Wrist in the forehand

Hey Clint,

That's awesome you are running this thread. Where else can you get advice from someone that coaches on the pro tour!

When you hit your windshield wiper forehand, how much wrist do feel you incorporate in the stroke? In your great TennisGuru video you talk about getting your racket to come through in synch with your body, so I was wondering what role you feel the wrist plays on your forehand?

Jeff
http://www.hi-techtennis.com

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Originally Posted by jco872

Hey Clint,

That's awesome you are running this thread. Where else can you get advice from someone that coaches on the pro tour!

When you hit your windshield wiper forehand, how much wrist do feel you incorporate in the stroke? In your great TennisGuru video you talk about getting your racket to come through in synch with your body, so I was wondering what role you feel the wrist plays on your forehand?

Jeff
http://www.hi-techtennis.com

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Hey Jeff,

I think the wrist plays a unique roll in the forehand in the sense that it has many functions. You can use it to snap forward to hit flat or brush up to hit topspin or any combination of flat and spin. When people say "that person has good hands" I think they are also talking about the wrist. It is very important on almost every shot including volleys. It also controls the direction of the ball by setting the racket face angle. So I would say you incorporate the wrist very much in all shots and not just the forehand. I hope this answers your question and welcome to the Boards! We look forward to hearing from you.

Clint

The importance of the wrist movement in the penultimate knetic change has been overlooked in the way I was taught to learn the strokes. It wasnt until I was 25 before I was able to roll the ball on my sbh (now double). I am now 42. It was learnt after some strenuous work in a fish and chip shop that give me the strength in my wrist.

So strong wrist means soft hands!

takwai

For the longest time, I had a forehand with too much spin and not enough pace. The adjustment that was needed was indeed my wrist positioning.
I would describe it like this. On my backswing, the head of my racket hung very low with a loose relaxed wrist. This shot produced substantial top spin. The problem for me was not enough pace. The adjustment that I made was to point the racket head more toward the fence behind me and less toward the ground on the backswing and follow through the ball more with less brush up the back. Bingo! I mastered the timing in just a few balls and my forehand was fast and deep still with good top spin. Now that I have experienced the difference on the backswing, I can vary the spin as the situation dictates easily just by making that adjustment to the racket and wrist preparation during the backswing.