Backhand

[uspta2801398569]

John

Read all your articles on the one handed backhand. You really notice with the slow motion video of how far the racquet head goes off the line of the on- coming ball and then re-corrects with the forward swing to the ball.

Two handed backhand

Looking at all the top men with two handed backhands you notice the racquet extends back but mostly stays parallel with their body.

When I watched some of the women like Sharapova on her back hand she definitely breaks the plain of her body

Your thoughts

[johnyandell]

Part of it is the bent/bent thing for the women. Some of the bent/bent men go a little further back than the bent/straight men. But none go as far back as the women.

So part of it just appears to be a male/female difference. You very much see the same thing on the forehand with few exceptions (Henin). Genetics? Coaching? Not sure. Is it necessarily less desirable? Not sure either.

[uspta1850137074]

I just read the classic lesson on high backhands, my first time in tennisplayer.net. I was surprised, very surprised, that the author suggested only an open stance to deal with high balls. I have successfully spent years teaching people to CLOSE their stance, past perpendicular, to get leverage and power on these, and never had anyone who continued to have problems with this awkward shot. I really believe even Roger F would be able to pound those never-ending Nadal topspin bombs to his backhand if he had his shoulders and perhaps hips turned more. Your opinion?

[scottmurphy]

Dear Reader,

Cudos to you if you can actually teach players to set up for any backhand (other than a slice in an emergency) in a stance past perpendicular and have them be successful. To my way of thinking that's overkill and would lead to circuitous swing paths and late contacts. Your momentum at that point is moving away from the line of the shot, not into it. I prefer tracking the ball with the outside foot because it allows you to establish a better hitting zone and then you can hit either open or with a more or less forward stance. To be successful at all in a closed stance on the backhand a player has to have great spacial determination and timing and even at that there's longer recovery time involved.

Another problem I see with players who habitually step perpendicular or beyond is that they don't face the ball enough while aligning to it and therefore don't see it as well because they're always looking over their shoulder at it.

If you look at the animations in the article you'll see that in the majority of them I'm actually using a forward stance to hit any of the backhands that are demonstrated. Again, what I'm promoting is that prior to stepping into the shot you're better off aligning yourself with a loaded open stance and then you have the option of using one of two stances that, in my opinion, are better suited for control and consistency.

Hopefully that explains my take on this but if you're having success going literally and figuratively in another direction, more power to you.

All the best,

Scott Murphy

[uspta2801398569]

Stances

Yes there are different stances on the backhand that are proper for different types of shots, positions on court and tactical situations. To say there is one footwork pattern for all, I would say that's wrong