Straight arm forehand

[evikshin]

How is it possible to hit the forehand with a straight arm??

I tried it once, but found that it was anatomically impossible to get any leverage into the shot. Simply put, I feel that it is impossible for me to hit with a straight arm. I only started to develop a good forehand when I began studying Agassi's double bend forehand.

Also, I used to think that the straightness of the arm had something to do with the grip. But, we have conservative grip players like Federer hitting with a straight arm, and we also have extreme players like Nadal and Brugeura hitting with a straight arm, so that basically destroys that hypothesis.

What the heck is going on? What is your take on this?

all the best

Evan
PS: Allen Fox also hits with a straight arm--I saw a video of it before. arghghg!!!

[johnyandell]

It may be straight at the elbow but it's not at the wrist. The wrist has to be laid back.

But I'd have to agree the double bend is the way to go for 99%.

I am still puzzling over how the straight elbow thing works. I have some ideas, but will withhold saying anything right now til I'm a little more certain.

[evikshin]

Yea most definitely the wrist has to be laid back at impact. What are your ideas on the subject? I'm dying to know!

Having watched Federer closely, I noticed that his arm tends to be straight on high put-way balls, but not necessarily on rally balls. Nadal does seem to hit every ball with a straight arm. There is a very good high speed video of him hitting a forehand shot from behind him...his arm is perfectly straight, at no point does he bring his elbow in. I tried that, and it felt like trying to scratch my ear with my toe.

Evan

[gzhpcu]

Isn't it just a case of the arm being straight at impact (with the wrist laid back)? The arm is bent initially and straightens out at impact.

[evikshin]

True the arm starts off bent and straightens...but 99% of players maintain a double bend even AT impact. Players like Fed keep it straight AT impact.

Evan

[gzhpcu]

Could it be that the farther in front you hit the ball, the more the arm straightens out?

[evikshin]

I guess that would make sense Phil. Maybe this straight arm thing is some hidden technique that has gone unnoticed for quite some time...

[johnyandell]

If you look in the Archive Srichaphan and Philippoussis use it as well.

[jperedo]

Hi
Now that Jeff C posted an article on this topic, I'm going to revive this thread with a question to the gurus.

My question is this - what cues do you think should be used to get into the straight arm configuration? I ask because sometimes I find that I consciously want to hit a straight arm forehand, and I can do so succesfully. However at times I find that even though I try to straight arm, I end up hitting with a double bend. Any replies appreciated.

[jeffreycounts]

Hi
Now that Jeff C posted an article on this topic, I'm going to revive this thread with a question to the gurus.

My question is this - what cues do you think should be used to get into the straight arm configuration? I ask because sometimes I find that I consciously want to hit a straight arm forehand, and I can do so succesfully. However at times I find that even though I try to straight arm, I end up hitting with a double bend. Any replies appreciated.

Full unit turn with the opposite hand pointed across the body. When you take the racket back, your arm is bent. But as you lower the racket, straighten it out before you pull forward. Point the butt cap of the racket towards the net or towards the ball as you start pulling forward.

Now use a lifting motion to bring the racket to the ball. Lift your arm to the ball with the same motion you would use to bowl a bowling ball (just towards the side a bit, not straight forward). This will give you a great contact point well in front and to the side of your body. On contact feel the ball press into your hand, arm and shoulder and lift the ball upward. This will turn into the wiper motion.

Focus mostly on your contact point. A previous post said that focusing on a contact point farther in front of your body will help you use a straighter arm. I think this focus on an extended contact point is a great place to start.

Even if your arm isn't totally straight like Srichiphan or Verdasco or Nadal, I think that extending your contact point farther in front of your body is a good thing.

Jeff

[jmhtennis]

To Jeff Counts per straight arm forehand

Jeff,
Great article on the straight arm forehand! I think the "stiff arm" football technique is a great visual piece of info. I think that theory is grounded in the physics of the game of tennis. The mass behind the ball is what gives the shot it's "heaviness". By straightening the arm helps you put even more weight into the shot. But I think there is something else at work here too.

By extending the racket out farther away and in front of your body you are creating more racket head speed. Think of looking at a ceiling fan or a record player. The closer to the spoke of the wheel of the record, the slower the record turns on the table. At the edge of the record it is spinning its fastest. You may also think of a windmill. The the power of the windmill comes from harnessing the wind from the edge of the shaft which is traveling the fastest, and is farthest away from the the spinell which cranks the inside of the windmill. I hope this makes sense. It would be a bit easier with pictures.

So, the farther away from the body the racket is, the faster it moves. Of course this is only true is the core of the body is turning in unison and all of the parts of the kinetic chain are turning properly. It is the same idea as the golf swing. The "lag" of the club follows behind the hinge of the hands, and when the hands catch up to the body "snap"! You make contact with the ball at the same time that the club is traveling its fastest during the chain of events which lead up to contact in the golf swing. When the lag in the forehand catches up to the contact point the wrist is still bent, but it is starting to release into the shot. I think this may be why Federer hits so many mishits off of his forehand. The straight arm forehand takes excellent timing. If you are off by a bit the wrist has moved past the contact point and you spray the ball.

Okay, now is the point where everyone gets to poke holes in my theory.....

Jeff H

[bottle]

~

jperedo,

The cue I like (and not just because I invented it) is "Lift, unfurl, inflate."
It's based on Federer. It's different from an idea expressed in the next post after yours in that most of the arm straightening occurs while the racket still is high.

Jeff, I think this is a good article but I wonder A. about hitting way out front (I've seen film sequences of Federer that clearly show contact point lined up with both of his shoulders-- and I don't think this was going to be a shoddy forehand either) and B. this business of lifting arm up to the ball, of doing some kind of karate into the ball with its implication of power much too soon, of having the wrist catch up for a long hit through followed by wiping to the left.

I just think it's cumbersome verbal eloclution not simple enough as effective cue. How, I ask, can starchy wrist catch up to hand if hand doesn't move left? And since you're going that way, why not continue that way with wipe without putting anything in between? Guess where the strings go? Right through the ball and along the outside edge and up. The strings don't go around the body-- not yet. But the hand is definitely going across and earlier than you have proposed.

[stroke]

I too am not fond of cumbersome verbal eloclution.

[jeffreycounts]

jand B. this business of lifting arm up to the ball, of doing some kind of karate into the ball with its implication of power much too soon.

I just think it's cumbersome verbal eloclution not simple enough as effective cue.

Bottle,

When I looked at the straight armed forehands, I wondered how a straight arm from behind the body can stay straight and get to a contact point out in front of the body. The only two motions I see are a rotation of the shoulders and a clear lifting upward of the arm to contact in those two examples. Rather than being "this business of lifting the arm" I simply am stating what I see in the clips in the article. It's not really my theory or some arcane thesis. I simply see the arm lift upward to contact. If you don't see that motion in the videos from the article then we can agree to disagree and you can perhaps tell us how you think the arm comes so far forward to contact.

About Federer - perhaps you saw him hit a ball in line with his shoulders. The purpose of my article was simply to compare a forehand by Verdasco and one by Scrichiphan and look for commonalties.

At the same time, I'm not sure how you can argue against contacting the ball in front of the body. If you want to argue with a concept as basic as hitting the ball out in front, then I really don't feel like engaging in the debate.

Jeff

[jeffreycounts]

Jeff,
Great article on the straight arm forehand! I think the "stiff arm" football technique is a great visual piece of info. I think that theory is grounded in the physics of the game of tennis. The mass behind the ball is what gives the shot it's "heaviness". By straightening the arm helps you put even more weight into the shot. But I think there is something else at work here too.

By extending the racket out farther away and in front of your body you are creating more racket head speed. Think of looking at a ceiling fan or a record player. The closer to the spoke of the wheel of the record, the slower the record turns on the table. At the edge of the record it is spinning its fastest. You may also think of a windmill. The the power of the windmill comes from harnessing the wind from the edge of the shaft which is traveling the fastest, and is farthest away from the the spinell which cranks the inside of the windmill. I hope this makes sense. It would be a bit easier with pictures.

So, the farther away from the body the racket is, the faster it moves. Of course this is only true is the core of the body is turning in unison and all of the parts of the kinetic chain are turning properly. It is the same idea as the golf swing. The "lag" of the club follows behind the hinge of the hands, and when the hands catch up to the body "snap"! You make contact with the ball at the same time that the club is traveling its fastest during the chain of events which lead up to contact in the golf swing. When the lag in the forehand catches up to the contact point the wrist is still bent, but it is starting to release into the shot. I think this may be why Federer hits so many mishits off of his forehand. The straight arm forehand takes excellent timing. If you are off by a bit the wrist has moved past the contact point and you spray the ball.

Okay, now is the point where everyone gets to poke holes in my theory.....

Jeff H

Jeff H,

I think you bring up some great points. About the fan, I would just suggest that Federer and Nadal's forehands are more linear (forward and up) pulling motions rather than circular rotations around an axis. However, I still think you are right because the shoulders are rotating like a fan and the arm is attached to the rotating core. So if the arm is extended straighter, the tip of the rotating system is farther away. Very interesting point and an excellent analogy.

I definitely think that the added wrist motions Federer uses on many balls makes him prone to mishits and timing errors. When its on, it's the deadliest shot in tennis - one of the biggest weapons the tennis world has ever seen. When it's off, which we saw in the Djokovic match, it can cost him points.

Jeff