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I just read this month's John Yandell article on the forward motion of the 1-hand topspin backhand.
Please note the young man hitting the 1-hand backhand in a video accompanying the article. See how his strings are close to his hip, facing the back fence? That is good. That is a slot point that almost all good topspin backswings pass through. Players such as Kuerten might appear to have huge backswings, but they have a tightness that results in the same slot position [racket strings close to hip, strings pointing to back fence].
Also notice, when the young man has his strings close to his hip, his right forearm is perpendicular with the racket throat, & his elbow is actually tugging forward out to the opponent's side of the net. That is good. When hitting this stroke, you must always be ready to lash out your racket arm with force, with strings then crushing the ball.
If players are taught to get their racket arms too far back, wrapped around their bodies, then the strings will not successfully be at that slot point near the hip, & the racket elbow will not be forward enough in pointing to the other side of the net. (So beware of teaching an overly eager preparation for the 1-hand topspin backhand.)
A minor criticism: The young man in the video would have an even better stroke if he got behind the ball a little more before his stroke. Then he would have contact point with better leverage, closer to his body, out in front more -- similar to that backhand punch I always talk about.
There was some discussion of "recovery step" in Yandell's article. I would like to add: If you get behind the ball, then for contact between ball & strings, you will not be reaching out towards the sidelines (as too many WTA & ATP pros today do) so much. If you get behind the ball well for your shot, you will be in better balance to recover towards the middle of the court. This concept is important.
I also want to mention the way Stan Wawrinka tracks the ball with his racket. In another of the article's videos, the racket is out front, so he can follow the ball with his strings well, as the ball approaches. He does not prematurely take his racket back. The way you first react to an incoming ball sets up the timing & mechanics of the stroke. Wawrinka does a good job with his 1-hand topspin backhand. For tracking the ball, for lining up the ball with his strings, his racket head is set pretty far forward (the video shows).
Also, another quick thought about wrongly teaching the free arm to extend too far behind the body for the 1-hand topspin backhand: In a way, if u teach that, you are teaching a linear old-style swing. I prefer to teach a coiling feeling in the body (that results in racket strings near hip, racket elbow forward pointing to opponent, as the young man in the video shows us).
Please note the young man hitting the 1-hand backhand in a video accompanying the article. See how his strings are close to his hip, facing the back fence? That is good. That is a slot point that almost all good topspin backswings pass through. Players such as Kuerten might appear to have huge backswings, but they have a tightness that results in the same slot position [racket strings close to hip, strings pointing to back fence].
Also notice, when the young man has his strings close to his hip, his right forearm is perpendicular with the racket throat, & his elbow is actually tugging forward out to the opponent's side of the net. That is good. When hitting this stroke, you must always be ready to lash out your racket arm with force, with strings then crushing the ball.
If players are taught to get their racket arms too far back, wrapped around their bodies, then the strings will not successfully be at that slot point near the hip, & the racket elbow will not be forward enough in pointing to the other side of the net. (So beware of teaching an overly eager preparation for the 1-hand topspin backhand.)
A minor criticism: The young man in the video would have an even better stroke if he got behind the ball a little more before his stroke. Then he would have contact point with better leverage, closer to his body, out in front more -- similar to that backhand punch I always talk about.
There was some discussion of "recovery step" in Yandell's article. I would like to add: If you get behind the ball, then for contact between ball & strings, you will not be reaching out towards the sidelines (as too many WTA & ATP pros today do) so much. If you get behind the ball well for your shot, you will be in better balance to recover towards the middle of the court. This concept is important.
I also want to mention the way Stan Wawrinka tracks the ball with his racket. In another of the article's videos, the racket is out front, so he can follow the ball with his strings well, as the ball approaches. He does not prematurely take his racket back. The way you first react to an incoming ball sets up the timing & mechanics of the stroke. Wawrinka does a good job with his 1-hand topspin backhand. For tracking the ball, for lining up the ball with his strings, his racket head is set pretty far forward (the video shows).
Also, another quick thought about wrongly teaching the free arm to extend too far behind the body for the 1-hand topspin backhand: In a way, if u teach that, you are teaching a linear old-style swing. I prefer to teach a coiling feeling in the body (that results in racket strings near hip, racket elbow forward pointing to opponent, as the young man in the video shows us).
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