My backhand

[eaglesburg]

I have always been taught a two hand backhand that has been by far my weaker, less smooth, less efficient and powerful, and less natural stroke. It's not horrendous, but it is not nearly on the same level as my forehand. Here is a video:

Two hand backhand

https://youtu.be/CVOvDdoJGgE

Any way I could improve? To me it looks a bit wristy with my left hand so I worked a bit on that and itseemed to help somewhat, along with being more relaxed. I think I use a continental backhand with my right hand and close to semiwestern with my left hand.



I never had any formal instruction on my one hander (never was given a choice) and have never used it except for just fooling around, but it is still more natural for me compared to both my two hander and my left handed forehand. If my life was in the line I would definitely choose the one hander over the lefty forehand. This makes me feel like I should change my currently left hand dominant bent bent hitting arm structure. I think I use this bent bent structure because I believe that I was taught to hit my two hander like a left handed forehand. An unlikely scenario might be switching to the one hander altogether but I think that might be too big of a change for me even though it is far more natural.

One hand backhands

https://youtu.be/t0cZD_fs1FM

Left handed forehands

https://youtu.be/SQxSeKDIpXA

I would love to hear yours guys' opinion on this. Let me know what you think.

Thanks,
Eaglesburg

Edit:
1) Do you guys have any idea which hitting arm structure I should try to experiment with first if I try to change from my current bent bent?
2) when trying to change the structure, should I try to literally force my arms into the positions or just adjust the amount/the ratio in which I am using each of my arms?

[don_budge]

One handed…until the cows come home

If my life was in the line I would definitely choose the one hander over the lefty forehand.

One hand backhands

https://youtu.be/t0cZD_fs1FM

What are you talking about? Your life is on the line…your tennis life that is. One handed all day long. All night too.

Just get to work against that wall. In one year…you've got something. You've got a good start…it looks quite natural…and why not? Its the most natural motion in all of sports.

1. Watch the ball particularly as the ball bounces up until contact.

2. Try the thumb up the back of the grip for a little extra stability…particularly in the formative stage.

3. Point that front shoulder at the ball as it is coming to you…when you drive the ball.

4. Drive that front shoulder down on the ball when you slice.

5. Select that point of contact…well out in front of your front hip for drive backhands and endeavour to meet the ball there every single time. There is one point in time and space where everything is perfect. Only one point.

Much better stability than the forehand. Its the grip and the forward point of contact that makes the beginner student uncomfortable in the beginning. Then it becomes a matter of getting comfortable with the changing grip from forehand to backhand. That wall is the eighth wonder of the world. Fantastic!

[lobndropshot]

3. Point that front shoulder at the ball as it is coming to you…when you drive the ball.

Not only do you want to point the front should at the ball but you want to stack your chin and front shoulder so that they are both pointing at the ball. There should be tension in your core at this point of the stroke.

[bottle]

And get a little more out of the back leg than the front leg. That's the best way to get the hitting shoulder down.

[stotty]

You look the sort of player who could go either way; one handed or two handed.

You are little too near the wall. The ball is returning too quickly so you can barely complete the follow through.

I wouldn't tamper with your configuration on the two-hander as it is absolutely fine. I like your backswing. It's straightforward and simple.

The one hander looks doable. It would just take an awful lot of balls to develop strength in it. If you have many hours to spare, why not try it.

[eaglesburg]

When I have some extra training time I'll experiment more with the one hander and try to implements our suggestions.

Good news on my two hander...I really focused on staying loose and not wristing and using a full follow through on my two hand backhand today and I was hitting them better than ever. Next weekend I should be able to get ball machine video.

Tomorrow, I get to see how my altered strokes hold up in a real match; I have a tournament. I signed up for 4.0 level. Is that about right for me?

[eaglesburg]

Last few days I have just tried hitting the lansdorp finish, and that has improved my backhand drastically. It feels like such a great shot now and is fun to hit. I am finally starting to really be able to attack with it. That also corrected my left handed forehand, not vice versa. After that I started working on straightening my left arm out and that has helped also. Honestly, my two hander feels just as good if not better than my one hander now. I'm going to stick with it at least for now.

[eaglesburg]

Two hand backhand:

https://youtu.be/nG10Znhx4PE

It. Feels. So good.

Here is my one hand backhand slice:

https://youtu.be/KKyJX9AK9d8

Any changes I should make? Just to let you know, I actually prefer slicing higher balls because I love really chopping down freely.