new backhand

[stickman]

my backhand as of 2 days ago...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0bmsKiZl9po

[spacediver]

those look really nice to me. Perhaps people with a more experienced eye could offer constructive criticism, but to me it looks like there's a lot of good things about it.

My first thought was that you weren't bending your legs enough, but to me bending the legs only makes sense when picking up a ball that is low enough to require such motion. I suppose you could bend the legs and extend them to get more drive, but not sure. Still trying to figure these things out myself

anyway, you looked like you were relaxed while hitting... good balance, nice heel to toe transfer, nice shift of weight from back foot to front foot, and aesthetically pleasing to my eye

[stickman]

Here's the deal... i hit the ball great when its below my knees... i hit the ball great when the ball is at chest and above... i cant hit the ball worth a crap between my knees and my chest? I cant figure it out... it dosent make scence... but the result is mis hit city!!!

prolly not as bad as i claim but it still sucks...

maby to much rotation i dont know but its a problem to say the least!

[bottle]

TennisPlayer's great, but why not use all available sources? In this case TennisPlayer takes me to your backhand at U-Tube from which I click on a bunch of Federer backhands with some guy with a funny accent at TennisOxygen immediately telling me I need to concentrate on three things.

My attention is beginning to falter from the impatience of old age, however, so I can only focus on one of the three items: to keep a good L between arm and racket handle for leverage no matter what one's grip.

So I go back to the Stickman backhand, thinking maybe that's the trouble with your middle height shots. No! You maintain a very good right angle all the time.

So I have no goddamn idea why you're having that problem. Which is maybe one reason I gave up on tennis teaching a long time ago. I only have one tennis student-- myself. But I try to give an open, honest report of what I'm going through-- and behold! About 50 people click on my blog every night, more like 100 lately, so thanks for the boost.

[bigryoung]

The only thing I would suggest is rather than turning your body, keep your right hip facing the net and follow through towards the net. I have found the robert lansdorp articles on the forehand and backhand to be really helpful. Hitting with a continental grip on the backhand really teaches you to keep your body sideways and extend to the net. After you get the feel for it, switch your grip to a less conservative one. It will also teach you not to bend your wrist up because if you do the ball will go sky high. But you are really close!

[stickman]

thats a good point.. however i hit with close to a continetal grip allready..

i am however trying a new technique, were i keep my hitting arm strait from the take back all the way to the followthrew... i think it resembals ferando g.. but i will tape it and put it up in couple days...

my plus minus is usally around minus 20 per 2 sets, on my backhand and im aware of this and have tryed everything possible tofix that number...

with the new technique im around even in winners to unforsed errors... in my last 4-5 sets , today i was prolly plus 2-3 so its a massive jump...

but i like the idea and will try it tomorow... thanks

[uspta990770809]

I like the stroke

If you were my student, I would make you hit a few balls with my weighted racket to feel where the momentum of your racket head is going. (Tougher to feel on those middle height balls.) It looks like you are hitting on a machine. I would have you hit on mine and I would stand just to your right in front of you (like swinging next to the fence without hitting it, but my head or more likely my racket would be the fence). Most of my students don't want to hit me so they straighten out the swing a little and in so doing discover that it actually feels good and more powerful to direct the swing toward the target. Certainly, today's players have more velocity, spin and body rotation in their backhands, but watch the left shoulder or maybe just the left ear of Federer or Gasquet or someone who's one-hander you really like. You may see the right shoulder come around, but the left side of the head is clearly still and, of course, the head and eyes are thereby also still. Once you go through the ball on the line of the shot a little more you will actually get more spin and you will also get more pace (deceptive speed). Youzny is a great example of the exaggeration of this swing. Also, players when they are taking the ball down the line, especially off a crosscourt ball.

And you could get a little more inside (look over your shoulder) on the backswing. Turn from closed to square instead of from square to open.

Good luck,
don

[stickman]

don, that was a good idea...i took a two by four... and stood it up just to my right sholder and finished a little higher, rath than across. hit the bord a couple times hahah didnt feel to good.. but neather does a crapy back hand. so ill see what happens... checking out the usne.. back hand right now. but i deff, felt i had better extension through the ball, will try it again tomorow. thanks.

[sejsel]

Stickman; pay good attention to the advice You got from Don; I think he is right on the track with his every advice. I wouldn't need to alter anything he says in his post.
But I might add couple of things, or maybe just one.

On the very first backhand, and the rest of them, I have noticed one thing, that You mention Yourself later on:
You hit your bakhands with close to continetal grip.

I am fully aware that it is good in coaching to have some degree of tolerance when it comes to grips on forehand side, and to some (lesser) extent on the serve.

However, for full blooded, and most of all consistent (as a stroke hit lightly in warm up, or as hard as when You want to hit a felt of the ball and hit a dime on the opposite side of the court at the same time) one handed backhand drive, in my experience, one piece of advice that has served me well over the years was:

Turn, if not immediately, than gradually towards solid, if not even heavier eastern backhand grip.

For consistency and to be able to have controlled power on the backhand drive ("topspin drive") this is, or at least it might be, a necessary prerequisite, as it puts some of your "palm behind the handle" (do note the quotes).

This allows you not only the better transfer of "force" in the biomechanical chain on the backhand, but also eliminates Yours, very evident, attemtps to adjust and compensate for this lack of "stability" in contact with the ball with somewhat "flicky" wrist movement.

This is evident on more or less every backhand You hit, especially when You are increasing the pace. And it is only natural, since need for some amount of spin is necessary on that wing when wanting to hit with pace and controll.
And that doesn't come all that easily with having close to continental on backhand, so what your wrist is doing is (although You are very mild "case" of it) "compensation" for the lack of stability when in contact with the ball.

This "grip shift" is "painfull" in terms of muscular memory, and can be frustrating at the beginning, since it is likely that many of the balls might end up in the net, as many people feel that in the beginning the ball is "falling of the racquet face" - they simply have to "relearn" the contact faze of the stroke and adjust, or learn to "carry the ball on the strings" with this "new" grip.
Once (hitting against the wall or backboard, with very light pace, just to get the feel for the contact with the ball and doing it with closed, proper stance and with full torso rotation, is highly recommended) You get the proper "feel" for this "new" grip and start making more solid contact with the ball, You will understand all benefits of this change.

Articles by Don on exaggerated learning, swinging with weights on the racquet, and by John Yandell ("The Myth of the wrist") are wery valuable to read and understand some things on the backhand and stroke production in general, so please, do read them.

Also, to enhance Your visual learning (if You like to learn and remember by watching), pick technically most sound backhands of the past and present from the tour and study them.

If You decide to start with this change (and that is a huge step indeed ) it is important to stick to it fully untill "the shift" is fully done.

[bottle]

I read something in here somewhere about swinging a straight arm.
I myself am very influenced by Mark Papas at Revolutionary Tennis on
this point. He believes rather in flexing and unflexing the arm (or folding it on the backswing and then gradually unfolding it on the forward swing-- same thing). A lot of players, even among the pros, extend the arm before they swing it. Not Federer, who clearly swings and extends at the same time. Papas even suggests that the arm can still be straightening a little past contact (on occasion), and he would like to loosen up one's wrist options, too.

[privas]

backhand grip

Read this...if you are considering changing to the eastern grip.

This is the eastern grip variation that works best for me...and I have tried them all. Index knuckle at position 1. Heel pad on the ridge between 1 and 8...this last shift allows an eastern grip yet helps tilt the racquet up, at least 90 degrees compared to the elbow. If you take the heel pad all the way to position 8, then it's way too extreme. If you keep it at position 1, then the racquet tends to droop and you end up hitting everything down the line or you lose control. Check it out, for fun. You'll be able to drive it with spin or hit it flat.