Straight Arm Versus Bent Arm Forehands: Part 1

Pat Cash

Bent or Straight? What's the best hitting arm position?

Recently people have been asking me “What the best arm position on the forehand?" Here are some of the questions I get asked.

Do I get more racket head speed with a straight arm forehand? Is a bent arm forehand more consistent than a straight arm forehand?

Can a straight arm forehand cause injuries? Should I copy Nadal or Federer's forehand technique?

I didn't realize there was so much confusion about this but a Google search reveals all sorts of conflicting, wrong, and half true tennis tips from amateur coaches and self-proclaimed experts. No wonder people are confused!

Since I haven't seen any other top level coaches with an understanding of sports biomechanics explain this I'll do so in this two part article. I want to thank my good friend and colleague Brad Langevad for his help in the bio mechanic understanding of this work.

Here is what I'll be covering. What a straight arm forehand is and looks like. What a bent-arm forehand is and looks like. Also the difference between tennis style and tennis technique.

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Pat Cash is an elite player in tennis history, having won more than 400 tour matches, and 19 singles and doubles titles over a 15 year career. In the early 1980's he was the number one junior player in the world, winning at both Wimbledon and the U.S.Open. In 1987 he won the men's singles title at Wimbledon defeating Mats Wilander, Jimmy Connors, and, in the final, Ivan Lendl, a match considered one of the greatest examples of attacking tennis ever played in a Grand Slam final. Today he continues to compete successful on the senior tour. We are thrilled to have Pat as a contributor to Tennisplayer.net!

Visit Pat's official website at http://www.patcash.net

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