Consistency down & hurting shoulder 1hbh

[ssonosk]

So I use to be able to hit a good consistent 1hbh; however, i took a little break and ever since my backhand has gone down. Now I hit the net a lot, and when I try to put on some power I sometimes hurt my shoulder. Feels like i'm hyper extending or popping it out of socket. I really need to get this fixed before I seriously hurt my self. I'm pretty sure i'm putting the power down wrong, but I don't really know what to fix. I think i'm hitting too high up. Please & thank you for any useful advice.

[BevelDevil]

Sounds like you are hitting the ball too late. Try making contact further out front. This will raise the trajectory of the ball and also give your body a more solid hitting structure. Also make sure you aren't over-rotating.

[JRstriker12]

Originally Posted by ssonosk

So I use to be able to hit a good consistent 1hbh; however, i took a little break and ever since my backhand has gone down. Now I hit the net a lot, and when I try to put on some power I sometimes hurt my shoulder. Feels like i'm hyper extending or popping it out of socket. I really need to get this fixed before I seriously hurt my self. I'm pretty sure i'm putting the power down wrong, but I don't really know what to fix. I think i'm hitting too high up. Please & thank you for any useful advice.

Define "little break."

A week off or so shouldn't hurt your consistency if you play fairly regularly on average. However taking a few weeks off and not playing at all, may affect how consistent you are.

Even after taking that into consideration, everyone goes through ups and downs in their games. For example, I was playing really well during USTA season, but I noticed a drop in my level of play after the season ended, even though I was playing 2-3 times a week.

The shoulder pain should give you pause. Have it checked out to make sure you didn't hurt anything or maybe have a pro look at your strokes to see what's happening.

Just from your post, are you sure you aren't trying to arm the ball in order to create more power? I have a one-hander myself and I think working on timing and shifting your body weight forward at the right time are a much better answer to producing more power than trying to arm it.

[fuzz nation]

The thing I'd check is when taking practice strokes without hitting a ball, see if there's any discomfort like that. If so, you may have a strain or some irritation that needs some time off to cool out. If not, you might easily be rushing your stroke to the ball.

I get that weird feeling every so often - the popping out of its socket sensation - when I'm late and try to arm my one-hander too much. It doesn't hurt for me, but if I did it a whole lot, I'll bet I'd eventually feel something. That happens when the stroke simply isn't progressing on time to meet the ball. The only way to compensate for that late execution is to pretty much try to rush it with the shoulder.

The thing that's actually important to rush for that one-hander is the footwork. Get positioned and onto that front foot before the ball arrives in the strike zone. When that rush to get setup becomes an ingrained habit on either wing, you'll almost never have to rush the racquet to the ball. That's the key to trading shots with harder hitters.

[LeeD]

Most times, if it hurts, don't do it.
Slice your backhands.
Learn a 2hbh.
Instead of swinging faster to hit harder, hit it flatter with a controlled swing.

[ssonosk]

I took like a month and a half off, and I'm on a real bad decline. I was a whoooole lot better a before I took the break. My mental game is just awful right now, and that's just sorta killing everything.

and I use to have a 2hbh; the same thing happened with that, and that's actually what made me go to 1hbh