Henin's Onehanded Backhand...

[PSNELKE]

Originally Posted by Sid_Vicious

I would rather have Wawrinka/Gasquet/Guga represent the 1 HBH rather than Henin.

Guga for me.. followed by the coke sniffer

[Gizo]

Maybe this is being oversimplistic, but you could argue that a good one handed backhand could be less of a liability on the women's tour than the men's.

The two main weaknesses of the one handed are on the return of serve and dealing with high balls. However most WTA players have terrible serves and hit the ball relatively flat.

Still while few few male juniors coming through play with a one hander, that number is probably even less for the upcoming female players.

Of course Henin's forehand was more deadly and her main weapon (it was arguably the single best shot on the WTA tour from 2003-2007), but her backhand was great to watch. I remember her 2001 Wimbledon semi-final against Capriati when he she hit 3 consecutive backhand winners in as many points.

Apparently when she was a junior her coaches tried to get to play with a two handed backhand but she kept on ignoring them and switching back to the one hander as it felt more natural to her. Thank god she didn't become 'just another two hander'.

For aesthetics I always liked Gaudio and Stich's backhands as well.

[nat75]

Originally Posted by vive le beau jeu !

what about sabatini's backhand ?
seemed smoother to me...

I like Gaby's better because it looked smoother and it got insane topspin but I think is a question of taste. Justine is remarkable though for being such a petite girl.

[Gizo]

I think aesthetically Mauresmo's backhand was prettier than Henin's. That was maybe height related though as Mauresmo was pretty much the ideal for modern day women's tennis, while Henin (definately shorter than her listed height) had to strain herself a lot more to generate power with the shot.

Overall though Henin's was probably better. Her backhand return was much better than Mauresmo's which was a relative weakness, and Henin's was more reliable across all surfaces (her backhand on grass was better than Mauresmo's on clay for instance).

[Warriorroger]

I would go for the Sabatini backhand, much more fluent.

[SAFINATORZ]

sabatini backhand was weak, her backhand landed shot most of the time.!! henin is much more powerful and she has more variety compared to sabatini.. besides sabatini was a s & volley player.

Originally Posted by Warriorroger

I would go for the Sabatini backhand, much more fluent.

[Warriorroger]

Originally Posted by SAFINATORZ

sabatini backhand was weak, her backhand landed shot most of the time.!! henin is much more powerful and she has more variety compared to sabatini.. besides sabatini was a s & volley player.

If you have the time please sit out this youtube clip, if you still feel the same, I rest my case:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qHBDoV8fkIg

[cluckcluck]

Originally Posted by Warriorroger

If you have the time please sit out this youtube clip, if you still feel the same, I rest my case:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qHBDoV8fkIg

Sabatini's backhand has too many parts to it, it's not smooth at all. Yeah, she hits it a ton but it's nothing compared to the fluidity of Henin.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YVvv7...feature=relmfu

[FuriousYellow]

Originally Posted by dominikk1985

justine was super strong for her size. she had great skills but the reason she dominated was that she could hit the **** out of the ball. she had a very strong forearm and wrist which is the reason why she could generate so much snap in her strokes. most girls don't have the forearm strength to hit a one hander like this and do this "whole body turn" to hit balls hard.

justine while being small was a power hitter

and she maintained all the advantages of being small. She was one of the fastest women on tour and, unlike a lot of women players, she was fast moving forward too.

Don't believe we'll see anyone like her on the women's tour any time soon.

[BevelDevil]

Originally Posted by Gizo

Maybe this is being oversimplistic, but you could argue that a good one handed backhand could be less of a liability on the women's tour than the men's.

The two main weaknesses of the one handed are on the return of serve and dealing with high balls. However most WTA players have terrible serves and hit the ball relatively flat.

Still while few few male juniors coming through play with a one hander, that number is probably even less for the upcoming female players.

Interesting thought, you might be right.

I definitely think there should be more women using the 1-hander, especially the short ones.

[BeHappy]

Originally Posted by Gizo

Maybe this is being oversimplistic, but you could argue that a good one handed backhand could be less of a liability on the women's tour than the men's.

The two main weaknesses of the one handed are on the return of serve and dealing with high balls. However most WTA players have terrible serves and hit the ball relatively flat.

Still while few few male juniors coming through play with a one hander, that number is probably even less for the upcoming female players.

Of course Henin's forehand was more deadly and her main weapon (it was arguably the single best shot on the WTA tour from 2003-2007), but her backhand was great to watch. I remember her 2001 Wimbledon semi-final against Capriati when he she hit 3 consecutive backhand winners in as many points.

Apparently when she was a junior her coaches tried to get to play with a two handed backhand but she kept on ignoring them and switching back to the one hander as it felt more natural to her. Thank god she didn't become 'just another two hander'.

For aesthetics I always liked Gaudio and Stich's backhands as well.

The Williams sisters serve 129 mph, Henin had no problem returning against them in the 2007 USO.

I think her backhand was better than her forehand. It just had that x factor where she was able to hit winning shots from impossible positions. Plus she could slice off that wing.

[cluckcluck]

Originally Posted by Gizo

The two main weaknesses of the one handed are on the return of serve and dealing with high balls. However most WTA players have terrible serves and hit the ball relatively flat.

You're kidding me right? The majority of backhands I've seen so far at the FO on the women's side are moonballs. It's a joke.

[BeHappy]

Originally Posted by FuriousYellow

and she maintained all the advantages of being small. She was one of the fastest women on tour and, unlike a lot of women players, she was fast moving forward too.

Don't believe we'll see anyone like her on the women's tour any time soon.

I thought she was pretty slow actually, her legs moved fast but she was just so tiny. Venus Williams or Steffi Graf were literally twice as fast as Henin.

[nat75]

Originally Posted by cluckcluck

Sabatini's backhand has too many parts to it, it's not smooth at all. Yeah, she hits it a ton but it's nothing compared to the fluidity of Henin.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YVvv7...feature=relmfu

What?! Henin's more compact because it's flatter. A compact stroke doesnt neccesary mean more fluid. If Gaby's stroke has "two many parts of it", how many parts has Gasquet's? Gasquet's not fluid either?

[nat75]

Originally Posted by SAFINATORZ

sabatini backhand was weak, her backhand landed shot most of the time.!! henin is much more powerful and she has more variety compared to sabatini.. besides sabatini was a s & volley player.

Sabatini was never s&v. She was a baseliner who turned an all court player with the help of Carlos Kirmayr. And her backhand weak?! Puff! It seems to me that you havent seen her playing. BTW, Sabatini used a 78 pound tension racket which weighted over 400 grams. Loopy and very heavy balls doesnt mean weak at all.

[nat75]

Originally Posted by cluckcluck

You're kidding me right? The majority of backhands I've seen so far at the FO on the women's side are moonballs. It's a joke.

Name a heavy topspin hitter in the current women's tour.

[nat75]

Originally Posted by BevelDevil

Interesting thought, you might be right.

I definitely think there should be more women using the 1-hander, especially the short ones.

Ummm...you need a strong arm and a good pair of shoulders to hit a 1hbh so it's very rare to have a short woman with a good one. So that's really remarkable of Henin.

[TERRASTAR18]

Originally Posted by scotus

I never quite understood why people got all worked up over the Serena incident. My question is why did Serena proceed with the serve, only to complain after she missed the serve?

If I raised my hand to signal I wasn't ready to return serve and my opponent saw it but proceeded to serve any way, then I would not be very happy. I can see why in the heat of competition it would have ****ed off Justine and put her in the mood to screw Serena over it.

how is any of that serena's fault? as the server she starts the point, henin lifeted her hand in the middle of the motion, so serena lost her timing. but even that isn't the issue. henin is considered a cheat because she didn't admit it.

[rh310]

Originally Posted by vive le beau jeu !

what about sabatini's backhand ?
seemed smoother to me...

Maybe, but it wouldn't hold up at all to the power hitters of the past 10 years.

[rh310]

Originally Posted by TERRASTAR18

how is any of that serena's fault? as the server she starts the point, henin lifeted her hand in the middle of the motion, so serena lost her timing. but even that isn't the issue. henin is considered a cheat because she didn't admit it.

As opposed to Serena being considered a cheat for trying to serve through the "not ready" indication, missing the serve, and then trying to get two.

I doubt if Serena would have hit an ace that she'd have said anything about seeing "not ready" from Henin.