Help With Backhand

I have a two hand, power/topspin backhand that has been giving me trouble. When I hit, I rarely make a solid connection. As of late, I have been covering with a mediocre one hand, but I need to fix the problem... if anyone could offer some advice it would be greatly appreciated.

[joebedford]

Can you give us more to go on? Are you watching the ball? Are you overrunning it?

[Hawaii 5.0]

Here is something very general, but almost always good advise for broken down strokes.Basically you need to go back to the basics(shorter backswing,more continental grip,closed stance(regardless of if you hit open, but closing you can track better).Also try and hit flatter to focus on directional control.

[bcaz]

Yes to the above ... and with the two-hander, it's vital to keep the arms reaxed and loose, not tighten up and fist/muscle the ball, and keep the grip with your dominant hand but drive up and through the ball with your top hand, like a non-dominant forehand.

I would add this: try hitting the ball relatively out in front of your body, and also make sure u're footwork's not sloppy.. sometimes when you're uncomfortable with something it's the footaction that evaporates first.

[Bungalo Bill]

Usually on the twohander if your not getting clean contact it is because your rotation is pulling your swing path or changing the swing path when it needs to be heading to the ball the most.

One thing I find is a lot of twohanders with contact problems usually pull their head towards the left shoulder which causes the right side of the body to raise and "fall away" towards the left. If you do this you will never have a good backhand.

Try to stay centered and the head still, you want to make contact around the front hip area. Lighten the load on your left foot (if your right handed) so it can swing up after the hit. This will help your centrifugal force stay centered and not pull off.


Always try and put your body in a 45 degree angle to the ball when you swing forward and make contact. It is ok to not have the 45 degree angle during your backswing or as you coil, but once you swing forward, the most powerful position the plane of your body can be is on a 45 degree angle when contact is made.