Using your wrist for the backhand

Jeremiah Sbarra Asked 14 years ago

 Apropos to your current Master Class re: use of wrist.

My friend and opponent has a killer backhand. He is able to get good topspin against underspun balls as well as against topspin and even can do this over the table. A visiting coach claimed he was " too wristy ". Is this a bad thing?

Also, several other better players in the club have short forehand wrist forehand drives rather than traditional counter hit drives. This doesn't seem right but they are quite successful. Your comments please.

Thanks, I really enjoy your website.

Jerry

Jeff Plumb Answered 14 years ago

Hi Jerry,

It sounds like your friend has an excellent backhand. The backhand is a perfect stroke for using the wrist. And as you mention it does allow you to play some good strokes over the table as we talk about in our backhand sidespin flick lesson.

For the backhand topspin it is hard to be too wristy. If you are trying to block the ball with a lot of control you don't want to much wrist, but if you want to hit it harder then you do start to use your wrist. So I don't think being too wristy on the backhand is a problem.

You mention that several players are using their wrist successfully on the forehand. Personally I find that you can't use your wrist in the same manner on the forehand as you do in the backhand. It is just too inconsistent. If you watch all the top players the wrist is not that noticeable on the forehand. Sometimes they use the wrist more to angle the ball rather than to brush through the ball. It would be interesting to see their forehands under pressure if they are just using a lot of wrist. When the ball comes faster it would be difficult to time it right.