September 2018: Stefanos Tsitsipis Backhand

[johnyandell]

September 2018: Stefanos Tsitsipis Backhand

Stefano Tsitsipis is definitely one of the most intriguing Next Gen players. He showed unassailable potential with his performance this year. Here is his gorgeous, dangerous one-handed backhand. Tell us what you think!

[arturohernandez]

Shows us his back, racket in a very nice take back, classic stance and a nice finish up high. Seems like he is hitting with some topspin on these balls. Maybe not through the ball as much as others with the off hand staying by the side rather than moving as far back as others. Very nice rhythmic shot. Very hard to criticize.

[doctorhl]

Solid stroke. Would like to know his arm length and leg length. Covers court easily and seems like ball doesn’t ever
get higher than his waist in this clip.

[kfriedman]

to my eye, all the components of a great onehander are present... what stands out most is his spacing & timing. beginning with his footwork and shoulder turn the kinetic chain loads and releases smoothly. Can someone comment on the role of the wrist position and forearm before and after contact to follow through? I'm a teaching pro and work with high performance players, so would love to hear more on these aspects of the onehander.

[kfriedman]

John can you refer me to the best articles on your site that clarify timing on the forward swing, role of the wrist and position (cocked or not?). Many thanks!

[arturohernandez]

Is it me or does he seem to come up and over the ball more than Wawrinka and Thiem?

Thiem especially seem to be more across the body than up.

But my eyes could be deceiving me.

Time for a refresher on the one handed backhand with all of the current one handers.

John, any thoughts?

[don_budge]

It would be extremely informative if we could see examples of the serve, forehand and volleys as well. Why not do an entire player's game critique? In this manner we could discuss relative weaknesses and strengths to better understand the tactical objective of any given player against any given opponent.

It is a beautiful backhand. My hope is that he continues to develop and not listen to the accolades that are being attributed to his recent successes. This is the trap that players fall into. They read too much about their "greatness" and then become to self conscious. Alexander Zverev and Dominic Thiem come to mind. Maybe even Denis Shapovolav.

[johnyandell]

Forehand is coming up in a couple of months...

[doctorhl]

to my eye, all the components of a great onehander are present... what stands out most is his spacing & timing. beginning with his footwork and shoulder turn the kinetic chain loads and releases smoothly. Can someone comment on the role of the wrist position and forearm before and after contact to follow through? I'm a teaching pro and work with high performance players, so would love to hear more on these aspects of the onehander.

To my eye, his wrist is in slight radial flexion and forearm in slight internal rotation before left hand is released. Wrist stays locked(slight radially flexion) through contact and then begins a little ulnar flexion during follow through. Forearm slowly externally rotates prior to contact and continues to externally rotate during follow through. Sometimes the external forearm rotation seems to speed up at contact and early part of follow through when he wants more topspin or feels like he may be a little late. Try visualizing this with a shadow swing using a closed fist with the thumb in the proper position on an imaginary racket. Watch the thumb movement. As the bent elbow starts to extend during the forward swing, it is hard to know the ratio of the interplay of the triceps extension, external rotation and abduction(deltoid) of the upper arm.

[kfriedman]

Thanks for the detailed synopsis. As a student of the game I understand and appreciate your analysis from a bio-mechanical lens.
However, In speaking with other coaches and teaching pros I rarely hear much discussion of the role of wrist and forearm on a top level one handed backhand. I hear plenty about shoulder turn, leg drive and extension of the racket pathway after contact... so I am looking for more on how much if any and when these elements contribute to a great one hander

[drsous]

Can’t fault this stroke. Lovely.