Teaching the One Handed Backhand: A Leap of Faith

[johnyandell]

Let's talk about Michael Brandon's article "Teaching the One Handed Backhand: A Leap of Faith"!

[klacr]

Great job from Mr. Brandon in this article. Making that switch to a one-hander is a certainly a leap of faith, but with an educated coach and an open minded and driven player, the sky is the limit. Great trick with the thumb. Been using that for years. Great visual and kinesthetic cue for the players.

Kyle LaCroix USPTA
Boca Raton

[EdWeiss]

I agree with Kyle. An excellent article. Love the point about the the non-hitting right arm traveling back at the same speed as the hitting arm is moving forwards during the hitting phase. Never thought of that before.

[bottle]

handbodhandbod in a One Hand Topspin Backhand

I love this article too. Just to go to one of Michael Brandon's offhand observations, that Nathan's backswing may be lower when he gets taller: That reinforces my notion that a 76-year-old tall in the upper body can have a middling height backswing.

I combine this with my heretical idea of handbodhandbod (see today's A New Year's Serve if I can finish here and get back from the court in time) gleaned from reading DENNIS RALSTON'S TENNIS WORKBOOK.

And with Don Brosseau's affection like my own for flying grip change.

And with Chris Lewit's notion that a beautiful shot is a good shot.

One can shoot the flying grip change in any direction one chooses. If one shoots a bit more out in the slot one can then use scapular adduction plus backward shoulders turn plus step-out plus arm straighening all in a simultaneous (and beautiful) mix.

Stepping out while hitting shoulders are revolving backward is beautiful, or so I read when some long forgotten aesthete wrote so.

To consider the Brandon described form here, the two hands diverging at equal speed comes from scapular retraction which now has been maximized by scapular adduction first, i.e., a "husking" of the two shoulders toward one another so that if one were an ear of corn one's coat might split in back.

Using rearward racket momentum to create tension for a ground stroke forward swing has been identified as effective ploy by Don Brosseau.

Don has also commented on "cut the wire" release of tension to make the arm stronger in a one hand backhand.

Perhaps one needn't do both. Perhaps Brandon's easy stroke approach is better. Perhaps easy circular tension does the trick without a tug o' war between the two hands, and one doesn't need to think so much about depth of drop behind the back either.

To apply the handbodhandbod formula now: Flying grip change initiates whatever is left of a unit turn (hand). Foot steps out as shoulders hunch together while turning back (bod). Hand pulls racket butt toward ball (hand). The two shoulders and shoulderblades pull toward one another as arm continues to move and roll (bod).

[don_budge]

Leap of Faith? Hardly...

It's annoying to listen to discussion of one hand backhands as if they are some king of extinct species and calling it a leap of faith to hit a one hand backhand is a bit of a stretch as far as I am concerned.

It's a well written article…this much is certain. I think I posted on a video with this boy earlier and nothing has changed after reading this article. The two handed paradigm got way too much steam and the propaganda in the coaching world stole the show. It hijacked the fundamentals…along with the coaching.

While the validity of using a two hand backhand is debatable in knowledgeable circles it remains a valid option. But for the longest time the game was played predominately one handed…for good reason. This boy shows some remarkable insight, intuition or he is just plain lucky. To develop into the future with a one hand backhand is only going to pay dividends to his tennis. The concern I have in this article is the stress of the driving the ball and little has been mentioned of the slice.

This kid is probably all of nine or ten years old. Way too early to even begin to think about the finished product. It is a work in process and should be thought of that until the age of fourteen or so. This is one major reason and fallacy of modern tennis…the emphasis on junior tennis and the rankings that go along with it. Most of these tykes start out with two hands because they are small and cling to them all of their lives like some kind of security blanket. It looks to me that too much of a "pro" swing has been indoctrinated here and the big loopy nature is questionable. It looks great on spoon fed balls.

Most of my students end up using one hand backhands. I might add that my adult students are probably 35% of my base. Of course none of them are taught with being a professional in mind. If it happens…it happens. They are being taught to play for "the bloody fun of it". I am amazed at the results after playing for a year or two with one hand. I've got 45 and 50 year olds that are more or less pounding it…and slicing and dicing it. It's the most natural motion in the sporting world. The Don Budge backhand.

The major difference in hitting a one hand backhand is two fold. One is the grip. The hand must fit on the racquet in order that the ball can be met up to a shoulder width in front of the hip. The other difference is just that…meeting the ball that far in front of the body creates a time problem…that little bit of early ball meeting creates a bit of a problem in the quick preparation. This is why teaching the slice is ultimately important. When it isn't possible to meet the ball that far in front of the body the player must instinctively know it and play the ball as a slice…not a drive.

This is not a criticism of anything regarding this boy's development…or maybe it is. It's just annoying that the one hand backhand has disappeared from the game. Particularly so when the best and most stylish player currently playing uses a one hand backhand. Most of the two hand predominance can be traced to engineering of the game…which has been engineered beyond recognition of the original and traditional game.

You only have to have watched the tour championships in London this past winter and saw that Novak Djokovic only went to the net twice in his final match against the great one handed player Roger Federer. Djokovic has perhaps the best two handed backhand in the game. That being said there are some tactical deficiencies in the Federer backhand as he never plays aggressively down the line…or I should say he never used to. It looks to me that he is trying to add that play to his tactical reservoir.

Perhaps my only objection to this article is the title. It isn't a leap of faith…in fact, it is the Fundamentally Correct (FC) play in my teaching paradigm.

Best of luck!!!

[stotty]

2 hander

Interesting article, it would've been nice to see some footage of his two hander for comparison.

[johnyandell]

Stotty,

Will your demands never cease? But seriously yeah it would be interesting. However based on the amazing one-handed footage and the article I bet we would have all agreed with Michael.

John

[stotty]

Stotty,

Will your demands never cease? But seriously yeah it would be interesting. However based on the amazing one-handed footage and the article I bet we would have all agreed with Michael.

John

That wasn't me posing that comment. That was someone else signing in under my name...an impostor.

[don_budge]

Stotty...

That wasn't me posing that comment. That was someone else signing in under my name...an impostor.

Why don't you change your username…to something like "Stotty" for instance…?

[johnyandell]

Ah! It didn't really sound like you.... that same problem. I want LTA guys to post but...

[johnyandell]

Howdy new LTA licensed coach poster! Thanks for posting about Nathan's one hander.
Could you email me? I have a question.
John Yandell
videotennis@metricmail.com

[mtjosefs]

Not that Way!

I'm new in this forum, but I have to comment this one. I think there must be some misunderstanding about the role of the left or "free" hand in one handed backhand. It is totally wrong to use the free hand at the same time as a counter movement for right hand extension. It is not a power source: it activates the lower part of the trapezius which consists mostly of slow muscle fibers. You should allow the kinetic chain to work correctly from legs, hips ets... which is something you can see happening from Federer to Mauresmo. The amount of upper body opening is very much grip spesific.

The free hand is for balance only and it usually moves later than right hand (right handed player). One handed backhand is a throwing motion, but not like throwing a Frisbee. There are a lot of video material, which shows how Federer does it. The situation may be different with slice, blocked return or similar.

I have seen a lot of tennis elbows and shoulder / neck issues as a result of that style.

[stotty]

I'm new in this forum, but I have to comment this one. I think there must be some misunderstanding about the role of the left or "free" hand in one handed backhand. It is totally wrong to use the free hand at the same time as a counter movement for right hand extension. It is not a power source: it activates the lower part of the trapezius which consists mostly of slow muscle fibers. You should allow the kinetic chain to work correctly from legs, hips ets... which is something you can see happening from Federer to Mauresmo. The amount of upper body opening is very much grip spesific.

The free hand is for balance only and it usually moves later than right hand (right handed player). One handed backhand is a throwing motion, but not like throwing a Frisbee. There are a lot of video material, which shows how Federer does it. The situation may be different with slice, blocked return or similar.

I have seen a lot of tennis elbows and shoulder / neck issues as a result of that style.

Interesting post, but...

It is extremely difficult to split the arms away at anything but the same speed. Just stand in your living room and try a couple of star jumps (in fact don't even bother to jump) and try to do them moving one arm slower than the other...darn near close to impossible when I try it.

I think the non-hitting arm plays a key role in supporting the racket head, balance, and also rotation...straightening the not-hitting arm can help keep the torso more sideways at contact. Many of Federer's clips in the archive provide great examples of this taking place. Extreme-gripped players tend to have a less dramatic split away with the non-hitting arm compared to conservatively gripped players. I think the counter balancing of the non hitting arm with the hitting arm is critical after contact.

This is just my two cents. I may have misunderstood your post. Let me know if I have. We can continue to explore things further if you are up for it. I feel the role of the non-hitting arm is a worthy topic all by itself.

[mtjosefs]

Interesting post, but...

It is extremely difficult to split the arms away at anything but the same speed. Just stand in your living room and try a couple of star jumps (in fact don't even bother to jump) and try to do them moving one arm slower than the other...darn near close to impossible when I try it.

I think the non-hitting arm plays a key role in supporting the racket head, balance, and also rotation...straightening the not-hitting arm can help keep the torso more sideways at contact. Many of Federer's clips in the archive provide great examples of this taking place. Extreme-gripped players tend to have a less dramatic split away with the non-hitting arm compared to conservatively gripped players. I think the counter balancing of the non hitting arm with the hitting arm is critical after contact.

This is just my two cents. I may have misunderstood your post. Let me know if I have. We can continue to explore things further if you are up for it. I feel the role of the non-hitting arm is a worthy topic all by itself.

I think you have understood my post quite correctly, but I love to study tennis and golf biomechanics and like to always discuss these topics ☺. It seems to me that even Federer tries to play his backhand from very closed stance which makes it easier to start the hitting or throwing motion from opening his right hip while left hip stays back. To be more spesific the left leg may even move sideways towards the net at the same time (good golf and tennis players can handle their hips very well).

So, my point is that it is not the hand nor shoulder (maybe very little, perhaps) that is accelerating the hitting arm, but lower body which is moving "independently" (lower body separates from upper body) from upper body is accelerating the racket (racket and racket tip moving from down to up) and the hitting hand is allowed to extend without breaking the wrist angle. After this the racket tip goes up and wrist angle can break. So, there shoudn't be any active splitting the arms away. Usually Federer is already extended fully with the racket hand when the other hand starts balancing.

[don_budge]

Ben Hogan...on the Lower Body in the Swing

... but I love to study tennis and golf biomechanics and like to always discuss these topics ☺. It seems to me that even Federer tries to play his backhand from very closed stance which makes it easier to start the hitting or throwing motion from opening his right hip while left hip stays back. To be more spesific the left leg may even move sideways towards the net at the same time (good golf and tennis players can handle their hips very well).

Ben Hogan...on the most important part of the swing.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QL_6M_xZvq0

Ben Hogan and Sam Snead...more on the most important part of the swing.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w4w2kX2aVlI

I learned more about teaching tennis technique from learning, playing and teaching golf than I ever did from playing tennis. Tennis is golf on the run.