Interactive Forum: May 2013: Tommy Haas One-Handed Backhand

[johnyandell]

Tommy Haas One-Handed Backhand

I know I am not the only one who loves the one-handed backhand, or that truly enjoys seeing Tommy Haas back on the scene and hitting it as beautifully and effectively as when he was in the top 5. *Or maybe more beautifully and effectively...you tell me.

In any case here is some archival high speed footage of this gorgeous shot. *The interesting points to me are the fabulous, immediate shoulder turn, and the explosiveness of the forward swing. *Note also the closed stance on the wide balls, the timing and the amount of the shoulder and hip rotation, the timing of the recovery step. *But also the angle of the racket face in the backswing...Over to you for your thoughts please!

[johnyandell]

Quicktime version

Tommy Haas One-Handed Backhand

[klacr]

Loving this Tommy Haas backhand. natural, fluid, beautiful to watch. Looks effortless. Inspires anyone who watches to hit the one-hander. What a change from last month's Gulbis Forehand video huh?

Tommy Haas does so many things right on this stroke. You can tell he's been hitting this shot since he was a very young boy, not a adolescent shift at 13 or 14 like some players have done.

preparation is spot on.

One thing I notice is his index finger on his left hand is actually above the throat and touching the stringbed. Not sure what relevance this has to the stroke compared to holding the fingers around the throat of the racquet besides simple aesthetics. Some players happen to keep their fingers around the throat ( Robredo, Wawrinka, Gasquet, Federer). Tommy Haas and Nicolas Almagro hold their index finger of left hand on string bed. I happen to do the same thing more because I feel greater control/maneuverability with the racquet head and I also have big hands so wrapping hand and fingers only around throat feels a little cramped.

I love the weight transfer from back leg to front leg as he steps down pushing into the court and exploding upwards and outwards to the shot.

great use of the non dominant arm as it goes towards the back fence. No matter how hard he seems to swing, he always looks balanced.

The hitting arm structure starts with a slight bend, not as sharp as Federer's, and straightens out in plenty of time before contact. Lots of club players struggle with this arm straightening.

The shoulder opening and hip rotation occurs after impact. Many rec players will wildly falil open with hips and shoulder at impact, sending the ball across their body, not towards the intended target. Tommy does not let belly button point towards the other side of the net until well after impact and actually occurs during recovery.

I think what I like most about this video is how good his posture is throughtout the shot. Back is fairly straight and he's not hunched over at the waist. Strong foundation and an athletic stance certainly help this posture but it also involves a little bit of discipline not to want to tower over the ball with the head and instead use the shoulders to gain leverage and maintain posture.

A beautiful stroke for sure. I'm sure others will have an eye for detail and be able to pick it apart and see a few negatives but for the purpose of full disclosure, I'm a bit bias towards one-handers. Something so classic and fundamentally comforting about a well struck one-handed backhand.

Kyle LaCroix USPTA
Boca Raton

[hoshen]

More similiar to Roger than at first glance.

If you notice Tommy holds his hands higher then Roger...but.....Notice, just as his right heel is about to touch down, the angle of Tommy's right forearm is about 120 degrees to the ground-- however that is deceiving. If you advance frame by frame you'll see Tommy drops the whole arm and racquet structure until his right forearm is parallel to the ground (90 degrees) Just like Roger. Just the split second where Tommy's hips start to open- the position of his arms and racquet are exactly like Roger's. Notice the face of the racquet is angled back just slightly at this point and then it faces skyward due to the wrist pronation as Tommy drops the whole structure. Just like Roger.

[DougEng]

If you notice Tommy holds his hands higher then Roger...but.....Notice, just as his right heel is about to touch down, the angle of Tommy's right forearm is about 120 degrees to the ground-- however that is deceiving. If you advance frame by frame you'll see Tommy drops the whole arm and racquet structure until his right forearm is parallel to the ground (90 degrees) Just like Roger. Just the split second where Tommy's hips start to open- the position of his arms and racquet are exactly like Roger's. Notice the face of the racquet is angled back just slightly at this point and then it faces skyward due to the wrist pronation as Tommy drops the whole structure. Just like Roger.

Sorry. I would like to understand your observations but it's confusing. You mention right forearm parallel to ground but mentioned 90˚ which indicates perpendicular (the "opposite"). Can you clarify? Also most great backhands drop the head slightly after the left hand release which shows relaxation and use of racquet head speed upwards. Also if you can clarify skyward racquet face and wrist pronation as Tommy drops the whole structure. It looks like radial deviation and supination to me if meaning skywards on the follow-through; if on the skywards backswing, it is mostly elbow flexion. Skywards to me indicates the backswing or follow through rather than the forward swing down if that is what is meant. If any pronation, it usually occurs slightly on the forward swing (down) but the racquet head drops rather than being skywards. Thanks!

[teebken]

Straight vs Bent elbow?

During the take-back it seems clear to me that he has some elbow bend in his racquet arm forming almost a "U" shape with the racquet. I've read some coaches that say that you should avoid the bent elbow and keep your arm straight in the take-back. Seems like the bent version works pretty well for Tommy. Thoughts on this detail? Thanks, Jeff

[tennis_chiro]

Limiting

During the take-back it seems clear to me that he has some elbow bend in his racquet arm forming almost a "U" shape with the racquet. I've read some coaches that say that you should avoid the bent elbow and keep your arm straight in the take-back. Seems like the bent version works pretty well for Tommy. Thoughts on this detail? Thanks, Jeff

Certainly some players do straighten the hitting arm out very early in the backswing and I'm sure some coaches actually advocate it, but most players do not. The majority do contact the ball with the arm extended and that extension is usually completed by the time the racket head starts to accelerate towards the net just after the racket head drop, thus creating a longer lever arm and greater racket head speed. But insisting on the arm being straight very early in the backswing would be a limiting condition and particularly difficult when moving towards the ball and executing the backswing simultaneously.

don

[hoshen]

90 degrees and pronation.

Sorry. I would like to understand your observations but it's confusing. You mention right forearm parallel to ground but mentioned 90˚ which indicates perpendicular (the "opposite"). Can you clarify? Also most great backhands drop the head slightly after the left hand release which shows relaxation and use of racquet head speed upwards. Also if you can clarify skyward racquet face and wrist pronation as Tommy drops the whole structure. It looks like radial deviation and supination to me if meaning skywards on the follow-through; if on the skywards backswing, it is mostly elbow flexion. Skywards to me indicates the backswing or follow through rather than the forward swing down if that is what is meant. If any pronation, it usually occurs slightly on the forward swing (down) but the racquet head drops rather than being skywards. Thanks!

Where is Tommy's forearm at the point when his front foot is completely flat? (not when his heal hits but when he's completely flat) His right forearm is parallel to the ground. Parallel to the ground is a right angle to his body (90 degrees) (he's standing upright) Check Roger at that same point. Its very, very close. My point was that Tommy seems to take his hands back higher than Roger --but by the time the front foot has flatened out, they are almost identical.

From this exact point in the swing, Tommy and Roger pronate their wrist and forearm. Check the knuckles at that point and then a few frames later, the wrist is pronating sending the racquet face skyward. Check the old tape of Roger (he's since changed it) At the point Roger's front foot is flat --his racqet face would be facing towards the side fence, he then pronates his wrist and forearm to send the racquet face facing the sky as he's droping it down behind him. Tommy does this too. Look at guys like Wawrinka and Ljbuicic ---they never make this position. At no point when they are dropping the raquet down behind them do their knuckles (and raquet face) ever face directly skyward. The knuckles either face the side fence or the back fence. Both Tommy and Roger have pronation in common.

[dimitrios]

One thing I notice is his index finger on his left hand is actually above the throat and touching the stringbed. Not sure what relevance this has to the stroke compared to holding the fingers around the throat of the racquet besides simple aesthetics.

I, along with another former touring pro who hits a one-handed backhand, am currently working with my 7-year-old son on a one-handed backhand. Having him hold the racket higher on the throat with his non-hitting hand actually promotes earlier separation of the hand from the racket, thus helping him stay sideways longer through the shot.

[tennis_chiro]

Please explain

I, along with another former touring pro who hits a one-handed backhand, am currently working with my 7-year-old son on a one-handed backhand. Having him hold the racket higher on the throat with his non-hitting hand actually promotes earlier separation of the hand from the racket, thus helping him stay sideways longer through the shot.

Please explain. I don't see it. It seems to me it would promote a shorter backswing. Why does it promote earlier separation?

don

[tennis_chiro]

What does the archive show?

Here's what I found:

All with non-dominant hand at or near the throat:
Sampras, Blake, Federer, Wawrinka, Gasquet, Lopez, Haas, Llubicic, Henman, Youzny, Gonzales, Gaudio, Srichaphan, Becker, LeConte, McEnroe

Lower down: Lendl, Gomez, Budge, Laver a little lower, but split

Kramer a lot lower, Gonzales a lot lower (moved it down in backswing)

Very difficult to find anyone doing what I am advocating. Someone please give me a reason opposed to the case I have presented for the left hand to be lower down, even in the ready position, and in the grip used to take the racket back, to enable you to make the backswing without an extra motion to change the grip.

don

[stotty]

Low is best for Stotty

Here's what I found:

All with non-dominant hand at or near the throat:
Sampras, Blake, Federer, Wawrinka, Gasquet, Lopez, Haas, Llubicic, Henman, Youzny, Gonzales, Gaudio, Srichaphan, Becker, LeConte, McEnroe

Lower down: Lendl, Gomez, Budge, Laver a little lower, but split

Kramer a lot lower, Gonzales a lot lower (moved it down in backswing)

Very difficult to find anyone doing what I am advocating. Someone please give me a reason opposed to the case I have presented for the left hand to be lower down, even in the ready position, and in the grip used to take the racket back, to enable you to make the backswing without an extra motion to change the grip.

don

I like the idea of the hands being closer together to commence the backswing...on all strokes. Having the non-hitting hand on the high side separates the hands too much. I dislike this method. I feel the same about the serve...when players connect "ball to strings" and not "ball to throat" as they prepare to serve. I just feel hands synch better when they are closer together than when further apart.

It's something I have taught all my life. I feel it is right. I have "no science or proof" hands further apart is incorrect or not as good. There is clearly no evidence it isn't. I just feel "hands closer together" is right. And of course my role model for the backhand supported his racket low...Mr Rosewall.

[arturohernandez]

One handed juniors

Hi Everyone,

Almost every coach in my area (Houston) uses, advocates and teaches the two handed backhand. The trend in the pros is there as well. We have Haas with a beautiful efficient one hander. Dimitrov is coming up the ranks with one as well. The claims against the one hander are that it is just too hard to hit well consistently at a young age. Yet, Haas stroke looks simple relatively speaking. I hit with one hand and my son decided to switch a year ago at 13. I can see the difficulty for him with high balls and with coordinating his body parts in a consistent way. Interestingly, the biggest benefit is in his slice and backhand volley. They are both much better than other juniors at his level. What are people's experiences with good juniors (not nationally ranked ones) but top players on high school teams or state ranked players? Does anyone have examples of players at this level that have learned to hit a good one handed backhand? Or are all of them in Europe.

Arturo

[johnyandell]

Arturo,

Great great question. If the goal is to win as many matches as possibly at whatever cost at the youngest age, most young kids even up to their mid teens will "succeed" more with two. At the Easter Bowl this year out of over 600 American kids I saw two one handers. Interestingly one was the girl who won the 18s! A good question is whether all hard courts has something to do with this--don't know.

When Sampras was 14 he couldn't come over his one-hander! But really what's the goal here? Your points about the slice and the volley are very well taken. Interestingly I see a lot of ex college players in their 30s now playing league tennis who don't look that good anymore on the two-handed side. A couple have experimented with the one and watching them they are much more natural--but the change would take a long time in terms of success in matches so they don't change...

One interesting experiment is to see how your son looks hitting left handed forehands. If the one hander looks noticeably stronger, better, more natural that is a good indication. It's a sport for life right? Many many players in my personal opinion will be more well rounded players and better off in the long run with the one for all the above reasons. Plus it feels so good to hit...

[dimitrios]

Please explain. I don't see it. It seems to me it would promote a shorter backswing. Why does it promote earlier separation?

don

By grabbing the racket at the higher part of the throat, his non-hitting hand is spread open more and therefore not as able it seems to clutch the racket as forcefully and as long; it is as though the racket frees itself from the clutch more responsively with the forward swing. Seems to work for him and his relatively small hands....