Modern Two-Handed Backhand: Grip Combinations

[stotty]

What a great article. The Associated Techniques paragraph was certainly an eye-opener for me - fascinating.

I'd like to point out one of my observations about grips in general:

In my opinion, the heel of the hand is the only "true reference point" when teaching or ascertaining players' grips. This is because everyones hands are shaped differently so although the knuckles can sometimes "appear" in the right place, a quick look at the heel of hand often tells a more true story.

Remember, the length of peoples' fingers and their knuckle locations can vary dramatically from person to person - so those knuckles can never be counted on as a "true reference" point. Contrast that with the heel of the hand which is in pretty much the same position for every human being.

For me, when teaching, I start by positioning the heel of hand correctly then fine tune the knuckles after that. Very often the knuckles fall into place naturally once the heel of the hand is correctly placed.

Fabulous article, Doug! I gleaned a lot from it.

[privas]

Hybrid Grips

Greetings from San Antonio, TX. Thanks very much for writing this article. I called you on the phone the day I saw it, and I thank you for returning my call.

The greatest teaching point, I believe, is the necessary concept of the Hybrid Grip. As you mentioned, when these big pros with huge hands hit with smaller grips, it's tough to pin-point exactly where the index knuckle, and where the heel pad truly are, and many times they are on adjacent bevels, not the same bevel. My hand is size 4 and 1/2 but I use 4 and 3/8 grip.

Like many folks who take lessons, I was taught the L eastern- R continental combination. But as I advanced, this became inadequate very quickly. After reading your article, I began using a hybrid grip with both hands: semi-western/eastern on the left hand (6/7), and right hand with knuckle between eastern backhand and continental (1-1/2) and heel pad eastern backhand (1). For me, it is very difficult to get full extension unless the heel pad of my right hand is on the top of the frame. When the heel pad of the right hand is on bevel 2 it feels like the right hand and the left hand are fighting against each other at the end of the stroke...regardless of what the left hand grip may be.

For several years, continental with the right hand meant (2/2) only, not (2/1) which many people now use as the Hybrid version to slice, serve, volley and, some one-handed backhand-types (God bless them!) in the ready position to return serve.

Thanks for clarifying this important teaching point with regards to the two-handed backhand. I think this is a major contribution made possible by Mr. Yandell's filming techniques. I look forward to the next segment. Pedro

[johnyandell]

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