New variation on a two-handed backhand

[lovati4]

Dear John,
Some time ago you described four variations of a double-handed backhand. I would like to draw your attention to a new one - when at the end of the backswing both hands of a player are straight. Good example is my fellow countryman Karen Khachanov.
In this variation player takes his hands more or less straight back. At the end of the backswing right hand is straight, left hand is almost straight, racquet head is to the side (5, 5:30).
I have been playing like that for a while. In my view this set up has an important advantage. You recently wrote the article about Milos Raonic backhand. It is very interesting. In my view many people with modern two-handed backhand have other very big problem – big flip with their racquet.
Most men at the end of the backswing have their left elbow bent. Brian Gordon, Rick Macci seem to teach that. Then players make big flip with their racquet, straightening their left hand at the same time. It is very difficult to do that with feel and control consistently. Very good example in my view is Jack Sock. That is why his backhand sometimes looks erratic.
I wonder why you need that at all. Players like Karen Khachanov keep their arms straight (like in a modern forehand) and then just pull the racquet (grip) forward. It is much easier and the result can be great.
The only nuance I would like to mention here. Players should pull their racquet with his (her) right hand forward, not to his (her) body, while keeping his (her) left wrist soft. It results in a decent flip, good vertical racquet head speed. It is like pulling a racquet on the forehand.
I hope you tell me what you think.
Gleb Antonov (tennisplayer subscriber).

[johnyandell]

I want to film him! There is great variety in the use of the wiper and the amount of so-called flip. Nishikori is an example of a player who really makes it work. Others also like Nadal. Novak not so much. I see a variety of backswings. Hewitt was a guy with two very straight arms also. What my previous work found was that a variety of backswings led to different configurations at contact.

[stotty]

I visited a performance centre last week where a coach got a high ranking junior to relax his arms more on his two-hander. He then got him to create a solid base with his legs and to drive up with strength....and got him to 'feel' the process. He then set about getting the player to synch both: strong, powerful base; relaxed arms...emphasising the two concepts mustn't conflict. The difference was remarkable in both generating pace on the ball and fluency of the stroke.

The coach tried to connect with the player the business of 'feeling'. The kid had a blank cheque to hit the ball wherever (in the stands if needs be) until he got those arms perfectly relaxed. The ball sprayed around for a while but very quickly (amazingly quickly) the kid grasped it and the shot became transformed.

If I had learned this kind of this stuff when I was a kid, I would have won way more matches. I used to get so tight I couldn't play at times.

Rule number 1 when playing matches should be: RELAX

The coach was a really good one, by the way.

[johnyandell]

Maybe that guy should write something for us? Easy to say relax. Hard to do when you want to win!

[lovati4]

In a practical sense players with straight arm forehand do not try to straighten arm and pull their raquet at the same time. They do a, then b. It seems logical to do that on the backhand side too. Establish almost straight left arm and then pull the raquet with a right hand. Like Karen Khachanov. Though I am not really sure without slow motion filming - like Tennisplayer does.

[lovati4]

Classification is a good method. It gives better understanding of a two-handed backhand as well. John Yandell in his article on Tennisplayer described 4 variations at contact point. It might be a good idea to describe variations at the end of the backswing too. I would like to suggest some initial points (unfortunately without enough data – slow motion filming) for men.
1) Classical backhand with both hands bent at the end of the backswing – Borna Coric
2) Modern backhand with left elbow bent and right elbow straight – the majority of atp players. Two subtle variations here: 2a) when a player lowers racquet head a little bit before pulling the racquet – Alexander Zverev, Novak Djokovic . This variation seem smoother on tv. 2b) when a player pulls a racquet and straighten left elbow at the same time. That is the model Brian Gordon and Rick Macci seem to teach.
3) New variation of modern backhand with both hands (almost) straight at the end of the backswing – Karen Khachanov.

[BrianGordon]

For what it is worth - my BH2 model was changed to include a straight left arm at the end of the backswing around two years ago for the reasons mentioned and others. For many it is too rigid but if not, it makes the most sense and eliminates common problems with having it bent. Nice observation.

[lovati4]

Thank you for your post. It is an initial observation. When slow motion video of good players with this or similar motion is available it could be analyzed better.

[arturohernandez]

I visited a performance centre last week where a coach got a high ranking junior to relax his arms more on his two-hander. He then got him to create a solid base with his legs and to drive up with strength....and got him to 'feel' the process. He then set about getting the player to synch both: strong, powerful base; relaxed arms...emphasising the two concepts mustn't conflict. The difference was remarkable in both generating pace on the ball and fluency of the stroke.

The coach tried to connect with the player the business of 'feeling'. The kid had a blank cheque to hit the ball wherever (in the stands if needs be) until he got those arms perfectly relaxed. The ball sprayed around for a while but very quickly (amazingly quickly) the kid grasped it and the shot became transformed.

If I had learned this kind of this stuff when I was a kid, I would have won way more matches. I used to get so tight I couldn't play at times.

Rule number 1 when playing matches should be: RELAX

The coach was a really good one, by the way.

Very hard to relax. I recently took a lesson because I have been struggling with my backhand. The coach immediately told me the same thing. Just relax so that you can feel the ball.

This feel based approach is employed a lot by Tomaz Mencinger.

I have found that feel is often lost on hardcourts where the ball comes quickly and there is not a lot of time.

On clay time allows us to feel the ball a lot better.

The interesting part is that a lot pros are overly tight when they hit the ball.

However, the best ones seem looser. Even Nadal seems to be relatively loose. Djokovic as well.

Murray was overly tight.

So it is difficult even for those who are pros!

[stotty]

Very hard to relax. I recently took a lesson because I have been struggling with my backhand. The coach immediately told me the same thing. Just relax so that you can feel the ball.

This feel based approach is employed a lot by Tomaz Mencinger.

I have found that feel is often lost on hardcourts where the ball comes quickly and there is not a lot of time.

On clay time allows us to feel the ball a lot better.

The interesting part is that a lot pros are overly tight when they hit the ball.

However, the best ones seem looser. Even Nadal seems to be relatively loose. Djokovic as well.

Murray was overly tight.

So it is difficult even for those who are pros!

The relaxation theory is accepted by some and derided by others. I personally think it's a big deal because of personal experience. I have a technically decent serve. It's a smooth, well oiled motion. It goes it's best when my arm and whole body is relaxed, extremely relaxed. If I felt tense or tried to muscle the ball down it never worked half as well.

I get players are different. McEnroe was loose and relaxed; Connors tense and rigid...or at least that's how it looked.

Going back to the kid I was mentioned in my post, once he got relaxed and out of 'let's muscle the ball' mindset, the shot went through the roof on the stock market index.

[doctorhl]

The relaxation theory is accepted by some and derided by others. I personally think it's a big deal because of personal experience. I have a technically decent serve. It's a smooth, well oiled motion. It goes it's best when my arm and whole body is relaxed, extremely relaxed. If I felt tense or tried to muscle the ball down it never worked half as well.

I get players are different. McEnroe was loose and relaxed; Connors tense and rigid...or at least that's how it looked.

Going back to the kid I was mentioned in my post, once he got relaxed and out of 'let's muscle the ball' mindset, the shot went through the roof on the stock market index.,

Stotty: I totally agree. In my personal experience, my use of the physical intensity method contributed to fatigue, injury and limited performance. Physical intensity also limited my performance in other sports as well. I finally learned, later in life, to gain ground stroke arm relaxation by relaxing the hand first. Upper body relaxation was learned with stretching (tightening) the core in backswing preparation, then releasing the core stretch on the forward swing and just letting the core relaxation drive the shoulders and arms. I never could learn to relax the lower body. A coach can try to channel a physical or relaxed player, but I find great resistance to discussion of this topic with players. Perhaps the resistance is tied to the fact that increased mental focus cannot be separated from increased physical intensity for some. Thoughts anyone?