Sat here at my desk, having a random thought about backhands..

millardus

Rookie
I cant really practise it right now, but I am visualising something with the one-handed backhand stroke.

I have been using a 2-hander these past few months, having been a 1-hand hitter for years in my previous tennis life. I have a slightly un-healing rotator cuff, it kinda affects my 1-hand backhand swing but more in a *doesn't feel very powerful* way rather than a painful way.

My thought is, would gripping the racquet higher up the handle have a beneficial effect in making this stroke feel more *solid*...... I wonder. In theory I would be shortening the racquet drag and swing path..... there is probably a physics answer to that, I cant think of it.

What do the technique aficionados out there think?

If this is ridiculous, just say so ha!
 

TheVuMan

New User
From what I was told, although I could have been told wrong, if you hold the grip higher you lose plow through in turn making it less stable. So the lower you hold your grip the more plow through you get so it becomes more stable. Kind of like using a hammer. You get more power from holding it at the bottom rather than holding it at the top.

Again I could be completely wrong. But this is just what I have always thought. :D
 

Dimcorner

Professional
To me it feels more stable but at the expense of racquet head speed. I feel that if I grip up it feels like i'm just bunting the ball instead of swinging through it. Sometimes that's what I end up doing on server returns thou. On regular swings I hold further down to get more whip on the head.
 

LeeD

Bionic Poster
More control, yes.
RHSpeed, depends if your racket is heavy for you or not.
Plowthru, depends if your racket is heavy or not.
Reach, you know.
Biggest problem is finding that grip, unless you choke up on all groundies and volleys the same.
 

Relinquis

Hall of Fame
get rest, lay off the single hander for a while and do physio/get your rotator cuff checked... if it is weak, the last thing you want to do is harm it. it doesn't heal as easy as arm muscles and such...

gripping higher might make you hit the sweet spot better if your form is off, but it will not give you more power/stability.
 

PhrygianDominant

Hall of Fame
I like the way the grip feels on my heel pad higher up, where the butt cap doesn't come into play. I try not to do this though because I am sacrificing leverage.
 

LeeD

Bionic Poster
Hard to go from buttcap to above consistently, while running, looking at the ball, anticipating the shots, sweating, breathing hard, heartrate up.
If you always choke up on every stroke, it can work for sure.
But you can't go from buttcap to middle of grip consistently.
 

The Meat

Hall of Fame
It's better to lock your wrist in a L shape and have a solid knee bend on the front foot to get more stability, also keeping sideways with the help of the left hand flying back to counteract the forward motion.
 
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