two forehands for ambidextrous children?

[nygarceau]

My daughter is 12 years old and beginning to play tennis. She is ambidextrous and prefers to hit forehands on both sides. Should this be encouraged or discouraged?

I am concerned that switching hands would take too much time in competitive tennis.

[johnyandell]

That's not going to work in the long term for sure. Two-hands on both sides is an option though. Or pick the best forehand and see which hand she wants to serve with. Read Jeff McCullough's article on two hands in Tour Strokes.

[CraigC]

Wow I never disagree with John but...

I don't often disagree with John, but I'd check out the Battistone Boys, currently doing pretty well on the doubles challenger circuit and the younger one is doing better in singles every week. They play with special rackets, promoted by them, and specifically for ambidextrous players. Personally, I can't play with the racket for crap, but they are great guys and I'd highly suggest checking out their equipment. Write me a private message if you're interested need their contact info.
CC

[johnyandell]

Craig, interesting! But would you really advocate that style? If you've seen them play is it an advantage, a disadvantage, or a wash?

[uspta146749877]

Battistone Boys

I don't often disagree with John, but I'd check out the Battistone Boys, currently doing pretty well on the doubles challenger circuit and the younger one is doing better in singles every week. They play with special rackets, promoted by them, and specifically for ambidextrous players. Personally, I can't play with the racket for crap, but they are great guys and I'd highly suggest checking out their equipment. Write me a private message if you're interested need their contact info.
CC

An article below about Battistone Boys below
The picture of a racket
at

http://www.heraldtribune.com/article/20080516/SPORTS/805160664/1006

Get a grip; it's an unusual racket

By Mic Huber


Published: Friday, May 16, 2008 at 2:16 a.m.
Last Modified: Friday, May 16, 2008 at 7:08 a.m.
BRADENTON - Brian Battistone may be one of the more unusual tennis players on the planet, yet even the sport's rebel admits that when he was introduced to the strange looking two-handled racket he wasn't sure what to think.


Click to enlarge
Brian Battistone demonstrates his jump serve using "The Natural" double-handled tennis racket. Battistone and his brother Dann have become partners with the man who invented the bizarre-looking racket, and are exploring ways to market it. Order photo
STAFF PHOTO / DAN WAGNER


Related Links:
Two-handed tennis racquet demo | Photos
RAW: Double-handled tennis racket | Video
"I thought it was kind of a strange concept," admitted the player whose really strange serve is as unusual as the racket he uses to hit the tennis ball. "I wasn't sure if I could use it but it eventually made a lot of sense to me."

Now Brian Battistone, and his brother, Dann, are hoping to make more than a few cents off a racket that isn't your everyday garden variety.

The racket currently making a lot of noise around the lower levels of the tennis circuit is a two-handled contraption known as "The Natural." It sort of resembles a pair of garden shears, with two handles spreading out from the bottom of the throat of the racket. The idea is that it provides more power and allows players to be better balanced when hitting a tennis ball.

Though touted as a natural power-grip racket, it has yet to grab a hold in the tennis world but the Battistone brothers believe there is a future for the stick. So much so that they have become partners with the man who invented the bizarre-looking racket, and are exploring ways to market it now that it has been sanctioned as legal.

The top marketing strategy would be to produce results on the court and the Battistone boys are doing their best on that end by winning matches. This past week the brothers got to the semifinals of the Challenger tournament in Tunica, Miss. That means more ranking points, a little money and some recognition.

This week they won their first round in the $50,000 Hurricane Tennis Open, but lost Thursday to Carsten Bell and Lester Cook, a team they beat a week ago. The loss is but a small bump on a long journey on the back roads of professional tennis and the Battistone brothers don't discourage easily.

It's easy to find the Battistone doubles team during the tournament. There always seems to be a crowd at their matches, and it's not only because of the strange looking racket.

One glance at Brian Battistone hitting his serve almost always grabs the attention of spectators. He is hard to miss when he leaps into the air like a volleyball player to hit a serve that has a lot of punch.

The motion of the serve is almost mesmerizing. Holding the racket in his left hand, Battistone tosses the ball in the air with his right hand. He then leaps after it as if he is executing a volleyball jump serve. While in mid-flight, he switches the racket to his right hand and pounds the serve at a steep angle.

"The first couple serves you find yourself watching him," said Vamsee Chippidi, who along with Pedro Davisson experienced the serve firsthand in a first-round doubles matchup. "After a while you learn to just watch the ball and ignore all the other stuff. Still, it's coming at you at about 130 mph."

The Battistone brothers, who each spent a couple of years away from tennis while doing Morman missionary work in Rio de Janeiro, have currently reached a career-high doubles ranking. Dann, the left-hander, who played and coached at BYU, is ranked No. 374. Brian, the right-hander, and taller of the two, is at No. 375. They moved up 67 spots this past week and with each win they hear fewer jokes from skeptics.

Now their mission is to build on that success and take their act to a bigger stage.

Though the rackets are relatively new, Brian Battistone is an old hand at non-conformity on the tennis court. He was hitting that attention-grabbing jump serve back several years ago when he attended, then taught, at the Nick Bollettieri Tennis Academy at IMG Academies. He insists there was a method to his madness.

"I grew up playing basketball and jumping a lot," said Brian, who spent many years in California. "With the traditional serve I just couldn't get the elevation I wanted so I incorporated the volleyball motion."

Brian Battistone was introduced to the two-handled racket just over two years ago when he was playing at some local courts in Hermosa Beach. Adam Burt taught at the courts. Burt's father, Lionel Burt, had developed the racket. Watching Battistone switch the racket from hand-to-hand, Adam Burt suggested that Battistone check out the two-handled racket.

Six months later the Battistone brothers decided to go into business with the Burts.

[normand_trempe]

this is an interesting question

I have thought of this myself because i had a little kid who was ambidextrous. And i had that dream of , wouldnt it just be crazy that someone could have 2 forehands ?
I have a question for John Yandell. Would you John have ever recommended to someone to hit with two hands had it not been because some pro's have had success with it ?

My reasoning goes like this, is that first, we have to see what would be the advantages of having two forehands, and the disadvantages. And from there you could make a decision

Advantages are clear, two forehands are better then one hehe.

Disadvantages i see:

- the challenging problem would be, changing grips at high rally speeds.

I have seen This american player(cant remember his name) who was a top player in the world have 2 backhands, although he hit with 2 hands on both sides. So the grip changing could be possible i guess...

- Decision making would be difficult also, what forehand do i use when ? or
do i sometimes use a backhand and some other times a forehand.

- And with the decision making comes the fact that i don't think it would be possible for her to hit forehands on both sides on all shots. (at wimbledon i have seen Serena williams returning sometimes with 1 hand, sometimes with 2 on both sides when the ball was coming harder) So players are getting creative with the challenges they are faced with.

- Another thing to consider would be, on a scale of 1 to 10 what do u think her physical and athletic abilities are ?


But the first thing i would ask you, is how does she instinctively play ?
My suggestion is that don't interfere too much with her instincts or else it could be a big mess.

If she has fun playing and switching hands, i'd say let her do it. And probably she will create her own style of play like that. From what i have seen working with this ambidextrous kid i had (he was very athletic and agile), he had all sorts of ways to adapt. Sometimes he hit with 1hand sometimes with 2 depending on the ball he was receiving. And he was beating all of the other kids like that. The challenge he had was that sometimes his grip change wasnt always the same and so he could make mistakes because of that. But i figure after hitting 10 000 balls the grip change could become automatic in these different situations.

My superiors forced me to teach him to have 2 hands on his bh, and they didnt want me to teach him 2 hands on both sides wich would have been my first choice at that time. He didn't listen to me much tho and he kept switching hands anyway hehe. After that he changed coaches and went with a more discipline oriented coach, i wonder if the kid is still playing....

Now, i never once told him to hit like that, remember he did it by himself. I'd say go with instinct and with what comes naturally to her.

[julian]

Inefficient

I have thought of this myself because i had a little kid who was ambidextrous. And i had that dream of , wouldnt it just be crazy that someone could have 2 forehands ?
I have a question for John Yandell. Would you John have ever recommended to someone to hit with two hands had it not been because some pro's have had success with it ?

My reasoning goes like this, is that first, we have to see what would be the advantages of having two forehands, and the disadvantages. And from there you could make a decision

Advantages are clear, two forehands are better then one hehe.

Disadvantages i see:

- the challenging problem would be, changing grips at high rally speeds.

I have seen This american player(cant remember his name) who was a top player in the world have 2 backhands, although he hit with 2 hands on both sides. So the grip changing could be possible i guess...

- Decision making would be difficult also, what forehand do i use when ? or
do i sometimes use a backhand and some other times a forehand.

- And with the decision making comes the fact that i don't think it would be possible for her to hit forehands on both sides on all shots. (at wimbledon i have seen Serena williams returning sometimes with 1 hand, sometimes with 2 on both sides when the ball was coming harder) So players are getting creative with the challenges they are faced with.

- Another thing to consider would be, on a scale of 1 to 10 what do u think her physical and athletic abilities are ?


But the first thing i would ask you, is how does she instinctively play ?
My suggestion is that don't interfere too much with her instincts or else it could be a big mess.

If she has fun playing and switching hands, i'd say let her do it. And probably she will create her own style of play like that. From what i have seen working with this ambidextrous kid i had (he was very athletic and agile), he had all sorts of ways to adapt. Sometimes he hit with 1hand sometimes with 2 depending on the ball he was receiving. And he was beating all of the other kids like that. The challenge he had was that sometimes his grip change wasnt always the same and so he could make mistakes because of that. But i figure after hitting 10 000 balls the grip change could become automatic in these different situations.

My superiors forced me to teach him to have 2 hands on his bh, and they didnt want me to teach him 2 hands on both sides wich would have been my first choice at that time. He didn't listen to me much tho and he kept switching hands anyway hehe. After that he changed coaches and went with a more discipline oriented coach, i wonder if the kid is still playing....

Now, i never once told him to hit like that, remember he did it by himself. I'd say go with instinct and with what comes naturally to her.

To define some problems better pl consider 2 scenarios for "two forehands":
scenario A:
a player hits a SINGLE fisted forehand with a right hand at an end of a handle
AND
a player hits SINGLE fisted backhand with a left hand CHOKED ( away from a handle)

scenario B:

a player hits a single fisted forehand with a right hand at an end of a handle
AND
a player hits single fisted backhand with a left hand at an end of an handle

Consider now three possible playing situations:
1) a backhand return of serve with a ready position :a right hand at a end of a hand
and a left hand at a throat of a racket
2) a sequence : a serve and a forehand
3) a sequence : a serve and a backhand


Consider now combinations: A1,A2,A3 and B1,B2,B3
It is easy to see that some of them will require either hitting
with one hand choked or shifting a hand from a throat to a handle if
you want avoid choking.
It gets VERY INEFFICIENT EVERYWHERE

[CraigC]

HUh?

I don't understand the issue. If you use the racket they are promoting, it has two handles. There is NO grip change. Playing with two forehands with one grip is very difficult, but they have resolved that problem with the second grip. Anyone with ambidextrous players should check it out. It simply makes sense to try it.

[julian]

Misunderstanding

I don't understand the issue. If you use the racket they are promoting, it has two handles. There is NO grip change. Playing with two forehands with one grip is very difficult, but they have resolved that problem with the second grip. Anyone with ambidextrous players should check it out. It simply makes sense to try it.

CraigC,
my post of today was referring to a racket with one handle.
I did NOT make it clear.My bad.

[johnyandell]

I've never seen it in action so I don't have a personal opinion. Anything is possible But my sense is that if this really was the way to go we'd have seen more players do it. But then in the 1960s no one had two-handed backhands and the idea was considered fallacious.

[airforce1]

I have thought of this myself because i had a little kid who was ambidextrous. And i had that dream of , wouldnt it just be crazy that someone could have 2 forehands ?
I have a question for John Yandell. Would you John have ever recommended to someone to hit with two hands had it not been because some pro's have had success with it ?

My reasoning goes like this, is that first, we have to see what would be the advantages of having two forehands, and the disadvantages. And from there you could make a decision

My youngest son plays with 2 FHs. I don't see any major problems with this. The BH slice and volley represent the only challenges I see, but are more than offset by the versatility of a FH on each side.
The left hand is slightly choked up, but still has more range than a 2 hander.

Also this sets up the 2 hander BH real nice if he ever wants to go that way; then he can do both in certain situations. I do this to some extent now after working with this with him. Last match I hit 2 lefty FHs that were more useful than BHs for the particular shots.

[normand_trempe]

My youngest son plays with 2 FHs. I don't see any major problems with this. The BH slice and volley represent the only challenges I see, but are more than offset by the versatility of a FH on each side.
The left hand is slightly choked up, but still has more range than a 2 hander.

Also this sets up the 2 hander BH real nice if he ever wants to go that way; then he can do both in certain situations. I do this to some extent now after working with this with him. Last match I hit 2 lefty FHs that were more useful than BHs for the particular shots.

I would love to see your son hit sometime if you ever do a video let me know.

[normand_trempe]

Wetdream !!

To define some problems better pl consider 2 scenarios for "two forehands":
scenario A:
a player hits a SINGLE fisted forehand with a right hand at an end of a handle
AND
a player hits SINGLE fisted backhand with a left hand CHOKED ( away from a handle)

scenario B:

a player hits a single fisted forehand with a right hand at an end of a handle
AND
a player hits single fisted backhand with a left hand at an end of an handle

Consider now three possible playing situations:
1) a backhand return of serve with a ready position :a right hand at a end of a hand
and a left hand at a throat of a racket
2) a sequence : a serve and a forehand
3) a sequence : a serve and a backhand


Consider now combinations: A1,A2,A3 and B1,B2,B3
It is easy to see that some of them will require either hitting
with one hand choked or shifting a hand from a throat to a handle if
you want avoid choking.
It gets VERY INEFFICIENT EVERYWHERE

Hehehe, yeah well i definitely couldnt play like that, and i wouldnt start to teach my kids like that. You've made a nice analysis of everything that could go wrong. But i figure that you never know.Like John says, in the 60's everybody thought that the 2 handed backhand was a bad shot!! until someone bold enough practiced it and made it good. Then the 2 handed fh came along, then J-M Gambill had 2 backhands.

Have you seen how Santoro use both one handers sometimes when he is far out of reach ? or when he does it regularly has a slice ? The guy his able to slice on both sides really well which is an advantage. And like Airforce says you still have more reach with a one hand choked then with 2. Also, remember Yanick Noah ? he played with his hand way up the grip on his forehand and backhand, so if he could do it like that, why not.
Man if i was ambidextrous...can you imagine someone switching hands to serve, able to do spins in all directions ? lol
I just hope i get to see someone like that before i die.

[nygarceau]

Two Handled Racquet in Action

I've never seen it in action so I don't have a personal opinion. Anything is possible But my sense is that if this really was the way to go we'd have seen more players do it. But then in the 1960s no one had two-handed backhands and the idea was considered fallacious.

There are several videos demonstrating the two handled racquet on youtube.
Just search for "Battistone" or paste URL below for one example (a news video).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BzNr90XZ05A&NR=1

[airforce1]

Man if i was ambidextrous...can you imagine someone switching hands to serve, able to do spins in all directions ? lol
I just hope i get to see someone like that before i die.

Did you ever see Luke Jensen, French Open dubs champ with his very avg playing bro?
He could serve over 110 with each hand in the early 90's. Right hand was a little faster, 115-121 range I think.