A New Teaching System: Forehand: The Wrist

[stotty]

The Role of the Wrist...

I wrote this in the "Racquet Snaps the Wrist on Serve" thread...back in March of 2011.

Yes I remember this post. You are obviously good at finding old posts. What's the trick? I can never find any of mine!

Two of my favourite players from the classic era (by classic we mean wooden racket only, or can we stretch that to the first metal rackets?) were Nastase and McEnroe. One was wristy; the other wristless. I think McEnroe (and Bromwich) proved you can take an awful lot of wrist out of the equation on forehands and still play a great game of tennis. McEnroe barely lays the wrist back at all. His forehand is the complete opposite of the ATP model.

I go along with the alignment theory about the wrist, You have to align no matter how little or much wrist you use or the ball will end up in the stadium. But I am not convinced the wrist isn't injecting something more.

Stotty

[bottle]

I'm glad you love him but don't really think what he or anybody says on this subject should matter very much to you or any tennis player except in how it opens up possibilities.

Back when I was always studying Federfores (imitation Roger Federer forehands) I decided after much video analysis that Roger laid back wrist a little as racket tip rose but then let mondo do the rest.

Now I don't care since I know what I do and am secure with it.

But what happened to 10splayer? Everyone is speaking as if they attended his funeral. Did he get tired of us all? Did he spill a glass of vegetable juice into the innards of his computer?

[stroke]

I should have said 10splayer was a thoughtful contributor to the message board on the biomechanical stuff.

As far as what he was saying about the wrist, as I remember it(and I could be off a bit on exactly what he said) but I think it was in regard to him saying all "good" forehands he had ever seen have a somewhat laid back wrist on the unit turn, and then the wrist went to neutral postion as it transitioned in preparation to the forward move to contact(the flip and wrist lay back). He really did not say why the wrist just did not start in the "neutral" postion from the very start with the unit turn.

[don_budge]

The Role of the Wrist...

I asked this question a couple of years ago to 10splayer, who at the time was a regular poster on this site, and somewhat of our biomechanical message board go to guy, and he simply said every "good" player he has ever seen has their wrist in a "neutral" position just prior to their move to contact.

I wouldn't go so far as to say he was "our biomechanical message board go to guy"...but you have to admit...he certainly was yours. I wish I had a dime for every time he would post something and you would chime in..."I agree!". Don't get me wrong. He was good though...very good. I liked his pleasant affable nature most of all. I miss him. Old school tough guy. What's not to like.

10splayer may have meant neutral in terms of the wrist playing a passive role in the shot...not pumping.

Stotty

Knowing 10splayer I would bet that would be what he meant...if he used the word "neutral". He may have well said "natural" or "passive".

I wrote this in the "Racquet Snaps the Wrist on Serve" thread...back in March of 2011.

I wrote this in March (2011) in response to a question by "err"...

The Wrist is a Hinge

"Am I the only person who considers pronation as a natural biomechanical occurrence?"-erbr

Knowledgable tennis players and golfers all over the world agree with you. When teaching the serve I sometimes make a bit of an oblique reference to the serve being similar to an upside down golf swing. Instead of teeing it up on the ground, we attempt to tee it up in the air. To begin with some of the similarities are the take away, the backswing, the transition between backswing to forward motion and the "release" of the wrist(s) which deliver the racquet or club to the ball...it even helps to "waggle" the racquet a bit in the preserve routine. The action of the wrist(s) is perhaps the most fundamentally important aspect of swinging a tennis racquet or a golf club (Ben Hogan certainly agrees with you)...or to swing anything else for that matter. This goes for all shots...long or short, fast or slow...not just the serve. It is also perhaps the most difficult aspect of swinging to convince a tennis or golf student of...it is a matter of swinging, not hitting. Getting too "wristy" even with short putts is the kiss of death, but that being said...you still must swing the putter.

I describe the function of the wrist...as that of the hinge on a door. One never has to consciously think about applying the wrist in the swing of the racquet or the club, but you must let it do what it most naturally wants to do...and that is to swing smoothly with all of the centrifugal energy that the mind/head (the idea behind the shot intended to play), the feet and legs, the hips and body, the shoulders and finally the arm have created. The action of the wrist is a product of all of this and it's job is to transfer all of that action into the face of the racquet. It is a conduit. It's really such a simple thing. But it's best not to talk too much about it...or to think too much about it either, for that matter. Better to concentrate on footwork and getting into position and just letting "the thing" happen.

Once the wrist(s) take over...delivering the payload feels a bit like "slamming the door".

Everyone always talks about the thumb being such an important digit for homo sapiens. But the wrist for tennis players...and for golfers, is the joint that makes it all possible. Superb question erbr...and I agree with you.

[stotty]

10splayer may have meant neutral in terms of the wrist playing a passive role in the shot...not pumping.

Stotty

[bottle]

John is of course correct. My previous post was talking about the wrist position prior to the forward move to contact.

Right. And so you raise a very real question. Should a player mondo/flip or not. Stotty says do it if you have the talent to do it and don't if you don't. Seems reasonable to me.

But if you don't do it, which doesn't necessarily mean that you are an inferior person, should you take wrist back gradually as part of the backswing? tennis-chiro once suggested that that might not be too bad an idea that he even liked. Another time he thought Federer was losing matches because his flip was too harsh, causing overhits.

Harsh flips, mild flips, in between flips, no flip-- it's a whole new vocabulary. But I suggest that you-- Stroke-- be the one to decide. For yourself. Not for me. I'll tell you one thing. In a McEnrueful (my John McEnroe imitation forehand) and even in a John McEnroe forehand itself there is no flip or even laid back wrist at all. He hits the shot with a straight wrist at contact.

Personally, I like very much having this option available and then others with different grip in which the stroke contains a mondo, i.e., the wrist lays back in response to forward action.

[stroke]

Don't be neutral at contact. Try to stay laid back.

John is of course correct. My previous post was talking about the wrist position prior to the forward move to contact.

[johnyandell]

Don't be neutral at contact. Try to stay laid back.

[stroke]

I have noticed that when I start the unit turn I begin to lay back my wrist. Should I delay the lay back or am I okay doing this. My grip is between an eastern and semiwestern.

I asked this question a couple of years ago to 10splayer, who at the time was a regular poster on this site, and somewhat of our biomechanical message board go to guy, and he simply said every "good" player he has ever seen has their wrist in a "neutral" position just prior to their move to contact.

[ralph]

I have noticed that when I start the unit turn I begin to lay back my wrist. Should I delay the lay back or am I okay doing this. My grip is between an eastern and semiwestern.

[stotty]

Yes I do believe the looser the grip the better,I teach keep the wrist relaxed but not tight.

[johnyandell]

Nick thanks! And yes opinion and reality.

[nickw]

Great article John, incredible to think that 'myth of the wrist' article was so long ago, and yet it seems the vast majority of former pro's, pundits, coaches, have made no effort to understand what is actually going on. I hear 'flick of the wrist', and 'snap the wrist' as often as ever from the so-called experts. Look forward to the next articles on this topic.

[johnyandell]

Ken,

I would fully agree!

[kenh]

A while back I took videos of Mark Edmondson's serve and noticed that in his trophy position he opened his little, ring, and middle finger holding the racquet to the extent that those fingers went almost straight. Later on John's site I noticed the same thing opening of the hand Henin's (and others) forehand. IMO and for what it is worth, these motions were done to relax the grip and stop the white knuckle syndrome. The squeezing tight of the grip on impact from a looser grip with wrist layback results in the wrist movement (the last joint moving of the kinetic chain) and the acceleration of the racquet tip thru the swing (on ground strokes, serves, overheads, and volleys). Even at a club level I think most players (and their arms) can benefit from gripping the racquet loosely all the time except for holding firm at impact.