A New Teaching System: One Handed Backhand Grips

[johnyandell]

Would love to discuss my latest article, "A New Teaching System: One Handed Backhand Technical Overview"

[ten1050]

Hello John,
Your analysis of the various grips on the one handed backhand was interesting. Do you believe the shape of one's hand and length of one's fingers may play an unconscious role in the type of grip a player uses? A person with short fingers may use a backhand grip like Justine Henin, whereas a player with long fingers may use a grip more like Federer.
What do you think?
Norman Ashbrooke

[johnyandell]

Norman,
Now that is a good question. Think Fed and others will let me measure their fingers? (Ha.) The other factor is the reduced grip size. More or less wrap around with the hand--easier to get the hand partially behind the handle... But I think it mainly comes down to other factors in terms of how extreme the grip is. Ball bounce height and contact height. The more classical grips players tend to take the ball earlier.

[klacr]

Great Overview!
Looking forward to this series.

Norman, that is a great question to ponder. Size of hands and length of fingers. I have huge hands like baseball gloves. I'm completely comfortable with a continental or a very conservative eastern and do just fine. I have noticed a few of my juniors (much smaller than me) feel more comfortable with a more extreme version with reference points of base knuckle and heel of hand on bevels 1 and 1 or 1 .
Keep in mind, this grip may not be so much related to the size of the hands more than it is related to the height of the player and their contact point. A person who is relatively shorter (Justine Henin for example) may have immediately gone to a more western version of the grip because of the higher contact point. Someone over 6 ft may be able to have a more conservative grip due to a lower contact point.
Gustavo Kuerten perhaps being an exception but that can be attributed to his clay court prowess and higher bouncing balls on that surface.

But I'm all for John trying to get into a player's lounge to measure their fingers. I would gladly pay to see that.

Kyle LaCroix USPTA
Boca Raton

[stotty]

Great Overview!
Looking forward to this series.

Norman, that is a great question to ponder. Size of hands and length of fingers. I have huge hands like baseball gloves. I'm completely comfortable with a continental or a very conservative eastern and do just fine. I have noticed a few of my juniors (much smaller than me) feel more comfortable with a more extreme version with reference points of base knuckle and heel of hand on bevels 1 and 1 or 1 .
Keep in mind, this grip may not be so much related to the size of the hands more than it is related to the height of the player and their contact point. A person who is relatively shorter (Justine Henin for example) may have immediately gone to a more western version of the grip because of the higher contact point. Someone over 6 ft may be able to have a more conservative grip due to a lower contact point.
Gustavo Kuerten perhaps being an exception but that can be attributed to his clay court prowess and higher bouncing balls on that surface.

But I'm all for John trying to get into a player's lounge to measure their fingers. I would gladly pay to see that.

Kyle LaCroix USPTA
Boca Raton

That's really interesting. I have long since said hand size and finger length are factors that could be related to how a player might hold the racket but, until now, never equated these elements also with the height of a tennis player and their preferred contact point. I seem to remember Doug Eng would be inclined to term this kind of thing as 'associated techniques'.

[klacr]

That's really interesting. I have long since said hand size and finger length are factors that could be related to how a player might hold the racket but, until now, never equated these elements also with the height of a tennis player and their preferred contact point. I seem to remember Doug Eng would be inclined to term this kind of thing as 'associated techniques'.

Players, especially the talented ones, adapt to shots that require it. No doubt hand size and finger length have some impact on a player's strokes, but that may be a secondary cause as the primary is the player's grip and natural physical size and therefore that affects their contact point. I often let player's find their own grips and when the time comes or they are late to adapt I go over the pros and cons and let the light bulb go off in their own head that it requires a progression or evolution of their grip. I don't force them to do it, I just give them the facts and have their make their own decisions, after which, they almost always make the right one. It empowers them and opens the flood gates to more information processing for them and input from me.
Grips are always a tricky thing and they influence so much more on a stroke.

Kyle LaCroix USPTA
Boca Raton

[stotty]

Players, especially the talented ones, adapt to shots that require it. No doubt hand size and finger length have some impact on a player's strokes, but that may be a secondary cause as the primary is the player's grip and natural physical size and therefore that affects their contact point. I often let player's find their own grips and when the time comes or they are late to adapt I go over the pros and cons and let the light bulb go off in their own head that it requires a progression or evolution of their grip. I don't force them to do it, I just give them the facts and have their make their own decisions, after which, they almost always make the right one. It empowers them and opens the flood gates to more information processing for them and input from me.
Grips are always a tricky thing and they influence so much more on a stroke.

Kyle LaCroix USPTA
Boca Raton

Another interesting post. I like that kind of coaching style, which is becoming increasingly popular here to. It leans slightly towards a mentoring style of coaching.

• Introduce an idea and demonstrate and explain the benefits.
• Don't force it on them but rather let them make their own decision
• The student becomes empowered by reflecting upon the coaches information then making their own decision

It's definitely the way to go these days. Far better than telling and barking.

[klacr]

Another interesting post. I like that kind of coaching style, which is becoming increasingly popular here to. It leans slightly towards a mentoring style of coaching.

• Introduce an idea and demonstrate and explain the benefits.
• Don't force it on them but rather let them make their own decision
• The student becomes empowered by reflecting upon the coaches information then making their own decision

It's definitely the way to go these days. Far better than telling and barking.

That's it Stotty! It was never a trend for me. Just the way I always did it. Always seemed right and empowered the students to make good decisions on the match court as well.

Back to the original article. All of these one-handed backhand players profiled in this video are just gorgeous to watch. The deep shoulder turn, the racquet head above the wrist, the straight arm contact and the iconic one handed backhand finish. What a shot! What a series! Shame i have to wait a month for the next installment.

Kyle LaCroix USPTA
Boca Raton

[privas]

It's all about the thumb. Sure. There is some flexibility. However, ultimately, I think the thumb needs to be firmly below bevel 5 to obtain the most acceleration. And this will be determined by hand size and grip size. The smaller the hand and the bigger the grip, the more you're gonna need an extreme grip for the thumb to be firmly on bevel 5. This would probably also correlate with the higher contact point (shorter person), and thus a more extreme grip might help for the other reasons noted above.