Soft Hands

Before every serve and every return of serve, Federer spins his racket in his hand. What seems like a nervous tic is a very important self-reminder to keep a loose grip on the racket. McEnroe called it "soft hands" and credited his loose grip with providing his excellent touch. As it turns out, a loose grip is a lot more than that. It is the one-and-only path to both power and control.

Most of us grip the racket tighter when we hit the ball hard and softer when we hit it soft. I did that for so many years that I reduced my right elbow joint to a bag of marbles. It was only when pain prevented me from applying my "death grip" that I discovered the importance of soft hands. The firmer the grip, the weaker and more unpredictable the flight of the ball off the racket. Like all counterintuitive truths this one is backed by strong science; the physics of impulse and momentum:

Impulse represents force applied to an object multiplied by the time the force is applied (impulse = force X time). Impulse applied to a tennis ball results in a change in the ball's momentum (its speed and direction). The change in momentum is only in the direction of the force applied to the ball. Impulse can cancel out all of the random effects on the direction of our shot such as the incoming direction of the ball, the spin on the ball, even the direction that the racket face is facing at the moment of contact. Think of the serve; the racket face goes from pointing at the left side wall (for a right-hander) immediately before the point of contact to the right side wall immediately afterward. If you think anyone is coordinated enough to time the instant of contact with the ball so that the racket face is pointing at the service box, you are crazy wrong. The ball finds that little service box because the racket is accelerating into the ball in the direction of the box - delivering impulse exclusively in that direction.

The momentum delivered into the ball has little to do with "racket head speed". On the contrary, if the racket head speed is at its maximum when the ball and racket meet, acceleration of the racket head is at a minimum, so the force on the racket is zero and impulse will be negligible. That means no "pop" off the racket and a random vector of the ball off the racket with loss of consistency

To achieve maximum impulse and control a loose grip is essential, and this is why:

At the point of contact the ball tends to push the racket backward. The racket's inertia counters this effect, but the muscular tension in your forearm is critical. Muscles are like adjustable springs. When tensed they turn into tighter springs. They don't change tension fast enough to react to the ball hitting the racket, so they need to be pre-tensioned to oppose the momentum of the ball and deliver impulse onto it. A problem arises if you put the ole' death grip on the racket; all of the muscles will be tensed, and the force of the muscles pushing the racket forward will be balanced and canceled by the opposing muscles of the forearm. It will be like two very tight springs- one in the front pulling forward and one in the back pulling back (see demo "Death-Grip Tennis" below). The only way to prevent this effect, and achieve true impulse, is to fully relax all the muscles in the forearm then tighten only the prime motivators of the stroke - the muscles driving the racket into the ball. Relaxing the opposing muscles creates a "pop" as the ball hits the racket. This pop creates the "snap of the wrist" sensation (see demo "SOFT-Grip Tennis"). You will hear a musical "ping" sound as the ball hits the racket face. If you start with a very relaxed grip and keep it as relaxed as possible through the stroke the only muscles that will be tense during the load will be the "prime motivators" needed to drive the racket head through the ball. None of this can happen if the opposing muscles are tense during the stroke. The result is the dreaded "rubber elbow" and a weak, inaccurate shot.

The process by which we isolate tension to the the prime motivators begins with the "lock" portion of "lock, load and explode". Holding the racket with a loose grip in an over-rotated position on the backswing - fully pronated with a mildly cocked wrist in the forehand, for example, relaxes the muscles and prepares them for the stretch-shortening that follows. As the acceleration force comes from the legs and torso through the shoulders to the forearm, the inertia of the accelerating racket head under acceleration will cause the racket face to open and the head of the racket to flip and lag behind the wrist. The prime motivators (i.e., the flexor pronator in the forehand stroke) automatically tense as they are stretched. Later, at the moment of contact, the forces stored in the muscles will be released as impulse injected directly into the ball.

The result will be a solid shot that goes where you direct it. Specifically, it goes in the direction of the force applied at the moment of contact. I won't pretend that the forces involved are simple, but they are all under your control. With the right grip, backswing, and timing - awesome consistency is possible.

What happens if you want to give the ball a ride, and your legs, hips, core, and forearm generate so much energy that it overrides the ability of the wrist and forearm to keep the racket pointing at the court? Nothing good. The ball will go very fast and very out. We call this Over-modulation and the is one way to find yourself outside of The Zone.

Loose Grip Checklist -
1. Loose Grip! Before, during and after every strike.
2. Must feel the ping of the ball off the strings! Beware the dreaded "thud"!
3. Never puff the ball! Not even on drop shots or lobs. Always hit with authority or ball will misbehave!
4. Never muscle the ball! All power must come from POP.