The Straight Arm Forehand

Tom Downs

In my opinion, one of the great things about pro tennis is observing and looking at the different styles and types of forehands in detail. Literally no two players on the pro tour, men or women, hit their forehand with exactly the same swing pattern.

In today's game, the forehand is categorized into specific types with regards to hitting arm positions. Any forehand which possesses a bend in the elbow and wrist, regardless of the size of the bend, is termed a doubled bend forehand. And a forehand with a straight arm at contact is called a straight arm forehand. The majority of forehands on the pro tour are double bend, but two of the games biggest forehands are those of Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer and they use the straight arm forehand more often than not. In this article, we will look at the advantages of the straight arm forehand over the double bend forehand, and why club level players should develop a straight arm forehand.

In earlier generations, up until the 1970's, when tennis was dominated by Australian and Americans, most players used a continental grip on the forehand side or maybe an eastern grip, and these players would have a straight arm forehand. Obviously their backswings were very different, as they would often take the racquet back very low without a loop, and with a straight arm, or slightly bent arm. The majority of these players would try to get to the net as early as possible in the point, and they played most of their tournaments on grass where the ball wouldn't bounce anywhere nearly as high as in today's game. This meant that they could use conventional, continental forehand grips which favored lower bouncing balls, as their forehands would be hit from about waist high or below.

John McEnroe and Jimmy Connors played with fairly conventional grips and took their racquets straight back and down without a looped backswing. These two legends played throughout the 1970s, when straight armed forehands with low takebacks were very common, the 1980's when these backswings with straight arm forehands were less common, and then early into the 1990's when the double bend was very much the dominant hitting arm position. They succeeded in each of the three decades, with Connors reaching the US Open semi finals at age 39.

Like today's players who have straight arm forehands, Connors and McEnroe had very short compact swings and, as I said, conventional grips. They also hit through the ball, much like Federer does, but with less topspin. But that's where the similarities in the swings end. Federer, as do the other players of this generation with the same hitting structure, use a looped backswing where his dominant hitting hand clearly gets above his hitting elbow and the racquet is held high, in what we call, the interim position. Because he has a looped backswing, which allows him to generate greater racquet speed than a player who takes the racquet straight back and down, he hits through the ball with greater velocity than Connors and McEnroe.

Federer's arm will straighten out as he takes his racquet back, and from the slot position, his racquet will travel in a more inward to outward path than either Connors or McEnroe. Federer's contact point is further out in front than those of both Connors and McEnroe, partially because of the more modern grip he uses, which allows him to generate far more topspin than Mac or Jimmy could.

The Double Bend

Growing up in Australia, I was taught to play tennis with an eastern forehand grip, and my backswing consisted of a small loop where my dominant hitting hand barely got above the height of my hitting elbow, and my elbow at contact was straight. As I progressed into my teens, the double bend forehand was becoming the most talked about and used forehand in player development. And the older school straight arm forehand with an eastern grip was becoming outdated.

My coaches would tell me that racquet head acceleration would be greater with a double bend forehand, along with a semi western forehand grip. Those coaches told me to imagine holding a piece of string tied to a stone and twirling the string around with my arm in a double bend structure. Then they would have me twirl the string as fast as I could with my arm in a straight arm structure. In the double bend structure I was able to twirl the stone much faster than in a straight arm structure and this was their way of showing me the double bend would allow me to accelerate my racquet head more.

I have always had a very strong interest in the technical aspects of tennis, and find it amazing how the game has changed over the years, especially since I was a junior.

I admit that when I first looked at a lot of Federer forehands in slow motion from various parts of the court, I was shocked to see his arm straight at contact for most (straight arm) when executing most of his forehands and bent at contact (double bend) for some. I noticed that Federer hit straight arm forehands on almost every inside out and inside in forehand, as he was hitting through the ball more. He also had a straight arm hitting structure when hitting higher balls. On all the straight arm forehands that Federer hit, his contact point was further out in front than when he hit a double bend forehand.

Watching these various clips of his forehand certainly made me want to have a closer look at his backswing to identify any differences in both the double bend structure and the straight arm hitting structure. Surprisingly, his backswing was the same for every forehand. The interesting thing I saw was that Federer straightens out his arm as he moves his racquet back and maintains it straighter than any of the other players. He does this so that he has two options. He can either keep his elbow in the straight arm hitting position, or allow it to fall into the double bend at the last second.

The main advantage of the straight arm forehand is that it allows you to hit through the ball more and still generate hard topspin. In reality, the racquet head doesn't travel parallel to the ground  from the slot position, rather it moves in a circular path from the players left to right from this slot position on the way to the contact. I refer to this as the hand accelerating up and thru the ball from the slot. With his straight arm hitting structure, and conventional grip, Federer is able to lay back his wrist at about 90 degrees. When he hits a double bend forehand, his lay back is somewhere near 70 degrees. Players that have double bend forehands, and a semi western, or more extreme grip, are only able to lay their wrists back somewhere between 60 to 80 degrees  and therefore cannot hit thru the ball as much as Federer.

I've looked at a lot of forehands in slow motion on a regular basis, and along with Federer, the guys with the straight arm forehands are Verdasco, Philippoussis, Nadal and Soderling. With the exception of Nadal, who has a solid full western forehand grip, it must be noted that the other players with straight arm forehands, have slightly more conventional grips than their double bend counterparts. And all of them, Nadal included, straighten out their arms as they take their racquets back, unlike in a  double bend forehand where the bend in the wrist and elbow remains solid throughout the entire swing. Federer and Verdasco both have hybrid grips (that is, their index base knuckle sits in between bevels 3 and 4 on the handle), and majority of double bend hitting structured forehands are executed with semi western forehands.

A lot of the great players have double bend forehands. Novak Djokovic is a classic example. He has a more extreme grip than his straight arm colleagues, and still generates a tremendous amount of racquet head speed. His lay back in his wrist isn't as great as Federer's, his contact point is further out to the side and isn't as far out in front, and as a result, he lacks the ability to hit thru the ball like Federer does, because of his double bend hitting structure.

I believe all club players should develop a straight arm forehand. Like Federer and the other players that use this hitting structure, they will be able to hit through the ball more, as their wrists will be more laid back and the racquet will travel in a slight up and through the ball swing path from the slot. In addition, they will be able to get more body weight moving into the ball, as the contact point will be further in front than if they had a more extreme grip and double bend structure.

I realize a forehand differs from a boxer throwing a punch, but if a boxer wants to throw an ideal punch, he wants to make sure his opponent is a good distance in front so he can connect with a straight arm at contact. I know that a boxer's arm straightens out as his fist moves towards its target, unlike in a forehand where the hitting arm straightens as the racquet is going back, but I look at the key similarity here. And that is there is tremendous body weight going into something that is hit in front of the body. Don't get me wrong though. I don't want the elbow super stiff at contact either. Rather, the straight hitting arm is a lever arm which means more racquet head speed.

To develop a straight arm forehand, begin by studying some of the best in the world, and try to emulate one of their swings that would work for you. And you've got some great swings to choose from: del Potro, Soderling, Federer, Verdasco and Philippoussis When you have selected which players' swing you could best emulate, then do some shadow swings with and without a racquet. After doing these, preferably in front of a mirror, have someone feed you some balls while you hit from the service line and focus on hitting the ball in front, along with the other technical elements mentioned in this article.

Another good idea is to use a soccer ball. Have someone on the other side of the net feed it to you and, from the service line, try to hit it in front with a sound straight arm hitting structure. The ball must clear the net and have some degree of forwards rotation (topspin) on it.

In my mind, the two best shots in the history of tennis are the Sampras serve and the Federer forehand. As would be the case if you were going to copy the Federer forehand, developing a straight arm forehand has nothing to do with strength. Obviously, it is unrealistic for club players to expect to hit a straight arm forehand as well as Federer. After all, he's a special player with a special forehand. And it will take a lot of rehearsal and dedication to develop an efficient straight arm forehand, but I guarantee it'll be worth effort, as you'll be able to hit through the ball a lot more and with better quality. 

Your comments are welcome. Let us know what you think about Tom Downs' article by emailing us here at TennisOne.

Tom Downs

Tom has and extensive coaching background, and has been a member of the Institute team for several years. He has served as our Head Staff Professional, and is currently the Traveling Coach for Institute players. He has traveled with several of our Tour players including Laura Granville and Carly Gullickson, who won the US Open Mixed Doubles title in 2009.

Tom has worked with junior and other professional players, including Sam Stosur and Rennae Stubbs, at all 4 Grand Slam events, as well as other major tournaments around the world. Tom graduated from the University of South Florida in 2005 with a degree in communications. As a successful junior player, Tom represented Australia, and was consistently ranked in the top 10 in all age groups in Australia. He played college tennis at South Carolina State University and was a member of their conference championship team in 2004.