Tennissiz,

You got some very poor coaching. Send this coach to the garbage bin of history.

Read the advice here to see the consequences:

wrist pain due to heavy racquet
http://tt.tennis-warehouse.com/showthread.php?t=88327


You should not FORCE the wrist. On the contrary, when you will be advanced enough, you should execute an "educated wrist RELEASE,"
where you use the inertia of the racquet. Make a search at this site, there are many threads on that.

 

[Amone]

I think what he may have been talking about was a laid back wrist. Basically, that involves letting your wrist fall back through the stroke, and when your arm starts to slow down, it whips forward.

 

[baros]

you don't want to use your wrist to much you could get tennis elbow.
________
Ford VX54 platform

 

[Amone]

you don't want to use your wrist to much you could get tennis elbow.

Uhh... no you can't. You get tennis elbow from stiffening too much. There are some serious problems you can get, but that's not really one of them..