I've personally felt all the talk that I read about the backhand being diffilcult is nonsense.It's not rocket science,the only reason that complicates the one-handed motion,is missing your contact.

This is the beat explanation with pictures I have encountered in any instruction on this shot.If you have always liked a one-handed backhand,then this simplifies it,because it's not a shot beyond anyone.

http://www.imagesbyevvy.com/tennisforall/article%201.htm

For me, a one handed backhand is far more aesthetically pleasing than someone walloping a two handed backhand.

GOPIO!

Brakkus, I enjoyed the article, thanks for that :) .. nice bite-sized overview of the backhand.. :ok: And a handy little animated example of the shot as well!

I agree with Yorkshire, a good one-handed backhand really is a thing of beauty to watch. I will always have a preference for someone who plays the shot in this way. It provides more variety of shotmaking, and as the article indicates is evidence of a player not going down the easier route of thwacking the ball with a two-handed shot, and actually taking time to develop a backhand technique..

I like the focus on the key issue of how cleanly the ball is hit, and the lower margin for error compared to the forehand. I think that there is also an issue about the grip that a player uses in executing the shot, how much topspin they want to generate.

Of course it also provides a little insight into the Rafa topspin forehand to Federer one-hand backhand. You know what, I thought I saw Fed play a two-handed backhand in the exhibition match against Rafa recently, but the clip that I saw was rather poor quality, so couldn't tell for sure!

I think that the sliced backhand is much easier than the topspin backhand. I used to play sliced backhands a lot, and then developed a handy crosscourt topspin backhand - yay! Technically, it's more than a little dubious :lol: . I've developed a kind of backhand push down the line when midcourt (with a hint of topspin.. I think!!), but would love to add the dtl topspin backhand to my game.

But bck to the pro stuff.. (!) The one-handed backhand should be applauded as it is fast becoming a rarity in the game. I think that it is more prevalent in the men's game than the women's game though.

I think the reason is that the women generally hit the ball flatter than the men, and it's easier to drive through the ball with a double-hander than a single handed backhand. :)

Hi guys,thanks for the replies.I have been fortunate enough to have practiced and played with both the two hands and the one.
While I can get a very consistent flat hit with the two hands,it does feel very limiting.It's not that practical either if you want drive your shot and get to the net,although Mr Safin does this well.I had a bout of TE recently,due to my stick,which was the old Wilson pro tour90.It was too demanding and I kept contacting late(poor fitness and footwork).

Changed back and got a new racquet which I was able to handle.Being slightly older,I'm from the Mcenroe,Becker,and Edberg era,so I love that whole style of backhand and volley coming into the net.Also I'm a shorter player 5ft 8".I prefer a mixture of baseline and getting to the net as much as I can.
The one-hander just feels freer,and more elegant.I think the mechanics of the stroke are no harder than a two-hander,but it's the precise positioning of your body to the ball.That takes time to develop,and you can really cheat with the two hands,when not in position.Obviously with one hand when you can't topspin,sometimes you have to bunt it back or if you are going away from the net,then slice is the only option.

So while I'm more one dimensional with a two-hander,I love the variety of the one,and I'm prepared to hit more defensive shots if I have to to play it.I just think it's shame that the one-hander is dying out,as I like both shots.

One-handed backhands are ace! :D

Two-handers can look cumbersome, and don't always help you to get that extra step after your shots, whereas it is much easier to connect a one-handed backhand to you next shot or movement.

Also, it's much easier to convert to a slice, and if you are out of position with your feet, it is easier to play some sort of shot (even a poke) with a one-hander.

Mind I am biased, and I know mine is pretty good! :D

I've got a one-hander as well :D

Its become a trend nowadays to change from a single-hander to double-hander. Double handers have to be a natural shot or it doesnt work. I like a single hander, you get more extension of the arm on the run and its great for approach shots when you can slice it low.

My backhand is very graf-esque. I 90% slice it, but if someone comes in with a crappy approach shot, i unleash the topspin backhand pass :D

and the fence gets it roflmao

Not all the time :unsure: roflmao

My passing backhand is ultra-flat, like a missile.

I've had many a person go "s***" as the missile has flown towards their midriff, and spoon the volley into the net or over the fence roflmao

My major weapon is the forehand, that draws a few 'shits' as well when it zooms past them roflmao

Aim for the body, seeeing bruises and blood is so much fun roflmao

Does aesthetically pleasing win matches?

No whatever you hit best!

I am short i hit 2 handed backhands better!
But i win matches with it!

:devil: :devil:

Hey felix i responded to the coaching thing mate :)

Yeah thanks i will have a word with my coach tonight!

But anyway back on topic!

I may be strange but i can hit slice with 2 hands backhand! am i weird? :shrug:

I can move in well of my backhand as long as you are driving forwards when you hit it,which you should be doing all the time! :rolleyes:

two-handed slice? ouch :wacko:

mind each to their own ;)

Conchi Martinez use to slice double-handed from time to time, as did Bjorn borg as well :ok:

Its Santoro now, who advertises that shot on the tour :D

There's a couple who try it at our club - half the time they end up looking like the want to put a divot in the court roflmao

I can hit one handed backhands too!

When the surface is wet i find you get a better shot if you hit two handed it can stay lower and shoots through like a demon!

:cheers: :cheers:

Ooo I don't know, a flat one hander hit hard can be murder if the court is damp!

Like Brakkus I also come from the Borg/McEnroe era and love my single handed BH despite my regular shanks.

I however still play with some young guys and one of them just arrived from France with a double handed BH. It is simply amazing what the guy can do with this. I think his BH is probably not very far off from Safin's in terms of power and consitency. The difference though is that I am no Federer and am probably feeding him with easier balls that Safin is used to handle but whaoo, clearly having this young guy technic is clearly an advantage as long as he can be lightening fast on his legs and compensate for that loss of reach.

I think this is also a reason for the death of S&V as now the ball comes back really fast from both sides making it hazardous for SVers.

Going back to the single HBH, I love it but with the way the game is evolving, I reckon less and less player will play it.

I play one handed backhands and I find the timing to be easier, but I can see how the extra power of the double handed can be useful especially since the game is becoming increasingly about battering the ball.

It probably is in decline, but with Justine, Momo, Wawrinka etc showing how beautiful a shot the single handed backhand is, hopefully enough people with stick with it.

(wow that was a lot of confusing :bs:)

But it is hard for me to hit one hand back hands!

As of yet i have no real arm power, well not enough!
and i am only like 5,5!

So 2 hander is defo the best option if your younger people!

:hug:

Hey. You forgot Fed. :o
I for one like the one hander very much. It's a personal thing but I just can't do a two hander. It feels so awkward to me. I just love the feeling of a one handed backhand and I've always thought it looked alot nicer too.

And difficult to talk about one hand Bh without mentioning Gasquet or Blake.

I play the backhand much better single handed, but my reflex is to hit double handed :wacko: I tend to win a lot more points with my forehand :)

:huh: Meh, Federer's backhand is not the best part of his game...though it is indeed worthy of praise. Gasquet is also someone with a beautiful backhand, I was just listing three people off the top of my head, i never said it was a comprehensive list: hence the 'etc' :rolleyes: :D :P

Fed has a very nice backhand. It just looks so avarage compared to his forehand and since we were talking about such a rarity as a one-handed backhand, I thought it would be worth mentioning. He does a beatiful slice with it.
I admit I often get eaten by the "etc. bug" too :ok:

Well, you're talking topspin backhand groundstroke - and I'd say that the backhand is fairly difficult. But what is really difficult is being able to hit an adequately weighted shot with one hand on the backhand.

There's a lot of technique involved in hitting either a one-handed or a two handed backhand drive - but I have no doubt in my mind that it's far more difficult to hit a heavy shot with just one hand - and that's the difference. That's why I personally admire the big one-handed backhands in the tennis World: Kuerten, Gasquet, Henin, Federer etc.

Now having said that it's more technically difficult to hit a heavy backhand with one hand than with two - I do also believe (and yet to be proved) that utimately you can hit a heavier ball with one hand then two hands. I personally went from two hands to one hand because I felt that for me - I could hit a heavier ball. But it's taken many years of practice ...

Hi OG - Good to have you on board here.

Are you saying that you can hit harder with one hbh than with a double-hbh?

I'm jsut going to butt in with my opinion here :P

I think the capabilities power wise between a one-hander and two-hander are similar - If you have a fully-flowing one hander you can certainly whack it just as hard!

It is easier to get loads more top spin via a two-hander, but one-handers generally play slice better.

Hi tenez, thanks for welcoming me on board. Yes, I've just started posting on here ...

Yes, for me - I definitely put a lot more work on the ball with one hand than two hands. But the key is preparation, a long takeback, and a lot of wrist and just about anything else you can throw into the stroke ! :-)

There is of course no way to be able to hit a heavy one handed backhand with just a short stroke as you can with two hands. So it's also more difficult to counter attack from a defensive position with just one hand (something someone like Nadal does extraordinarily well with his two hander).

It's interesting that Poscars says that it's easier to hit loads more topspin with two-hands. Well I'd agree with that, I think that it is much easier (techniquewise, and preparationwise) to put a lot of work on the ball (ie. spin and speed) with two hands rather than one. But until recently I would have said that, with the right technique, you can put more topspin on the ball with one-hand - but then I saw some slow-mos of Nadal's backhand and I was really quite surprised with how much whip he gets on the racquet at the moment of impact - so now I'm not quite so sure !

But even more interesting is how Federer more than holds his own with a single handed backhand against two handers, given that many players on the tour (eg. Hewitt in particular) do nothing other than attack Fed's backhand; and given that the two handed stroke has some clear advantages (more disguise, less preparation, a more flexible shot ...) over the one handed stroke.

Interesting discussion. I am still in 2 minds about it. I have a 1 HBH and can definetely see that sometimes, when perfectly timed (too rare unfortunately ;)), the ball simply is whacked and can be compared to my FH. But I play with a young French guy who is half my size in weight and height but his double HBH is simply of a different world in terms of pace. He got his technics in France and I guess that is what is being taught over there as we see a lot of it on the tour and Safin was probably the one who showed the full potential of it.

We play quite a bit of doubles matches together and not many of our opponents are used to see the ball coming with such pace from that side and are most often unable to get used to it. Of course we do not play at a very high level but he is Surrey league level and those guys are used to pace typically. Unfortunately, as often the case, his FH is on the other hand not very consistant.

As mentioned above, I am convinced that one HBH are more flexible and obviously gets you an extra reach but had Federer been able to switch to a DHBH at the French last year, he would have had a much better chance. His 1 HBH was clearly his weak spot on clay. However, on any other surface, or maybe even on clay bar nadal high top spins, hi 1 HBH is a weapon more than a weakness.

Let me first say that I'm not a coach, I'm just a middling club player who likes to analyse the game, and I often chat about it with the club coach, and other players. But I have put quite a lot of work into my groundstrokes ...

I think that you can only get a quality 1 HBH with a lot of practice. You need to develop a long stroke and you need to be able to put your whole body into it - hip rotation, shoulder, arm, wrist. Also, for me, I had to change to a Western (often called an extreme Eastern) racquet grip - I think that it's very difficult indeed to hit a heavy 1 HBH with a conventional grip - though I've seen some articles that suggest that Federer uses an Eastern grip on his backhand (I can't tell from pictures that I've seen but I would say that that was pretty difficult).

Also the link initially posted by brakkus is very interesting - it shows that there's only one place that you can the ball (especially the case when using an extreme grip) - so timing and positioning are crucial ...

Good luck !

Hey OwenGoal,

don't I recognise you from the BEEB? You slipped in quietly here unnanounced!
Anyways welcome to the board. Please ignore any arguments you may have read earlier. It ain't normally like this believe me!
I'm sure you will recognise a few BBC Posters.

Have a look around. :D

Trisc

I saw OwenGoal a few times on the beeb :D I figured he was mainly a football man due to his name though and just used to pop on to talk about tennis now and again; welcome anyway :)

I started off playing with 2 hands on the backhand, but i had no technique off it, it was a always a case of whack and hope. Ive developed a single handed backhand the last year or so, and although i cant generate any pace off it, i am quite good at disguising where i am going to hit the ball, and hit much better angled shots with it too

Thanks for the welcome Trisc & SerenaW. I am indeed a defector from the Beeb - though I may return from time to time to slay some trolls ... :-)

I enjoy many aspects to tennis, and one of things I enjoy most is the amount of technique involved - certainly more than some other sports which simply involve kicking an inflated imitation pig's bladder around ... ;-)

So hopefully I've come to a message board where it's possible to have a full and interesting exchange of views on tennis technique. B)2

I did kind of dismiss the shot in my original post as easy.What I meant to say is the physical action of performing it is no harder than the forehand.

The difficulty comes when getting into the right position,footwork is critical.I have long been able to perform the stroke itself,but what has held me back,is the arriving on time part.
It's a different dynamic moving to your opposite side,as opposed to moving to your strong side.
I have literallly hit 75% backhands this last year,as you are more likely to face forehands in a match,according to one study nearly three times as many than a backhand stroke at lower levels.

The extra practice on that side has led me to go back up in weight with my racquet.It just feels different now.

I think that the single handed backhand is better than the two hander...however I play with a 2 hander and I must say that the power im able to generate out weighs that of my forearm and I have much much more consistency with it!

I wouls love to have a single handed backhand as its so much more classier,but I love my 2 hander and I have developed into my greatest weapon!