Adult beginner - questions on serve and 1H backhand

[Shag]

I'm an adult who is just starting to pick up tennis on my own (need a good winter sport up here in frigid Minneapolis). I'm an athletic guy with good hand/eye coordination, and am able to generate very good rotational power in other sports (long hitter in both softball and golf) - I'm hoping this translates to tennis. I'm also a reasonably good ping pong player, though I really have no idea if that helps at all. :) I've only played tennis once so far, but I did pretty well, for the most part. Struggled on the serve and the topspin backhand (no problem with backhand slices), so I briefly went out today to practice a bit on my own. This is where the questions come in...

1. The serve. Reading up on serving techinques, it seems that the continental grip is the grip of choice on the serve. However, I think I'm missing something about how the mechanics of the serve with this grip are supposed to work. I found myself hitting a heavy slice on every serve with this grip - the racquet with the continental grip seems to want to do this naturally. How exactly are you supposed to hit a more "pure" serve with this grip? While I'm sure it was far from great, the kick serve seemed fairly easy with this grip, but not the "power" serve.

2. Topspin backhand (1H). I'm not the quickest guy on the block, so I figured a 1H backhand would be my best bet, in order to increase my range. However, I'm finding the proper technique somewhat elusive (using a continental grip). What is the proper follow-through and finishing position for a 1H backhand? Is it a full 270-degree motion, or is the follow-through abbreviated? Do I roll the wrist to create topspin?

Any help would be most appreciated.

[D-man]

www.hi-techtennis.com (http://www.hi-techtennis.com). If you want real solid instruction. Tecnique is everything in tennis. This site changed my game like night and day.

Ping pong can tend to make you too wristy and army in your strokes, tennis is all about getting the body momentum into the shot.

[zapvor]

welcome to the sport!

for the serve, to hit it flat,if thats what you mean, you have to make contact more squarely with the ball, instead of brushing like with a kick serve. it feels weird at first, but once you get it it will be fine. i am not sure how you are slicing it....you may want to get a few lessons or have someone look at it to see what you are doing. i can only say so much/guess here.

for the backhand, i would do 2hands since you are beginner. its easier for the beginner, and you can switch to 1hand later if you want. 2hands gives greater control, so topspin is easier to create.

[sapient007]

1. The serve. Reading up on serving techinques, it seems that the continental grip is the grip of choice on the serve. However, I think I'm missing something about how the mechanics of the serve with this grip are supposed to work. I found myself hitting a heavy slice on every serve with this grip - the racquet with the continental grip seems to want to do this naturally. How exactly are you supposed to hit a more "pure" serve with this grip? While I'm sure it was far from great, the kick serve seemed fairly easy with this grip, but not the "power" serve.


i had similar issue to this where i argued that a eastern grip seemed to give me more pace off the serve. However after sticking to the cont grip for a bit longer, i'm beginning to see how it's better. the key is the toss, you want the ball in front of you, slight left on your toss. You are not trying to swing at the ball with only your arm muscles but rather generating energy from the body coil and roll your shoulder. the arm essentially becomes a loose body part that happens to hold the racquet and transfer your uncoil energy into the ball. It's prob true that you will loose a bit of power comparing to a perfectly executed cont grip serve vs an eastern grip serve, but the gain of consistency + spin movements should more than offset that speed difference.

just my 2 cents.

[Tennismastery]

As you learn to feel what the racquet is doing in your hand, the more you will be able to do more with the serve with the continental grip. Most players who start with the continental grip will do exactly what you are doing...slice the ball too much and the ball moving too far to the left (for a right-hander.) Yet, as you gain more comfort and control of the racquet with this grip, you will learn to pronate better and hit different kinds of spin from the foundation of the continental grip. Stay with your slice serve and aim more to account for the spin. This action will help your swing develop the right swing path for the spin but also the right direction. I seldom mention to pronate to players as this is a natural phenomenon that will happen automatically as you serve. (Providing other aspects of your serve are correct.)

But, it is the action of pronation that produces maximum spin and speed. (Pronation is the internal rotation of the forearm moving the racquet from "edge on" to facing the far right--again for right-handed players) which allows for maximum racquet head speed and proper spin. The problem is if you try to pronate intentionally, you will pronate too early and hit the ball flat and on the wrong side of the ball.)

From my 35 years teaching, I highly recommend using a two-handed backhand first. However, if you are set in using the one-haned backhand, use an eastern backhand grip--not continental--as the continental is more for slicing the backhand and more difficult to hit topspin correctly.

Best advice I can give you is to find a good pro in your area and invest in several private lessons. You will be thankful you did.

[Geezer Guy]

The continental grip is great for serving. For your hard flat serve, be sure to snap your wrist. Also, keep your arm as relaxed and loose as you can. Grip the racquet just barly tight enough to keep from flinging it over the net.

Onehand backhand is great - but try the eastern backhand grip. Come up over the ball to generate topspin.

Now, having said the above, I STRONGLY urge you to find a good teaching pro that can get you started using sound technique. As a beginner, the last thing you want to do is pick up some bad habits that will hold you back.

Check out WWW.TennisWelcomeCenter.com and see if there are clubs in your area that offer free lessons to beginners. Good luck!

[Bottle Rocket]

Impossible to hit an effective top spin backhand with a continental grip. Check here for a great (short) instructional video on the one-hander->

http://www.videojug.com/film/how-to-master-the-basic-one-handed-backhand

Something that might help with your serves is concentrating on your feet. It sounds like you may not have your body turned enough to hit a flatter ball with the continental. Most people I've seen that have trouble with that are standing square with the baseline. Check some pro's serving and watch how they position themselves. Again, here is a great little video on the basic serve->

http://www.videojug.com/film/how-to-serve-the-basics

Once you get your feet work, you can work on incorporating more of your body into the serve. With proper foot position it makes it easier and more natural to get a knee bend, shoulder rotation, and get your hips into it.

What about your forehand? What grip are you using on that side?

It does help to be a ping pong player, but I think that is why the continental grip will come so naturally to you, probably off both wings. You've got to change your ways, in my opinion, to have success in tennis. That same website has forehand grip tips and forehand instructions. Semi-western is a very good grip to experiment with initially and with a ping pong type swing, it shouldn't take long to figure out.