Left Hand Release On 1h Backhand

[llll]

the pros hold onto the racquet longer with their left (non hitting) hand than i do . they seem to release around their left hip pocket in the foward swing whereas i let go much earlier in the foward swing when my hand is behind me .i have tried to emulate the pros and change that but unfortunately looking at some recent video of myself i still have not corrected that.. but will concentrate on that this year .since thats what the pros do there must be a biomechanicla advantage. can anyone tell me what is the advantage of doing it that way and/ or what is the disadvantage of doing it my way? thanks, larry

[nabrug]

the pros hold onto the racquet longer with their left (non hitting) hand than i do . they seem to release around their left hip pocket in the foward swing whereas i let go much earlier in the foward swing when my hand is behind me .i have tried to emulate the pros and change that but unfortunately looking at some recent video of myself i still have not corrected that.. but will concentrate on that this year .since thats what the pros do there must be a biomechanicla advantage. can anyone tell me what is the advantage of doing it that way and/ or what is the disadvantage of doing it my way? thanks, larry

In my opinion do not focus on this caracteristic. First focus on the essence of the stroke. The inner system. Than this caracteristic will be solved at once. Or in other words in my opion it is a caracteristic you should not worry about. This against caracteristics which really influence the inner system. But imo first the essence than the caracteristics.

[llll]

can you elaborate on inner system and carachteristic please?

[oliensis]

My take on it is this:
The left hand stays on the throat of the racquet during the 1HBH as long as the whole body and both shoulders are rotating/torquing into the the ball. The left hand releases at the point at which the left shoulder (for a righty) stops rotating into the ball. That's about at the point at which the path of the racquet head moves from "angular" (in a circle) into a straighter/linear path, so that it can hit through the ball and extend toward the target. (It's a counter-rotation that allows the racquet head to accelerate into the ball.)

If you look at, e.g., Fed's left shoulder on his backhand, it moves from left to right, and then, at about the point that the racquet head is lowest, as it's about to begin moving low-to-high, the left shoulder stops moving forward and all the kinetic energy from the rotation is transferred into the right arm and toward the racquet head.

If you're letting go w/ the left hand sooner than that, I would hazard a guess that you're not getting all that much power on the backhand drive. If you concentrate on loading on the left leg, turning your shoulders past the line of the ball (so your back is toward the net), sinking down and then through the right leg, and then releasing into the ball from the taught loaded position, I would bet that the too-early release of the left hand would take care of itself...or at least begin to.

[uspta146749877]

kinetic and ELASTIC ENERGY

My take on it is this:
The left hand stays on the throat of the racquet during the 1HBH as long as the whole body and both shoulders are rotating/torquing into the the ball. The left hand releases at the point at which the left shoulder (for a righty) stops rotating into the ball. That's about at the point at which the path of the racquet head moves from "angular" (in a circle) into a straighter/linear path, so that it can hit through the ball and extend toward the target. (It's a counter-rotation that allows the racquet head to accelerate into the ball.)

If you look at, e.g., Fed's left shoulder on his backhand, it moves from left to right, and then, at about the point that the racquet head is lowest, as it's about to begin moving low-to-high, the left shoulder stops moving forward and all the kinetic energy from the rotation is transferred into the right arm and toward the racquet head.

If you're letting go w/ the left hand sooner than that, I would hazard a guess that you're not getting all that much power on the backhand drive. If you concentrate on loading on the left leg, turning your shoulders past the line of the ball (so your back is toward the net), sinking down and then through the right leg, and then releasing into the ball from the taught loaded position, I would bet that the too-early release of the left hand would take care of itself...or at least begin to.

Hi,
I agree with what you wrote above except of very minor point
that the phrase "kinetic energy" should be replaced by a phrase
"kinetic AND ELASTIC" energy".
Regards,
julian mielniczuk
uspta certified pro 27873 juliantennis@comcast.net

https://www.julianmielniczuk.usptapro.com

Courtside Tennis Club,Bedford,MA

[llll]

here.s a video of me from 1-2 years ago

http://www.hi-techtennis.com/student_video.php?player_id=12&stroke=onehander&account=566

[uspta146749877]

From a crystal ball teller

You will have a lot of fun reading opinions about your video

[llll]

You will have a lot of fun reading opinions about your video

how about let me read yours first

[uspta146749877]

Variation of style

Please click

http://www.tennisplayer.net/members/avancedtennis/john_yandell/one_handed_backhand/hand_and_arm_rotation/hand_and_arm_rotation.html

to see some small variations od styles.
A left hand helps some blocked shots and half-volley backhands from a baseline as well.However it WAS NOT your original question.
What did jeff say about your backhand?
I just have learned from my advice for someone else here
and I would prefer NOT to provide any advice.
I am NOT a good coach anyway.

[oliensis]

After watching the video, it looks like my guess was pretty much correct. I supsect that if you load more on your left leg, turn your shoulders past the line of the ball further (more w/ back toward net on the load), and then drive and sink down into your legs, that your left shoulder will begin moving w/ the forward stroke and then, at about the point at which the racquet begins moving low to high, the left shoulder will naturally counter-rotate, adding "snap" to the acceleration of the racquet head.

Go frame by frame on Federer's high-speed backhand at this link, and you will see what I'm talking about.

http://www.tennisplayer.net/members/high_speed_archive/pro_men/roger_federer/roger_federer_high_speed.html?BHWideSide-0193712-0001.mov

[llll]

thanks oliensis .ill try your suggestions and let you know.

[uspta146749877]

Your beatiful pictures?

After watching the video, it looks like my guess was pretty much correct. I supsect that if you load more on your left leg, turn your shoulders past the line of the ball further (more w/ back toward net on the load), and then drive and sink down into your legs, that your left shoulder will begin moving w/ the forward stroke and then, at about the point at which the racquet begins moving low to high, the left shoulder will naturally counter-rotate, adding "snap" to the acceleration of the racquet head.

Go frame by frame on Federer's high-speed backhand at this link, and you will see what I'm talking about.
http://www.tennisplayer.net/members/...93712-0001.mov

Could you do your trick comparing two pictures?

[oliensis]

The side-by-side pictures aren't, in my view, the best way to look at this issue. Better, I think, would be to look at the 2 videos step-by-step.

Watch how the left shoulder does not begin moving on the forward stroke in this video:

http://www.hi-techtennis.com/student_video.php?player_id=12&stroke=onehander&account=566

The whole left side of the body is almost perfectly still, ultimately inhibiting how much energy can be transferred into the ball.

And compare that to Federer's left side in the video link:

http://www.tennisplayer.net/members/high_speed_archive/pro_men/roger_federer/roger_federer_high_speed.html?BHWideSide-0193712-0001.mov

One more thing: turn your hips more. Your shoulders are turned, but your hips never get past the line of the ball. i.e., your right hip is pointing toward the net. Get your butt facing more toward the net, then it will be able to open up toward the net, generating power on the swing. Right now the swing is almost pure arm.

[uspta990770809]

Don't drag the racket to the ball

You need to look at a shot that has the same view as that of your own stroke. Unfortunately, none of those in the slo mo library on Fed, but going to old Fed regular speed you can get some idea here

http://www.tennisplayer.net/members/strokearchive/pro_men/rogerfederer/rogerfederer_backhand/rogerfederer_bh_center/rogerfederer_bh_center.html?FedererBHCenterCourtlevelSide2.mov

I'm not sure about the idea that it's a summation of energy, but the left side (shoulder, ear, head and thus the eyes) all become very stable just before the ball is struck. What I see in your stroke is a common problem. You are dragging the racket head to the ball and then your line of power as you hit it is a little across. I imagine you tend to get quite a bit of sidespin as well as topsin on your backhand. To see this well, you really need a view from the front or the rear as in this clip (Federer 2.0 High Speed BH Center Front1):

http://www.tennisplayer.net/members/high_speed_archive/pro_men/roger_federer/v2/roger_federer_high_speed_v2.html?BHFront1-0185829-0001.mov

Turning your hips as Oliensis suggests may make it a little easier to correct, but IMO this is at the root of the problem. You are hitting across the ball instead of through it.

don

PS I like Jeff's site. Much nicer to be able to look at your video in slow motion and frame by frame. I haven't figured out how to do that on youtube yet. Am I missing something? And what did he say about it?

[nabrug]

can you elaborate on inner system and carachteristic please?

First of all I want to declare that everybody who is giving advice have good intentions. Let there be no doubt about that.

The inner system of stroke production is the sum of the relationships between parts of the body which have to be synchronised in a specific way. For the BH it is a push-in-push system. In your video’s I do not see that.

The inner system gives us the stroke. And the stroke is giving us caracteristics. In that order. The essence is hard to see. The caracteristics are very obvious to see. Very different from dance- and movement academies in tennis they teach only caracteristics and not the essence of stroke production. I have not heart from anyone in the tennisworld who will teach you the inner system. Oscar Wegner’s method is the only exception for he is partly opening a little bit of the inner system. The way teachers should teach is from the essence to the caracteristics. The road from caracteristics to the essence is a very slow one and eventually only for the people who have the talent themselves. You can see it in this thread already. Well meant advice but in short: paralysis by analysis.

Once again, but be stubborn if you wish (I am), the caracteristic you mentioned will never be an important issue. Other caracteristics will be. Once you know the inner system it will be solved right away.

Oh, by the way http://www.tennisplayer.net/members/...93712-0001.mov is an example of Federer using a really unique inner system for the 1hBH which I call BH2. Federer is also using the “normal” technique (BH1). So caracteristics derived from this example can be right for this technique but can also be very wrong for BH1. The technique I saw in your video’s.