The Windshield Wiper
My understanding of the dynamics mentioned in this article is heavily influenced by the Doug King. His article The Leverage Game: Get Behind It completely changed my understanding of the modern game and you may want to read it first.
The windshield wiper forehand relies on a very specific way of configuring and positioning the arm and racket. First the forearm and wrist will twist backwards (supinate) while the arm is brought forwards, butt cap leading the way, to contact. If you do this correctly, on contact you will have:
- The elbow positioned in front of the body
- The palm of the hand will be positioned to the sky (from rotating the hand backwards)
- The tip of the racket will pointed down to the ground (also from rotating the hand backwards)
Now with the hand twisted backwards and the arm brought forwards, you will be in a very unique position. With the racket below the hand, you can pronate the hand as you simultaneously lift the arm upward and push forward from the shoulder. The tip of the racket will go from being below the hand to pointing up to the sky. In the finish, the entire arm has rotated 180 degrees from the shoulder. You can see all of this in the animated clip of Genie Bouchard. I was lucky to get this video of Genie because she is really just blocking the ball back here, but she is doing it in a way that perfectly demonstrates how the wiper forehand works. And it's a great way to teach the stroke.
My favorite analogy for this is to pretend like you are going to turn this big lever. First you would twist your hand backwards to grip the lever (palm facing the sky) and you would bring your arm forward in order to grab it in front of your body for leverage. From this leveraged position, with the hand rotated backwards, you would be able to easily lift the lever as you turned it counter clockwise.
Notice how the tradtional forehand model is being turned on its head here. Instead of a big takeback, Genie's "takeback" is really just a turning backwards of the hand and forearm. The "swing" forward is not a swing but a meeting of the ball in front of the body, with the racket positioned below the hand. And the "follow through" is really a leveraged push and lift of the arm and shoulder, while the hand pronates counter clockwise for spin.
One of my favorite forehands to use as a model is that of the lefty Gilles Muller. The below animation is from Gilles warming up, and it really shows the how this leveraged lift and turn of the ball works.
In the below super high speed clip below, look for all the elements discussed here. Watch how his hand twist backwards as he pulls the racket forward, butt cap leading the way. On contact notice how his elbow is positioned in front of his body plane for leverage. And look at how the palm of the hand is facing the sky while the racket is turned below the hand. And then the "hit" is really a powerful push, lift and turn of the ball using the entire arm, shoulder, and forearm.
THE WIPER SIMPLIFIED
ARM CONFIGURATION ON CONTACT
PUSH, LIFT, TURN
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