Loose Wrist on The Forehand 👉 kzfaq.info/get/bejne/Z8ylfs1n17iop2g.html

Definitively ruined my wrist doing this, took 10 months of rehab and still not back to normal, luckily no tears but listen to this man and dont wrist your topspin forehand

Nikola, I really appreciate the most fundamental lesson you are teaching here: as long as you develop your own natural forehand (within the limits of good style and avoiding self-harm), you just don't have to get mad about not being able to replicate those "sick wrist movements"you see in television. Wonderful lesson, as you always do.

Dabbled a little in tennis 33-34 years ago. Broke my right wrist severely in a motocross crash in 2020. The wrist was in several pieces. They did surgery and added a plate/screws. 11 months later the plate sawed completely through my thumb tendon, which caused the loss of use of the mid joint of the thumb, and required another surgery to repair the tendon and remove the plate/screws. I have taken up tennis again with my wife. I have about 70% of my previous flexion, and maybe 60% of my previous extension, as well as reduced hand strength. Your videos have been super helpful in getting me started with building a forehand where my wrist remains in extension through contact!

Great instructions!!! no wonder why my wrist was hurting last time I played. thank you so much.

Definitely something I’m guilty of too - had wrist pain for a while. This is real good info🙏🏽

05:03 this part show me the total logic behind an error that it was in my mind since ever.

I thought I understood the top spin forehand until this video , great instruction, thank you!

Should have watched your clip before i played yesterday. Framed a few forehands. Thanks for the tips.

You’re the best tennis coach on KZfaq that I’ve seen; I’ve stopped watching the other channels completely. Thanks for the great content!

What a revelation! I tend to be a victim of being wristy when I'm under pressure. Thanks for correctly diagnosing my incorrect technique.

You are so good at analyzing the mistakes that low level players make. Thank you so much for your wonderful instructional videos!

Great stuff. Thanks for sharing

I was making this mistake often. This was a very useful tip. Thanks

Nick you are a god send. I am guilty of falling for this stupid trick just recently and yes I had been framing a lot and I was frustrated and blaming my new racquet for it. Thanks for clearing things up. Will remember this lesson for life.

As always, excellent lesson!

Thank you, I used lot of wrist movement (as I played TT before) and two points mentioned here happened to me, 1. Hitting the frame 2, Wrist pain. this video helps

Absolutley Number One! Thank you for sharing this video

regarding 6:01 , I'm reminded of a certain Golf GS champion, Eldrick Woods, who, after a big swing change (=> barely noticable to mortals) said, "Feel and real are not the same." I've always remembered this notion. If Tiger can't feel a change in swing, then any sub 6.0 player has no chance.

I needed this video, thank you.

I felt so identified by when you whipped the wrist for topspin and the ball landed short, with a lot of spin, but short. Opponents would tell me that my forehand didn't do any damage. When I started to maintain my wrist and forearm static, or "passive" through contact, swinging from my shoulder, and only released my forearm upon finishing (I avoid releasing the wrist), my forehand became more consistent, and more importantly, landed deeper in the court. Great video.

Really thanks for the explanation. I have recently been taught to use my wrist for topspin but ended up with all sorts of pain on my wrist as well as elbow. I knew something was wrong.

This is a really good teqnique this is really beneficial I thought the absolute opposite of this teqnique Overall this was a very helpful tutorial ,thank you

Excellent video. I had to come and check because the instructions that come with the TopSpinPro appear to get this aspect completely wrong. They talk about using the wrist as a hinge at contact ... so thanks for so clearly indicating what i thought to be the case.

Wow this helped so much!!

Excellent video... I have been hitting thin from years.. And I have got an elbow pain.. I will try to correct it

I was literally told this today about my forehand, (especially the lack of power) and my wrist was hurting too. Thanks for this, I will need to retrain my brain to stop swiping up all the time.

I have been looking for an answer like this for so long, thank you!

I deffinetly do this will try to see if it improves my forehand to fix it

Hm, I always frame my forehands , that's why !!! Can't wait to try your way tomorrow. It better work because I have a tournament coming up soon lol

What matters at the end of the day is swing path and smoothness. It will naturally or intuitively creat power and top spin for you.

You are a genius coach

the best as always❤️

Coach Nick, Thank you for your video as always. What I learnt the most from this video is actually...where you are "holding" the racquet. Your butt-cap is actually inside of your palm. That made me pronate better!

New video let’s go mate ;)

Awesome video! Sometimes, when I look at Fed's forehand, it seems that he is using his forearm to pronate early. I tried, and it did NOT work! Now I understand better why...

I was looking for the exact same answer everywhere here i found my myth debunked. Thank you very much you rock.

Good tips

Very helpful. My problem too. Still, it feels arm-y & wooden when i try to correct.

Just what the doctor order . thanks for the enlightenment, great stuff

❤️, Thank you sir ! ❤️

Great movie😊 thnx

Interested in a video on closing the racket face. I start with the strings facing side fence, focus on contact, hit across, and finish with back of hand facing left cheek. But, I do not intuitively close like Nick’s/modern forehand in the backswing.

Thank you.

hi there, great vid again, thanks. I am wondering if you could make a comparison and analysis of Fededer's slice serve vs S.Williams's ? these two have the best slice serve on tour from male and female players, however their techniques are quite different, I mean the way of pronation. I'd like to know which one is better for amateurs to copy?

I frame the balls like you mentioned. In fact I saw someone else do it as well. Wish I could share this video with them.

Excellent

Sizin sayenizde tenisi öğrendim. Tenis hocalarım bile şaşırıyor yaptıklarıma.

Hey Nik, have you done a video on split stepping? I was never really able to learn it when I played tennis about a decade ago. I would love to hear your take on how to do the split step as well as its importance in the game of tennis for everyone who wants to learn or continue playing tennis. Your videos are amazing! I've seen my serve improve just be listening to your advices!

perfect!

I agree with you analysis. How does this relate to racquet head speed and the wrist's role?

Hi Nikola, great insight, thanks. I am guilty of saying don’t use your wrist but rather your forearm on your forehand. I understand from watching this video that neither description is correct but a question: How would you put into words the arm motion on the forehand? Would you call it full arm pronation? What would your description be?

Thanks!

So topspin is imparted by raising the shoulder low to high in the forward direction and having a firm wrist at the contact i.e flexed and some rolling of wrist is involved at the end. Is this the summary?

so what about the wrist lag? How do we time that? Check on Janik Sinner's forehand, being skinny he generates lots of power by using the wrist lag? How do we train for this? :)

Have you ever seed fed hit a forehand in slow mo? He pronates instantly after contact..

ive been having a lot of outer wrist pain (ulnar) from my forehand since returning to tennis. I believe I do as you say in this video and move my wrist at the point of contact. However this has been my forehand since i was 12 years old. how can I retrain my muscle memory so that i keep a "relaxed/stable" wrist through the point of contact as you say?

so what is the key to hitting heavy topspin , besides a vertical swing path?

Definitely a helpful video but I have failed to understand at what time you are advising the use of wrist and forearm??????

So how does one hit a GS/FH/TS short inside the service box then ?

Great video. I do notice your right elbow tends to be very close to your body during your forehand swing, (in many of your videos). Would you not advice to have that elbow away from your body ? Thanks.

Is kyrgios' forehand a good example? (not his slapper)

On Instagram a very high profile French coach is advocating wrist on the forehand ...😱

I've been waiting for this video! As usual - fantastic stuff. I identified literally with every word. I catch the frame really often, because I mistime my shots. Seemed like Wellington (in your previous video). I try not using my wrist at all (your forehand videos say that clearly). But if I am too early on the shot, the wrist is the only saviour to keep the ball in. For e.g. on very low balls, the wrist flick can save the shot. So, basically my main issue is that I can't time my forehand. I tried using your guidance of timing the takeback or separation of the unit turn, but at my level the ball comes at wildly varying speeds. I guess there's no shortcut here - it needs practice to get the takeback timing right. But is there any more guidance than just at the bounce or before the bounce ?

What about this concept of "racquet head speed" to attain maximal topspin? Seems its hard to do without accelerating with the wrist and forearm just prior to contact. What then does Rafa do which is different than Roger and others to get those insane level of RPMs?

I'm feeling lot of nerve pain in the middle of the inner right elbow. Wonder if my forehand is to blame...

Great instruction. I think it is so easy to get caught up in so many other technique points on the forehand, but as you point out, a laid back lagging relaxed wrist on contact should be the overriding goal. Arm lift and create spin from there. And your tip at the end about the wrist at finish, the 2 options you present, was great.

Thanks

I had a coach try to change my forehand to use the wrist at contact. No thank you! I didn't take another lesson.

Very good video. It almost feel like you are describing my forehand problem. I have low power but creates good topspin . I also hit lot of mishits due to frame & suffering from wrist tendonitis. I use wrist a lot in my forehand and I am trying to get away from. Do you have any drills or suggestions how to get rid of wristy forehand ?

I’ve got a question regarding a specific situation? If I get a very low ball around a service line area and approaching it I need to play a forehand, I was told by my coach to use forearm and wrist to get that topspin to get the ball over the net but not overshoot it to the fence. Any thoughts on such case? Thanks! BTW: love your videos and as soon as I am over in the US, would love to have a training with you.

Why so many tennis instructors teach exactly to do that with your hand? A - Because they don't know what they are teaching B - Because they lack communication skills C - Both of the above D - I don't know In the beginning I was doing just that, as my teacher was telling me to brush the ball. Of course I was trying to do that with my arm and wrist. Results were a lot of framed or thin balls, impossible to attack low paced balls. I totally lost confidence in my forehand untill I watched Nik's videos and realized it must always be the body-torso rotation to drive the raquet head through the contact. No matter what. Wrist and arm are just joints that must have no active role in hitting top spins, now it's clear. I guess maybe they can be slightly slightly active only for advanced players who want to add some extra shape their shot or disguise it. But even then I guess it's a more feeling driven action, more instinctive than voluntary and basically risky. I am a beginner, started just one year ago, and everyone, teacher as mates, was bombarding my brain with this top spin thing...and I was totally messed up with it. Now one one thing is clear and changed shots dramatically for me: the more you voluntarily engage wrist and arm in the top spin the more you'll have no consistency and no power. Can't thank you enough for your precious teaching Nik!

A good video but I couldn't understand how to get topspin if wrist or forearm is not to be used???????

Truth

The neutral wrist with some degree of ulnar to radial deviation is superior to the stuff you will hear tennis instructors promote.

Fed uses wrist (I disagree with your argument about static on contact when slowmo is too slow you have to see the bigger picture), Djokovic uses elbow, Nadal just use his torso. But most rec players can’t do any of this. Of course they have all the fundamentals and they can hit without using wrist and hit the taught way but their natural shot is just different. Their body is just different from most normal human so don’t imitate them.

Hey, Nik i would like to ask something. This lesson applies for the ground strokes or for all strokes. Is there a time when you receive a short low ball when you try your approach shot you can use your wrist because I thought that I have seen atp players on the tour that use the wrist for approach shots when the tip of the racket before contact is pointing down and then they use the wrist to lift the ball? I would like you to explain that! Have a nice day !! 😊

Diagnosed my problem perfectly. Where are you located, looks like California?

I feel like when people are wristy they have trouble allowing the wrist to passively extend. Flexible to firm as Peter Burwash would say.

Feds and nadal hit with a straight arm. 99% of players don’t do this so I would prefer other examples. I also think if players found out about this they would start to tighten up on contact, trying to force a passive wrist. Best for players to know less. However good info if a player is too loose at contact.

Love from India ❤️

Nik, Is that a leather grip? Love that feel.

So when Taylor Fritz says rotate the wrist to get topspin you say he doesn't know what he is doing?

👍

Interesting that there are different philosophies out there. Mauro Marcos advocates using the wrist, however not breaking the wrist for a windshield wiper motion. Tom at TPATennis does as well. In a recent video of him working with a player going pro he demonstrates using the wrist to lead the rotation of the forearm in the stroke. Here's his video about this: kzfaq.info/get/bejne/np-gd9Cey8y4p58.html and here's Mauro Marco's instruction on this as well: kzfaq.info/get/bejne/rcddZqqE2b_Mj30.html But other instructors such as Ian Westerman and Jeff Salzenstein are in Coach Nik's corner and don't advocate using the wrist for the windshield wiper forehand. Salzenstein says explicitly that he does not teach the windshield wiper forehand.

Another great video. Superb explanation. You have advised not to use WRIST or FOREARM for Topsin but please explain How to get Topsin then???????. Please explain the role of wrist and FOREARM in Flat forehand.

Omg. I think I use a lot of wrist. 😿. Can I send a vid of me? Where can I send you a video?

So then how do you impart topspin on the ball?

Nikola, I think the turn of the wrist in this direction is called supernation. Pronation is the other direction, which is used for serving.

When I frame the ball, most of the time it becomes a winner, in a weird way 😎

Great content. I find also leaning forward and hitting the ball earlier helps getting over the ball and adds the top spin, without needing the wrist action. Would be good to see a video on the contact point of the ball with a forehand topspin, I naturally don't lean forward and therefore am always standing up straight or lean back a little and naturally I always hit long.

I 100% have this, but how do I prevent myself from using my wrist during contact?

I partially disagree. Forehand is a very complex movement and wrist do partecipate at the movement, before hitting the ball. Watch a Nadal forehand slowmotion (or other topspin players). When preparation is completed ("tap the dog "point) , foreharm is always perpendicular to the racket . But at the hitting point the angle is less than 90 degrees. With Nadal this is evident. It means that wrist is pronating before the contact , not after. Surely this movement is small, but there is. Otherwise , if you maintain your wrist rigid at the contact point , the racket moves just forward and its path finishes in front of you, not with the classical windshield wiper rotation.

I made the same mistake and injury my wrist 😂

I'm so guilty of "wristing" balls on my forehand

Did you see Thiem's last forehand he played on Mallorca? Using too much wrist?

like

How come your stable wrist forehand landed in exactly the same spot as you incorrect wristy forehand? How come your demo shots are all done standing straight up with no knee and hip drive? How come Roger Federer (and Rod Laver for that matter) shank more forehands than the next ten best pro forehands combined? I like your point but never command my students to do things - I describe, demonstrate, then build in them the new components. Passive wrist is an excellent term. But you don't so much keep it passive; the force of the impact with the incoming ball is what keeps it passive. And then the passive wrist/forearm will fold or appear to whip because the pressure create through impact is gone once the ball leaves and the body runs out of steam. And the racket path in tennis is best derived with body movement. The more core force, the more compression of the ball, i.e. more power. You also correctly alluded to the correct situation to use the wrist/forearm - that would be if you want a soft angle or a spinny, lightweight ball. So it is the opposite of what most people think - more wrist, less power (due to less compression); the more passive the wrist along with more core work, more power (due to more ball compression). Good video.

RIP to us with Western forehands

Yes. Yes. This is NOT table tennis !!!!