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John, I came across this online exchange between Heath and one of his students. All I can say is I don't agree with his thoughts, and I think he's insanely dogmatic, and even more insane to insist that Agassi's forehand is outdated and thus, defective technique.
Addendum: I re-read Heath's post, and he states that high speed video shows that the wrist is at a neutral handshake position upon contact. This simply is not true, because at impact, it is plainly obvious that the racket is at a 90 degree angle to the forearm (when viewed from the side). This is unachievable, anatomically, with a neutral, handshake wrist position.
Heath's Student: The double bend is the key forehand structure that ALL pros use to hit their forehands. The double bend is a term coined by John Yandell, author of Visual Tennnis. Double Bend refers to a 45 degree bend in the elbow and a 45 - 90 degree bend in the wrist. You must lock into this double bend structure as you lower your racket in the backswing, and you must maintain this structure all the way to contact, and just after contact.
and when i try to strech my wrist to the back my arm become stiff so i lose the double bend
Heath's Response: all i can say is wow. in my opinion this is outdated information that you have received. this is information that might have been true several years ago but this does not hold true with today's biggest forehand strikers such as federer, nadal, saafin, haas, blake, gasquet, and so on.
have you seen the frame by frame PROnalysis videos on the the forehand stretch shortening cycle? these clearly demonstrate the PROPER and undeniable wrist action that occurs in the majority of the male players on tour.
so many coaches are being misled all over the world because of a lack of coaches keeping up with the current game and many are still coaching to lay the wrist back and lock it into position and as you say "maintain this structure all the way to contact, and just after contact". this could not be further from the truth and of course you will not be able to maintain this so called "double bend" because you are not supposed to maintain this double bend stucture. just look at federer, nadal, tursonov, safin, haas, nalbandian, coria, blake, gasquet, moya, ferrero, hewitt, etc etc... and you can clearly see that not one of them have a laid back wrist at contact and definitely not after contact. please observe that these players are in the act of pronating from the supinated position achieved in the bottom of the downswing. if ever it looks like the wrist is laid back it is merely that the pronation was late and the player did not obtain the desired nuetral wrist postion (hand shaking position) by time of ball impact. of course when these players hit down the line or insideout there will be an appearance of wrist extension at contact but remember to look at the whole picture of the wrist movement. they are actually pronating from a supinated extended position at the bottom of the downswing through contact.
HOWEVER many girls on tour still have this issue typically due to old style coaching (sharapova, davenport you can see in the PROnalysis video "men vs women") doing this laid back and locked wrist structure and agassi whose technique is beautiful but outdated by today's standards as he primarily finishes over the shoulder with his ending as do most of the women using the old style of "legs to drive the ball and more linear style swing with linear forces used of yesteryear".
in todays game however on the male side of the tour the forehand is what we call in the ace system, the "millennium forehand", where open stances, supination/pronation (wrist action,rotational forces, and angular momentum are the key factors in the forehand of today. so this "double bend" structure you are talking about did exist but has been on the way out for several years now as the millennium forehand has taken over and continues to advance in it's form.
if you are still primarily ending over the shoulder with your finish then i recommend giving the millennium forehand endings a try as well as the stretch shortening cycle wrist action and see what a difference it will make in achieving vast racquet speed with little effort compared to that of the "locked wrist" structure you mention. when the wrist is laid back prematurely the wrist flexors are prestretched too soon and one does not gain the rubber band effect of the stretch reflex. people who tell you that their is or should be NO WRIST movement during the forehand are merely not up on the latest advancements in the game or simply cannot see them. it is my job as a professional tour coach (a current wta/atp registered tour coach), to keep my players on the cutting edge of technique, and anything that i share with you here on our site has already been tested and proven.
remember anyone can give an opinion on tennis, but an opinion is an opinion, and one must make sure that they test these so called theories or opinions out for themselves and see if they work for them. i would caution all readers to make sure to test out all theories or opinions for themselves whether they are from me or any other person who claims to have an opinion and let your eyes be the judge of what is fact or fiction :)
Addendum: I re-read Heath's post, and he states that high speed video shows that the wrist is at a neutral handshake position upon contact. This simply is not true, because at impact, it is plainly obvious that the racket is at a 90 degree angle to the forearm (when viewed from the side). This is unachievable, anatomically, with a neutral, handshake wrist position.
Heath's Student: The double bend is the key forehand structure that ALL pros use to hit their forehands. The double bend is a term coined by John Yandell, author of Visual Tennnis. Double Bend refers to a 45 degree bend in the elbow and a 45 - 90 degree bend in the wrist. You must lock into this double bend structure as you lower your racket in the backswing, and you must maintain this structure all the way to contact, and just after contact.
and when i try to strech my wrist to the back my arm become stiff so i lose the double bend
Heath's Response: all i can say is wow. in my opinion this is outdated information that you have received. this is information that might have been true several years ago but this does not hold true with today's biggest forehand strikers such as federer, nadal, saafin, haas, blake, gasquet, and so on.
have you seen the frame by frame PROnalysis videos on the the forehand stretch shortening cycle? these clearly demonstrate the PROPER and undeniable wrist action that occurs in the majority of the male players on tour.
so many coaches are being misled all over the world because of a lack of coaches keeping up with the current game and many are still coaching to lay the wrist back and lock it into position and as you say "maintain this structure all the way to contact, and just after contact". this could not be further from the truth and of course you will not be able to maintain this so called "double bend" because you are not supposed to maintain this double bend stucture. just look at federer, nadal, tursonov, safin, haas, nalbandian, coria, blake, gasquet, moya, ferrero, hewitt, etc etc... and you can clearly see that not one of them have a laid back wrist at contact and definitely not after contact. please observe that these players are in the act of pronating from the supinated position achieved in the bottom of the downswing. if ever it looks like the wrist is laid back it is merely that the pronation was late and the player did not obtain the desired nuetral wrist postion (hand shaking position) by time of ball impact. of course when these players hit down the line or insideout there will be an appearance of wrist extension at contact but remember to look at the whole picture of the wrist movement. they are actually pronating from a supinated extended position at the bottom of the downswing through contact.
HOWEVER many girls on tour still have this issue typically due to old style coaching (sharapova, davenport you can see in the PROnalysis video "men vs women") doing this laid back and locked wrist structure and agassi whose technique is beautiful but outdated by today's standards as he primarily finishes over the shoulder with his ending as do most of the women using the old style of "legs to drive the ball and more linear style swing with linear forces used of yesteryear".
in todays game however on the male side of the tour the forehand is what we call in the ace system, the "millennium forehand", where open stances, supination/pronation (wrist action,rotational forces, and angular momentum are the key factors in the forehand of today. so this "double bend" structure you are talking about did exist but has been on the way out for several years now as the millennium forehand has taken over and continues to advance in it's form.
if you are still primarily ending over the shoulder with your finish then i recommend giving the millennium forehand endings a try as well as the stretch shortening cycle wrist action and see what a difference it will make in achieving vast racquet speed with little effort compared to that of the "locked wrist" structure you mention. when the wrist is laid back prematurely the wrist flexors are prestretched too soon and one does not gain the rubber band effect of the stretch reflex. people who tell you that their is or should be NO WRIST movement during the forehand are merely not up on the latest advancements in the game or simply cannot see them. it is my job as a professional tour coach (a current wta/atp registered tour coach), to keep my players on the cutting edge of technique, and anything that i share with you here on our site has already been tested and proven.
remember anyone can give an opinion on tennis, but an opinion is an opinion, and one must make sure that they test these so called theories or opinions out for themselves and see if they work for them. i would caution all readers to make sure to test out all theories or opinions for themselves whether they are from me or any other person who claims to have an opinion and let your eyes be the judge of what is fact or fiction :)
No wonder I keep getting on your nerves.
I bet it's even clear on the earliest strokes I sent in.
Anyway, it's sure been a lot more fun playing tennis lately without my forehand tied behind my back.
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