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I recently started working with a 13-year old junior who hits forehands off both sides, i.e. he has a right-handed and left-handed forehand, and uses no backhands (he's a natural lefty).
My main concern is that his right, non-dominant forehand is lacking power and some coordination when compared to his lefty forehand - which somewhat negates the advantage he hopes to gain over a two-handed backhand.
Plus there's the issue of switching grips when moving from one side to the other. In his ready position, his left hand will be at the bottom of the grip, with the right hand right on top of it. If he has to hit a lefty-forehand, great. But when the ball goes to his right side, he flips hands, getting his right hand to the bottom. This means he's struggling when the pace of the rally picks up. On returns, he just hits a two-handed backhand instead of trying to switch hands.
I know there was a female player, Evgenia Kulikovskaya, with two forehands who did alright. But she hit one forehand with the hand near the throat of the racket, and the other with the hand at the bottom of the grip. So she never had to deal with flipping hands when going from one side to the other.
What are your thoughts on this? Are there other players out there who have made this style work for them? What are the advantages / disadvantages you see in this approach?
My main concern is that his right, non-dominant forehand is lacking power and some coordination when compared to his lefty forehand - which somewhat negates the advantage he hopes to gain over a two-handed backhand.
Plus there's the issue of switching grips when moving from one side to the other. In his ready position, his left hand will be at the bottom of the grip, with the right hand right on top of it. If he has to hit a lefty-forehand, great. But when the ball goes to his right side, he flips hands, getting his right hand to the bottom. This means he's struggling when the pace of the rally picks up. On returns, he just hits a two-handed backhand instead of trying to switch hands.
I know there was a female player, Evgenia Kulikovskaya, with two forehands who did alright. But she hit one forehand with the hand near the throat of the racket, and the other with the hand at the bottom of the grip. So she never had to deal with flipping hands when going from one side to the other.
What are your thoughts on this? Are there other players out there who have made this style work for them? What are the advantages / disadvantages you see in this approach?
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