Short or long backswing? What do you think is better?

[LeeD]

"Better" for who and what ball, what's the idea behind the shot?
Incoming balls, hard hit, deep and tons of spin, you're more consistent with a shorter backswing.
Incoming balls, something you can handle, a big swing allows you to effortless hit a bigger ball.
Incoming ball, slow and popped up, favors EITHER. A short backswing can generate enough power to hit a good shot, as does a long backswing.
Now if you swing short and compact, you cannot swing well with a long loop.
Conversely, if you naturally flow into long loopy strokes, you never be content with the lack of power using a short compact stroke.

[IsnerFan]

a shorter backswing has less moving parts and is generally harder to get the timing perfect

[LeeD]

Really? I find a long backswing has more moving parts and generally harder to get the timing perfect.

[MarinaHighTennis]

I love compact backswings and I think I do fine with one. However, everyone seems to tell me I need a bigger backswing

[Dreamcastin]

Originally Posted by IsnerFan

a shorter backswing has less moving parts and is generally harder to get the timing perfect

gotta disagree with that. I use a short to medium backswing for normal/heavy rally balls, but if its a putaway then i take the big swing to add some juice into the shot.

[dominikk1985]

Originally Posted by effortless

Seems like more people prefer short compact swings.

But doesn't a longer swing mean more power? In that case wouldn't you want a long swing when you have time to wind up for ground shots?

I personally think there are benefits to both. The reason i started this thread is that to me it seems too many people are advising other players to have short compact ground shots and i'm not sure that is right.

well most of the power today comes from the hip and spine rotation in the modern swings. that means as long as you coil your body enough away from the target (closing the shoulders) you can still hit hard even if you don't have a huge arm and racket lift.

most of the "long swing" appearance of the pro strokes is because they are doing a full shoulder turn which you should do.

I don't like a pure rotation backswing though. this can lead to a swing that relies too much on body rotation and neglects a nice independet arm whip at the end. so I like a little racket lift at the end of the turn so that the elbow is at least in a 45 degree angle away from the body.