The Role of Your Wrist during the Forward Swing

There is a common misconception about the role of your wrist at contact on your forehand. A lot of people think that you are supposed to snap your wrist as you hit the tennis ball, but that is not what should be happening.

When you swing forward, your wrist gets into a position that you keep prior to, at, and after contact. This position does not change during that time. Let’s look at Frank Salazar hitting a forehand and see if this holds true. As he drops the tennis racket down and begins to swing forward, he lays his wrist back. He then maintains this wrist position through contact. If you look Frank at the moment of contact with the tennis ball, his wrist is in the same position as when he was swinging forward. His wrist position does not change until well into his follow through.

Let’s now look at Oliver Akli’s forehand. Oliver is hitting a Windshield Wiper Forehand in this video clip, which is where a lot of the confusion arises because he will follow through a little lower. Again though, as he drops the tennis racket and begins to swing forward, he lays his wrist back just like Frank did. He swings forward and makes contact, and then follows through. The whole time, his wrist stays in the same position. It may be visually confusing, but Oliver is swinging from the shoulder and not with his wrist. The wrist stays in a fixed position until the racket is more or less pointed straight at the net during his follow through.

Come inside and play like you have an unfair advantage.

  • G10
    Thanks Will. This is a good summary of a foundation skill that many players are challenged by. I deal with a lot of players who have the wrist flick deeply embedded (on all shots, including two-handed backhand and volleys). I'm wondering if you can share some tips on how you get players to "undo" this detremental habit. As you so well know, it is one thing to understand the concept, it is a totally different thing to develop the skill or undo a deeply learned motor habit.
    Thanks.
  • grec
    No wrist snap, just a small loop.
  • sambo37
    Just where, exactly, are these two videos? All I see is a bunch of comments.
  • jake
    can you create videos on the two handed backhand fundamentals just like the one in the free email course it really helped alot
  • Antonis Tzortzis
    Hi Will,
    Congratulations for your site and all the wonderfull details you're dealing with!
    I am tryiing to focus into the details of a strong forehand full of spin and pace.
    I've heard about the followig tip: to use the butt of the racket "targeting" the ball or better the shot direction,just before the contact.I think is a common practice of the pros! I've seen Federer,Rodcick,Safin etc doing this during their swings,I mean they select a swing path which brings the butt of the racket targeting first and it seems to me just like ...swaping the racket butt with the racket face at the hitting point.
    Is this correct and is there any tip to achieve it?

    Thanks in advance
    Best Regards
    Antony Tzortzis
    Volos- Greece
  • Tuan Huynh
    thanks for your help
  • Ben
    Hello,

    When I see those slow motion professional player videos on Youtube, I always wonder how their follow-through after contact works. It seems like they actually supinate their wrist, although quite later after contact.

    Your video isn't a new concept to me, but I'm still wondering what the wrist does after contact. I normally keep my wrist in the same position while moving through the windshield wiper, but I see those slo-mo pro videos do otherwise.

    Which is correct? I understand the entire motion (wrist, arm, etc.) should be completely smooth and natural, but I do want to know if even the slightest wrist supination is considered to be, too.

    Thanks for the help, I don't rely much on the Talk Tennis forums to present me with a decent answer. =)
  • stefano
    Hi,
    just a couple of question:
    1. often I have heard that to add spin to the ball one should rotate, as faster as possible, the wrist at the contact point, is it correct?
    2. When I manage to hit the ball very strong there is a real change in the sound coming out from the shot. Unfortunately it happens few times. How to train in order to obtain always such a shots (and sounds)? which is the key secret for this shots (strong, precises and centred). is it the distance from the ball, the timing, the sping, the way we swing, or what else?
    thks
    stefano
  • Hey Stefano. You can pronate to add spin, but that is the wrist and forearm moving as one piece. Like turning a door knob. Be careful -- this is a very advanced technique and I would recommend against most players trying this.

    All the things you listed play a factor in how the ball sounds off your strings. Unfortunately, no silver bullet here. Just a matter of practice.
  • Antonis Arapostathis
    Yes well again, I can't agree with none of your no - pronation and no -wrist statements. Starting with pronation, your model, mr. Akli supinates 90 degrees to get into the racquet-back position, pronates by the same degree until contact, and keeps pronating during follow-through. This is why it is possible to point the butt of the racquet to the contact spot, and then hit the ball with the strings. Otherwise, as all racquet motion would come from the shoulder, the but of the racquet would point towards the players body at all times.


    Regarding wrist, it may be secondary but it helps. First of all we all use wrist to adjust for a not-so-good contact. Second, the fact that mr. Akli changes the position of the wrist after the ball leaves the racquet is caused by the fact that he applied wrist force at the moment of the contact.

    Both wrist and pronation are means of making the duration of the contact a bit longer, "pressing" the racquet onto the ball in a way, in order to apply more spin to the ball. There are other means available as well, and all of them should be used.
  • Never said you don't pronate. And in fact there is lots of pronation in the professional game. That doesn't answer the question, however, of how much you should incorporate into your game.

    Pronation is the forearm and wrist moving together -- the motion is similar to turning a door knob on the forehand.

    Breaking your wrist, however, is a different story. That motion is similar to shooting a basketball and definitely should not be part of the shot.
  • Antonis Arapostathis
    Thank you Will. Yep, you shouldn't snap the wrist in a racquetball way, I am totally cool with that. Do it and you mess up your accuracy and flirt with tendon and wrist injury. But I believe you use the wrist to "gently push" the racquet onto the ball. You don’t try to stabilise the wrist. You actually push the ball. That is, in the wiper motion.

    Watching pros follow through, you can often see the racquet and palm in a centrifugal alignment which rotates round the wrist. The wrist is definitely bent at the end of the motion. I believe this is because they "dance out" this wrist effort.

    I would appreciate it if you commented on my observation regarding straight elbow in your “One-Handed Backhand Fundamentals“ section, “Swing to Contact” step. I read it now and it looks a bit aggressive, sorry about that, you guys have a great site and are doing great work. I am just arguing on technicalities.
  • Soner
    When I'm hitting a forehand i soften my wrist because i saw Roger Federer doing so. After watching this video I tried to lock my wrist and it really hurt. Did I do something wrong or is it about weakness?
  • Michael
    Hi Soner,

    I think your wrist hurts because you did not bent your wrist when you are hitting through the ball. If you do the "double-bend' all through your swing as Will has pointed out in his video, your wrist is automatically locked and you pain should go away. Another thing may help is to try a Western or Semi-western grip.

    Please let me know if it works.
  • You don't want to hold the racket tightly or try and "muscle" your arm / wrist / racket into not moving. You just need to make sure your wrist isn't moving all over the place when you hit.

    Perhaps "lock your wrist" wasn't the best way to phrase things in the video, because I can see how it could create the impression that you should work hard to keep the wrist back.
  • DAMIEN
    Hi !
    I receive this message below, when I try to subscribe to your website. I put in my email address, and It doesn't work.


    System Error Encountered!

    Error

    could not find valid list with the name Website+Subscribers
  • Sam
    Hi Will
    I tried these tips from the progression section, but it did not work with him, just to let you know my son is 10 years old he was ranked number one in 10& under when he was 9 in the state we live in, and now he is playing 12&under and he is ranked #4 , and he 's been playing now for 5 years ,lots of coaches they say he is very advanced for his age, but recently he changed his grip from full wetern to semi-western and since then (almost a year now ) and he is struggling with his forehand, before he was very consistant , now he misses a lot , and he whips most of his foerehand and his wrist is very loose , and always the raquet head leads to the ball before his grip,or hand ,causing him to miss hit the ball, and becuse his wrist is loose when he tries to hit hard , he moves his wrist from the lay back position forward before he hits the ball, it is like he is hitting the ball using only his wrist instead of his arm and shoulder and the whole body,and because he whips the ball now,almost, all the time he hits flat more than hitting with top spin.
    My question is how to make him keep his wrist still from the moment he starts to move the raquet forward till contact point ?
  • Blake
    Hey Sam,
    Your son has the same problem as i do..i think..i tend to hit with a loose wrist too and now i tend to release my wrist too soon and it feels like im wrist slapping the ball. I'm getting little to no spin at all from this and i'm having the same problems as you mentioned; inconsistency and framing. Try to get your son to pronate in his backswing..so his racket face (the side he hits his forehand with) is facing the floor, and then swing. Also try to get him to keep his wrist in the layed back position until after he hits the ball. Hopefully this helps.
  • Michael
    Hi Sam,

    If you ask him to do the "double-bend" as Will has pointed out in his video, the wrist is somewhat locked naturally. If he has already done that, then the problem is not in the wrist but his timing/contact point. The gereral rule is, at impact, the body opens up more as the grip goes more western, and vice versa. I would think for a kid ranks so high, he should not have a problem in the wrist, so I would think the problem is more on the timing/contact point.
  • Jon
    Sam-
    Do you have him shadow the stroke with only his hand and not the racquet? Sometimes when pros make a mistake, they immediately take the racquet out of their hand and perform the stroke the way they meant it with just a hand. The hand is on the same plane as the racquet face. Try having him hit foam balls or regular balls off of short feeds with his hand only, then have him pick up the racquet and maintain the same hand and wrist position. Go back and forth between hand and racquet. Good luck.
  • Tony
    Hello Sam, I'm not sure what is so difficult with your son on the problem of loose wrist. But have you tried to ask him to imagine that his swing forward motion in the forehand was leaded by the butt of the racquet, like aiming the coming ball with the butt of the racquet? Besides, have you check his contact point? I mean if his racquet contact with the ball too far in front of his body, then naturally his wrist has to adjust and become loose.
  • Michele
    Well, well, well. Good to now Oliver doesn't pronate his wrist to get powerfull Forehand. But this raises one question.
    Since I'm consistant with my forehand (mostly thanks to your advices) I'm trying to get it more powerfull. I just can't put too much power on the raquet, and consider that I can lift almost 200 pouds on the bench press, there must be something else I must focus on. I'm sure you can hit as twice as powerfull than me! On what mouvement should I focus more to get a more powerfull forehand?
    Legs, shoulders? I feel like the hip really helps to get a powerfull shot...
    I used to whipe my wrist to hit flat balls in open stance and it sometimes worked, but when it comes to the 2nd or 3rd set, those balls go all in the net.
    Please, help!

    Thank you Will!
  • Kevin
    I believe that the power from a powerful forehand comes from torque.(abs)
  • Hey Sam.  Have you watched our forehand progressions series?  If you use those that should help.  Specifically, in step one we recommend catching the racket with your non-hitting hand during the follow through.  This ensures that you follow through correctly -- which means you have to keep your hitting-arm structure intact through contact and into the follow through.  Watch those and try it w/your son.  Get back to me w/the results and we'll go from there.  GL -- Will
  • sam
    Hi
    My son hits the ball by starting laying his wrist back at the loading position, and from loading position   till contact point he does not lock his wrist he moves his wrist forward as he goes from loading position to contact point  with the ball and most of the time he misses  long and wide specially  when he tries to hit cross court. and in the same time that made his contact point far in front of him,and made him hit the frames a lot.
    And also he used to have a heavy top spin in his forehand when he used to lock his wrist, now he does not, I ried the wrist assist but it did not work , now I'v been reading a lot about the wrist position at contact and I studied so many videos ,  and every one talk about how to do things, but no one talks about how to fix things.
    I realy beleive that you have , maybe , the best tennis site on the web , and I beleive it will be even better if you try to help parents and coaches to correct mistakes when they see it.
    I hope that you can help me with my problem with my son.
    My question again is how to make my son , after laying his wrist back, keep that wrist lock till contact point?
    thanks
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