The One Handed Backhand

[stroke]

This to me a very good article on the 1 handed backhand. DB will certainly like it as the author makes a clear case for why he considers Federer's the best of all time.

https://open.substack.com/pub/hughcl...medium=android

[arturohernandez]

It is a really interesting article. Substack seems to be filling in the gap between blog and magazine very nicely. This is certainly as good as any other article out there on the topic. Maybe there is something to this substack thing.

Back to the article. He covers everything including the downside which is the return of serve relative to the 2hbh. Let's be honest, any of us would love to have Fed or Wawrinka's backhand. Both are devastating in different ways. I would say that Wawrinka's is more modern. He even notes that it is hit for like a forehand than a backhand. I have been told by so many people not to rotate so much on my backhand. But now we have a model for this other one hander. The rotation has always brought me plenty of pace and explosiveness. Wawrinka seems to be using this trick to its maximum effect.

Fed is basically a "swiss-army" knife of a shot. It can do so many things. But under duress in a long baseline rally it is less reliable and lethal. Given the modern conditions, Wawrinka was the one who could stand toe-to-toe with Djokovic and win bh rallies. So for the modern game, Wawrinka takes the prize. No one else had a backhand that you could say was "better" than a two handed backhand when playing a deep baseline game. Wawrinka to me is the best modern backhand, period. Not the most versatile or creative. But the best backhand for a game where all that matters is getting balls back from behind the baseline. This means beating Novak on his best surfaces in bh rallies. Fed falls short there.

Of course, I would be happy to have either of the two but to me, Wawrinka stands out because he could beat the best player on the planet on his strongest side on his favorite surface.

I saw it live and it is just beautiful and deadly.

Sorry Fed, he is great in so many other ways but Wawrinka is still the best 1hbh of the modern era to me. Variety is not what it used to be.

[stotty]

I'd take Roger's all day long. It's so versatile and he can hit it on the fly from anywhere in the court. His backhand got better in his 30's too. I like Stan's too but it's less versatile and he needs his legs well and truly under him to execute well. Stan's is also a tough model to copy with the racket tip bolt upright like that. The backswing kind of wraps round the body and the timing of the backswing to contact point has to be exquisite. Most players can't do it.

I love Roger's backhand. I am struggling to think of another one-handed player who can match it. It's that good.

[doctorhl]

I'd take Roger's all day long. It's so versatile and he can hit it on the fly from anywhere in the court. His backhand got better in his 30's too. I like Stan's too but it's less versatile and he needs his legs well and truly under him to execute well. Stan's is also a tough model to copy with the racket tip bolt upright like that. The backswing kind of wraps round the body and the timing of the backswing to contact point has to be exquisite. Most players can't do it.

I love Roger's backhand. I am struggling to think of another one-handed player who can match it. It's that good.

Agree totally. Part of the strength of Fed's bh style is how he blended in the same windup for slices and dropshots. Both Warwrinka and Federer styles require excellent footwork and timing.

[stroke]

Doc and Stotty, certainly the author agrees with you, as do I. Side note, to me, the ultimate test of a right handed one hander is Nadal. Fed, when he went to the larger racquet, is the only one hander to pass this test to me. Gasquet, who stylistically has the best one hander to me, actually came out and said one time that his backhand could not stand up to the Nadal forehand. Fed did it, more than once, that to me is the end of the conversation.

[jimlosaltos]

Doc and Stotty, certainly the author agrees with you, as do I. Side note, to me, the ultimate test of a right handed one hander is Nadal. Fed, when he went to the larger racquet, is the only one hander to pass this test to me. Gasquet, who stylistically has the best one hander to me, actually came out and said one time that his backhand could not stand up to the Nadal forehand. Fed did it, more than once, that to me is the end of the conversation.

Good point. Fed won 7 of his last 8 matches with Rafa, the only loss coming during the "Federer of Arabia" sandstorm semi at Roland Garros that wasn't really a tennis match.

I watched Fed steamroll Rafa at Indian Wells, first match after their 5 setter Fed won the 2017 Australian Open final. The AO win appeared to give Fed confidence to get even more aggressive and he was literally stepping well inside the baseline to return Rafa's serve to his backhand -- taking it at the peak to hit outright winners crosscourt.

A Fed quote I found fascinating bears repeating. Roughly, from memory: "I used to have to change my game to play Rafa. But {since racket change} I'm not hitting over the backhand more against right handers so I don't have to change when I play him."

Tangentially, the 2017 Aussie, I believe, was where Fed said he stayed up late the night before the final to watch Dimitrov take Rafa to 5 sets, and absorbed Grigori's tactics. A taller, lankier player, Grigor always came over the high backhand well.

[jimlosaltos]

It is a really interesting article. Substack seems to be filling in the gap between blog and magazine very nicely. This is certainly as good as any other article out there on the topic. Maybe there is something to this substack thing.

Back to the article. He covers everything including the downside which is the return of serve relative to the 2hbh. Let's be honest, any of us would love to have Fed or Wawrinka's backhand. Both are devastating in different ways. I would say that Wawrinka's is more modern. He even notes that it is hit for like a forehand than a backhand. I have been told by so many people not to rotate so much on my backhand. But now we have a model for this other one hander. The rotation has always brought me plenty of pace and explosiveness. Wawrinka seems to be using this trick to its maximum effect.

Fed is basically a "swiss-army" knife of a shot. It can do so many things. But under duress in a long baseline rally it is less reliable and lethal. Given the modern conditions, Wawrinka was the one who could stand toe-to-toe with Djokovic and win bh rallies. So for the modern game, Wawrinka takes the prize. No one else had a backhand that you could say was "better" than a two handed backhand when playing a deep baseline game. Wawrinka to me is the best modern backhand, period. Not the most versatile or creative. But the best backhand for a game where all that matters is getting balls back from behind the baseline. This means beating Novak on his best surfaces in bh rallies. Fed falls short there.

Of course, I would be happy to have either of the two but to me, Wawrinka stands out because he could beat the best player on the planet on his strongest side on his favorite surface.

I saw it live and it is just beautiful and deadly.

Sorry Fed, he is great in so many other ways but Wawrinka is still the best 1hbh of the modern era to me. Variety is not what it used to be.

A good direct comparison of their backhands was in the Monte Carlo final. Fed and Stan went mano-a-mano crosscourt backhands through out. Fed had the edge to start.

Then it started raining and Stan had the power to hit through the muck, more so than Fed. That switched the dynamic and Stan won.

Tangentially, the trophy ceremony amused. Fed was happy as a little kid that Stan won a Masters 1000 shield (perhaps his first?) while Stan looked reserved that he stole one from his buddy.

Loved that personal dynamic.

Pro matches swing on such small margins.

When Fed won 10 straight games vs Rafa on Hamburgh clay to end Rafa's long winning streak on clay, a big part of the turnaround was Fed attacking with his backhand -- even with the small racket head.

There, Rafa won the first set, then it started sprinkling. This time the rain helped Fed's backhand, by taking hop off Rafa's forehand. Suddenly, Fed could go wide to Rafa's forehand then take it down the line. A, what, 6 inch lower bounce by Rafa's topspin forehand made all the difference.

[arturohernandez]

jimlosaltos Indeed amazing! Wawrinka was just incredible with that one hander. I credit Fed and him with the sudden reappearance of the one handed backhand on the boys junior tennis courts. Sorry, the two hander is very efficient and is probably a no brainer for the majority of players. But for those who manage to hang in there, the one hander is just so much more beautiful.

And being called beautiful in this age of automation carries even more weight than in the past.

Long live the supposedly dying stroke in tennis!

[jimlosaltos]

jimlosaltos Indeed amazing! Wawrinka was just incredible with that one hander. I credit Fed and him with the sudden reappearance of the one handed backhand on the boys junior tennis courts. Sorry, the two hander is very efficient and is probably a no brainer for the majority of players. But for those who manage to hang in there, the one hander is just so much more beautiful.

And being called beautiful in this age of automation carries even more weight than in the past.

Long live the supposedly dying stroke in tennis!

Well put!