I have one of the best back hands in the bay area, for one handers. I can hit the back hand flat, at about 100 mph, or slice it low, or kick it high, or drop shot it short. That's the best thing about the one hander vs. the two hander: variety. The reason most pros hit the two hander is: not enough strength as a junior, on the deltoids, to be able to return well with one hand, and hit powerful ground strokes, off the one hander, quickly enough in their progress, to win matches at the highest level.
How to hit the flat one hander:
The one hander has to close off his hips, and not leave them open. That's due to the lack of the left hand forehand effect, that the two handers create, with the other shoulder in use during the shot. The one hander has only his right shoulder to effect powerful shot speed, and must coil very early, by closing off the hips, in parallel with the doubles alleys!
This allows a full coil, and the most voltage/pressure available for flat shots. The non dominant hand, must create the unit turn, very early, by the time the ball bounces, or it will be too late, to coil fully, and you may be over powered, by even a slower ball, if the unit turn has not been made before the ball is on you! The chin is on the deltoid, using the deltoid as a gun sight, when in full coil, before the shot is released.
We all have a tendency sometimes, to allow the slower pace of the incoming shot to slow our feet down, and slow our body clock/turn down, rather than use a full fast footed attack! The shot must be attacked with the feet as well as the arm/shoulder rotation, to gain the full mph. The torso, must be twisted fully, and coiled fully, before unleashing the shot, but it is a constantly flowing, moving freely, effect.... The shot never pauses or stops moving, in the flat shot.
The shot contact point, must be a full shoulder width out in front, to achieve full potential speed, otherwise, we give up kinetic potential, and don't reach full mph or mass. The shot is best hit arm barred, with a locked wrist, so that the elbow and the wrist cannot be moved back any further, and the elbow is not bent at contact point, after, and during the contact with the ball. To achieve max. potential coil, the shot should also be inverted, before take back, like a batter at the plate, inverts his bat while waiting for the pitch to arrive, and pronated, after the shot contact point, to achieve max follow through mph. Pronated, meaning, the forearm turns over, so that it faces the sky, after contact, and follow through is completed!
A common mistake made, even by Fed, is raising the hitting foot heel up in the air, during and after contact. This raises the head up, and "loosens" the shot, rather than grounding it. The plant foot, has to be fully loaded up, and knees bent, and the legs used fully, by attacking the shot with the feet and "unloading" of the knees forward and into the shot pathway. The longer contact of the flat shot, will add mph. A full back swing load, with the non dom. arm coiling the stick, will produce the best/max. voltage on the shot. The swing is very freely produced, with a loose stick hand, which retains the hitting structure, during the whole shot, so that the wrist cannot move backwards during the shot, and the wrist stays locked back, even during follow through/pronation. The hips open up early, and the shot is "dragged", like throwing a frisbee, or a back handed karate chop! It's like a skier, skiing moguls, and not using his hips to turn,but using his knees to turn with. The knees turn out first, the hip follows, and the rest of the shot is dragged behind, with the shoulder at full lock down, from the deltoid.
The same coil can be used for powerful kicking topspin back hands, but the swing path is different. Instead of straight through flat pathway, the path is low to high, turning the voltage into spin, rather than pure mph!
The driven slice is a whole different shot, as is the drop shot. The slice is hit with a different grip entirely, a continental grip, rather than a western grip. The swing path is high to low, with the coil wrapped around your neck up high to the rear, and swing path is "cut" powerfully downward, and follow through ends up out front, not wrapped ala wiper blade shot, and beneath your wrist rather than above it, like a volley follow through on a dtl sliced volley.
How to hit the flat one hander:
The one hander has to close off his hips, and not leave them open. That's due to the lack of the left hand forehand effect, that the two handers create, with the other shoulder in use during the shot. The one hander has only his right shoulder to effect powerful shot speed, and must coil very early, by closing off the hips, in parallel with the doubles alleys!
This allows a full coil, and the most voltage/pressure available for flat shots. The non dominant hand, must create the unit turn, very early, by the time the ball bounces, or it will be too late, to coil fully, and you may be over powered, by even a slower ball, if the unit turn has not been made before the ball is on you! The chin is on the deltoid, using the deltoid as a gun sight, when in full coil, before the shot is released.
We all have a tendency sometimes, to allow the slower pace of the incoming shot to slow our feet down, and slow our body clock/turn down, rather than use a full fast footed attack! The shot must be attacked with the feet as well as the arm/shoulder rotation, to gain the full mph. The torso, must be twisted fully, and coiled fully, before unleashing the shot, but it is a constantly flowing, moving freely, effect.... The shot never pauses or stops moving, in the flat shot.
The shot contact point, must be a full shoulder width out in front, to achieve full potential speed, otherwise, we give up kinetic potential, and don't reach full mph or mass. The shot is best hit arm barred, with a locked wrist, so that the elbow and the wrist cannot be moved back any further, and the elbow is not bent at contact point, after, and during the contact with the ball. To achieve max. potential coil, the shot should also be inverted, before take back, like a batter at the plate, inverts his bat while waiting for the pitch to arrive, and pronated, after the shot contact point, to achieve max follow through mph. Pronated, meaning, the forearm turns over, so that it faces the sky, after contact, and follow through is completed!
A common mistake made, even by Fed, is raising the hitting foot heel up in the air, during and after contact. This raises the head up, and "loosens" the shot, rather than grounding it. The plant foot, has to be fully loaded up, and knees bent, and the legs used fully, by attacking the shot with the feet and "unloading" of the knees forward and into the shot pathway. The longer contact of the flat shot, will add mph. A full back swing load, with the non dom. arm coiling the stick, will produce the best/max. voltage on the shot. The swing is very freely produced, with a loose stick hand, which retains the hitting structure, during the whole shot, so that the wrist cannot move backwards during the shot, and the wrist stays locked back, even during follow through/pronation. The hips open up early, and the shot is "dragged", like throwing a frisbee, or a back handed karate chop! It's like a skier, skiing moguls, and not using his hips to turn,but using his knees to turn with. The knees turn out first, the hip follows, and the rest of the shot is dragged behind, with the shoulder at full lock down, from the deltoid.
The same coil can be used for powerful kicking topspin back hands, but the swing path is different. Instead of straight through flat pathway, the path is low to high, turning the voltage into spin, rather than pure mph!
The driven slice is a whole different shot, as is the drop shot. The slice is hit with a different grip entirely, a continental grip, rather than a western grip. The swing path is high to low, with the coil wrapped around your neck up high to the rear, and swing path is "cut" powerfully downward, and follow through ends up out front, not wrapped ala wiper blade shot, and beneath your wrist rather than above it, like a volley follow through on a dtl sliced volley.
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