One handed backhand brushing angle

[futeh]

Just finished reading the four-part series on one-handed backhand. However, there is still a nagging question in my mind. How much does one brush up on the ball? I know the racket face should be more or less vertical when contacting the ball. But, what is the stroke path angle at contact? To be more precise, let's imagine the racket traces out a stroke path, using the center of the racket face as a reference point. What is the angle between the tangent to the stroke path at contact and the ground?

When I look at high speed clips of various pro players, it seems the angle is about 18 to 20 degrees. However, Vic Braden is advocating 30 degrees in his book. When I tried that (vertical racket face and 30 degree angle), I consistently hit the ball long, especially hitting on the rise.

[johnyandell]

I don't have a quantified answer for you. It's something that possible Brian Gordon has measured. But my advice is not to worry about the exact angle.

Why? Because if you make the turn position and the finish position the plane of the swing should take care of itself. Make sure you really are sequencing the the turn and the set up and the straight hitting arm first though before you worry about the forward swing.

I don't think the human body/brain can adjust the swing plane 4 degrees or whatever in the fraction of a second of the forward swing. You can have feeling of hitting more upward, and also using a little hand and arm rotation when you have want more spin. But the finish position is the magic key for creating the right length with appropriate spin on most balls.

[maahou]

One thing i've noticed, watching videos, is that when the hand is at the height of the shoulders, the hand is a little bit in front or in line with the shoulder's line .
It might help you or not for the forward swing , but it wasn't an evidence for me .