Stunning...no other word for it.

[stotty]

Forget all this hot dog hitting the ball between your legs rubbish. Go to Go to 1 minute 30 seconds in the clip. It's the 1982 final between McEnroe and Connors. How McEnroe hits this ball so hard and from this position...and with a wooden racket...you tell me. Sheer genius...no other word for it...enjoy.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z2hT_0wh4Ao

[bottle]

We're getting a message that one can only download this in the U.K. We'll have to find another means of seeing it.

[stotty]

We're getting a message that one can only download this in the U.K. We'll have to find another means of seeing it.

Thanks for letting me know, bottle.

After some digging around, I found the clip on Youtube. You get a slow motion action replay in this one as well.

I re-pasted the link in the first post of the thread. And I'm pasting it here too.

Go to 1 minute 30 seconds in the clip...enjoy

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z2hT_0wh4Ao

[tennis_chiro]

Why not?

I've never understood why one-handed backhand players don't try this shot more often. It's much easier and more effective than hitting the ball between your legs. Because the one-handed backhand doesn't require a turn of the rear shoulder through the ball, it is much more effective in this situation where it's so tough to turn back through the shot. And it looks pretty spectacular too; not stupid like most between the leg attempts.

don

[GeoffWilliams]

Tweeners are for show off types who care about looking pretty more than they care about winning the point. Fires me up when a guy tries it, esp. if his gf is watching the match.

[stotty]

Tweeners are for show off types who care about looking pretty more than they care about winning the point. Fires me up when a guy tries it, esp. if his gf is watching the match.

Yes, I can't stand my students doing between the legs shots. More often than not it loses them the point, when they could have lobbed the ball back and stayed in the rally...or why not try what McEnroe did in the clip...wishful thinking for most

The shot is in fashion at the moment...hopefully it will fade away and become an outdated shot...sooner the better for me.

[don_budge]

The Bucharest Backfire...

I prefer the Bucharest Backfire ala Ille Nastase. McEnroe takes this shot on his backhand side with the backhand face of the racquet whereas the Bucharest Backfire is taken on the forehand face of the racquet and can be hit on the dead run towards the back fence. Johnny Boy certainly was a genius with the racquet...a little tiny wooden thing at that.

[dimitrios]

I am not dismissive of the between the legs shot. It makes highlight reels, sure, but I also think it's an extremely tricky shot for the opponent to pick up (i.e., read). In the Johnny Mac clip I would argue he's more relegated to going down the line in this instance, whereas a 'tweener gives him a greater option of going cc or dtl.

As for juniors attempting this shot, I'm sure there are some farcical attempts. One hopes those are made first on the practice court rather than on a crucial point of a match.