Bent arm or straight arm takeback for 1HBH?

  • Straight arm

    Votes: 6 14.0%
  • Bent arm

    Votes: 27 62.8%
  • Mix of both, depending

    Votes: 11 25.6%

  • Total voters
    43

ReopeningWed

Professional
If you have the tennis_balla quote I'd like to see it. I analyzed his backhand video some years ago but can't locate it.

This following post gives a list of the one hand backhands in the ATP. There is also a slow motion video with clips of 14 ATP top 100 players with one hand backhands.

I just saw a clear video of Dan Evans's backhand and he can be added to the longer list for straight arm forward swings. Chest press forces are not visible in videos but upper arm on or very close to the chest does show and so does the chest and upper arm moving together in sync. I assume the synced together movement makes the chest press forces very likely and is the closest to proof that we will get until a pressure gage is applied. In addition to chest pressing, I'm sure the back muscles are pulling also.



Add Dan Evans to the "Straight arm forward swings ...." group. Clear video but not ideal as he was under pressure.
See slow motion at 30 seconds.

1HBH evidence post.
Why are you so obsessed with the chess press?

You would make a better argument for the chess press by uploading a video of yourself hitting backhands instead of spamming TTW with misinformation.

I'm not convinced that you actually know how to play tennis to any degree of competency.
 

Shroud

Talk Tennis Guru
If you have the tennis_balla quote I'd like to see it. I analyzed his backhand video some years ago but can't locate it.

This following post gives a list of the one hand backhands in the ATP. There is also a slow motion video with clips of 14 ATP top 100 players with one hand backhands.

I just saw a clear video of Dan Evans's backhand and he can be added to the longer list for straight arm forward swings. Chest press forces are not visible in videos but upper arm on or very close to the chest does show and so does the chest and upper arm moving together in sync. I assume the synced together movement makes the chest press forces very likely and is the closest to proof that we will get until a pressure gage is applied. In addition to chest pressing, I'm sure the back muscles are pulling also.



Add Dan Evans to the "Straight arm forward swings ...." group. Clear video but not ideal as he was under pressure.
See slow motion at 30 seconds.

1HBH evidence post.
Can't seem to find the post but need to get back to work. It MIGHT be that I am confused and he dispelled the off hand bringing the racquet down theory you mentioned:

 

Chas Tennis

G.O.A.T.
Why are you so obsessed with the chess press?

First, the backhand videos show interesting things that were pointed out and illustrated in detail in the long 'chest press' backhand thread. Second, the statistics show that the majority of top 100 ATP pros appear to be doing the chest press to the extent that it can be seen in video. Third, I had not heard this described anywhere else for the 1HBH. Fourth, I have not heard of a biomechanical principle being used where one body part pushed on another. (please post if you have links). Fifth, most readers don't seem to understand that the 'chest press' is usually observed and is important.

Posters that disagree almost never provide video evidence to support their opposing views or don't point out what is wrong with my video analysis. Confidence doesn't count as evidence. Some, when asked questions about what they have said, avoid answering the question and morph the discussion into other subjects.

Draggy argued well on the pulling from the back vs the chest press. I believe that both back pull and chest press are important but that chest press will show up in videos and become a checkpoint on the one hand backhand.

You would make a better argument for the chess press by uploading a video of yourself hitting backhands instead of spamming TTW with misinformation.

My video would not be any argument whatsoever for what is true in a high level backhand. I agree it would be a big plus for my credibility. And I sure would like to show great videos for all strokes. But I keep getting lists of my known flaws, I don't like to practice..... It's difficult to get my uppermost body to do what I want it to do - strongly lead the initial acceleration on the one hand backhand. It's so simple, why can't I just do it? !!!

I'm not convinced that you actually know how to play tennis to any degree of competency.

I last played doubles at 4.0 level in 2014 and would estimate that I was in the middle of the 4.0 level. I enjoy analysis of ATP and WTA tennis strokes. I'm not an instructor and have my own difficulties in learning strokes.

I try to describe what I mean in posts with unambiguous terms and high speed videos and would like to answer questions on technical issues.
 
Last edited:

Curious

G.O.A.T.
Why are you so obsessed with the chess press?

You would make a better argument for the chess press by uploading a video of yourself hitting backhands instead of spamming TTW with misinformation.

I'm not convinced that you actually know how to play tennis to any degree of competency.
Not sure about chest press but having the upper arm touching the chest feels very stable and powerful to me. If my arm is away from torso I feel weak. Can’t explain though. Theoretically it should be stronger when arm is away due to increased leverage.
 

pencilcheck

Hall of Fame
The videos show interesting things that were pointed out and illustrated in detail in the long 'chest press' back hand thread. Second, the statistics show that the majority of top 100 ATP pros appear to be doing the chest press to the extent that it can be seen in video. Third, I had not heard this described anywhere else.

Posters that disagree almost never provide video evidence to support their opposing views or don't point out what is wrong with my video analysis. Confidence doesn't count as evidence. Some, when asked questions about what they have said, avoid answering the question and morph the discussion into other subjects.

Draggy argued well on the pulling from the back vs the chest press. I believe that both back pull and chest press are important but that chest press will show up in videos and become a checkpoint on the one hand backhand.



My video would not be any argument whatsoever for what is true in a high level backhand. I agree it would be a big plus for my credibility. And I sure would like to show great videos for all strokes. But I keep getting lists of known flaws, don't like to practice..... It's difficult to get my uppermost body to do what I want it to do - strongly lead the initial acceleration on the one hand backhand. It's so simple, why can't I just do it? !!!



I last played doubles at 4.0 level in 2014 and would estimate that I was in the middle of the 4.0 level. I enjoy analysis of ATP and WTA tennis strokes. I'm not an instructor and have my own difficulties in learning strokes.

I try to describe what I mean in posts with unambiguous terms and high speed videos and would like to answer questions on technical issues.
Chest press? How is it relevant? And if you look in the mirror and try to imitate those pro shots you will notice that they are not pressing into the chest.... it is your mind and camera angles that it’s screwing you thinking it is chest press
 

Chas Tennis

G.O.A.T.
Chest press? How is it relevant? And if you look in the mirror and try to imitate those pro shots you will notice that they are not pressing into the chest.... it is your mind and camera angles that it’s screwing you thinking it is chest press

The biomechanics of 'chest press' is that the initial arm acceleration comes mostly from the uppermost body turn (picture a line between the two shoulders). The arm and racket have inertia and so, during this acceleration phase, the upper arm is pressed onto the chest by inertia. This can be demoed by the readers by accelerating the uppermost body as for the 1h backhand, preferably with a 1 lb dumbbell or a can of soup in the hand for more inertia and feeling. The 'chest press' can be felt then and the uppermost body and upper arm move together in sync. You can look down and see the arm is moving with the chest.

Federer has an excellent backhand technique that does not include much chest press. His upper arm will be seen to separate from the chest earlier. Also, Federer skeletal motion capture frames were presented to show Federer's upper arm to chest angle. In other words, Federer uses his shoulder joint earlier. See the thread.

If two curved surfaces such as the upper arm and chest meet, the line between them will always be observed in a shadow. There is no way to interpret that shadow as proving touching, pressing or separated by 1 mm of air. Rather than argue over how to interpret a shadow in the armpit, that is where our judgement comes in. The chest press itself should be felt. We can do the demos or the stroke itself and feel the 'chest press' for ourselves. We can also pay more attention to how the upper arm and uppermost body move - best to draw lines for the upper arm and the line between the shoulders frame-by-frame.

Note - the "upper body" is defined as the body above the waist. The "uppermost body", as I use the term, is the body around the shoulder area. The active trunk muscles and stretch shorten cycles of the trunk muscles can then be used for uppermost body turning (to be determined).

These points are discussed and illustrated in more detail in the backhand thread.
 
Last edited:

Chas Tennis

G.O.A.T.
Not sure about chest press but having the upper arm touching the chest feels very stable and powerful to me. If my arm is away from torso I feel weak. Can’t explain though. Theoretically it should be stronger when arm is away due to increased leverage.

When your upper arm is away from your torso, you are using shoulder joint muscles or are limited by shoulder muscle maximum torque. When the chest presses on the upper arm, you are using legs plus trunk muscles for uppermost body turning (not shoulder muscles, they could be relaxed. ?). The legs plus trunk muscles are stronger than the shoulder joint muscles. Later, before impact, the shoulder muscles can be used ............- see videos.

Federer does an excellent job with the upper arm off the chest. I'm advertising the other technique.

See the static measurements using a luggage scale to compare forces of the shoulder joint muscles to the legs plus trunk muscles. I measured 28 (shoulders) and 53 lbs (legs plus trunk). This shows the idea but a static simulation is not accurate for the 1HBH stroke in motion.
 
Last edited:

Chas Tennis

G.O.A.T.
Do I use chess press on your opinion?


It looks as if you are getting some motion of the uppermost body and upper arm in sync, chest press. When the upper arm is down at too much of an angle, as yours is, it reduces racket head speed. Ineffective chest press.

Compare your backhands to a "blistering backhand" by Justine Henin. Henin clip at 45 sec. She was not pressured and wanted to hit her best backhand. Your backhands at 1:53, 2:25, 3:44, 4:31 and 5:12 were hit to the right in the frame and show the upper arm, many others are blocked from view. Move camera to left to better see the upper arm or move the camera to the front at the court dividing net, left of the court.


To view single frame on Youtube go back and forth between videos and compare single frames:
1) select a backhand clip and stop near impact. Impacts at 1:53, 2:25, 3:44, 4:31 and 5:12 show more. Avoid impacts that don't show the upper arm and when you are pressured by the incoming ball.
2) put the cursor on the video well away from the time line
3) hold down the "alt" KEY while pressing the left mouse click. This prevents the video from playing when selected and is useful for single frame. If you just click to select a Youtube video, it will start playing.
4) Use the period/comma keys to single frame and stop at impact.
5) Select other video and repeat and move one frame or to most equivalent position. Henin clip at 45 sec.

Please let me know if the procedure does not work on your computer. Also, anyone do this on a smartphone?

Compare similar stroke positions as the frame rates are unknown. What is the frame rate of your recording?

To better compare find backhands where the ball impacts are the same.

Here are some observations and differences between your backhands and Justine Henin's:
1) She rotates the entire hitting arm down to lower the racket with her off arm and ISR. For low balls, this method could have the racket shaft tilt downward from the hand. You do not rotate the racket down like ATP one hand backhands. The rotation is internal shoulder rotation (ISR) of the entire straight arm and then external shoulder rotation (ESR) may be done before impact for more topspin. When the racket is lowered like this it has the following advantages.
2) Look at the angle of her upper arm at the shoulder during her acceleration of the upper arm and racket to impact. That angle - vs the upper arm going down like yours - increases racket head speed. The rotation axis of her uppermost body is through the upper spine neck area. You have your upper arm down at too much of an angle, it should be higher like Henin's angle. That upper arm angle increases the distance of the hand to the rotation axis of the upper spine.
3) The line between your two shoulders indicates uppermost body turning. To some degree, the take back may face your back to the opponent. See videos. The shoulders line turns back and then forward. Your turn back varies and mostly I don't think that it is turning back far enough. This reduces the angle of turn into impact. This above comparison is for a very heavy backhand from a smaller woman in top physical condition. Twisting the trunk may be risky for some people, especially don't stress your back.
4) At impact compare the forearm to racket shaft angle. This angle does not show well from your camera angle.
5) others.....?

This is a comparison of poster Mojo28's backhand to Gasquet's. His upper arm is down like yours but Gasquet's is higher like Henin's when the uppermost body accelerates forward. See -67 ms, -33 ms before impact and 0 ms.
This post, from another thread, shows a comparison and analysis of poster Mojo28's one hand backhand drive and Gasquet's from the start of the forward racket motion. Note the chest and upper arm of the high level backhand.

[ Note for new readers - It is necessary for this analysis to understand the defined joint motions of internal shoulder rotation (ISR) and external shoulder rotation (ESR). The upper arm between the shoulder joint and elbow does not go anywhere, it just spins like a top around the upper arm's center line.]

Pictures of each frame of Mojo's video. The time scales are in milliseconds with "0" milliseconds being impact. -267 milliseconds is about 1/4 second before impact.

I point out differences between better high level strokes and the poster's strokes. A poster can select a high level stroke and copy it or use some other stroke model. Or, go with instruction or on their own without a model or instruction.

Mojo's ball is lower than Gasquet's. Compare similar ball heights for better analysis.

Frame at -267 ms. It looks as if at 267 milliseconds before impact the OP has turned his shoulders back to about the same angle as Gasquet has. Compare also shoulder turn angles at impact, at Frame -0 ms. The positions of the arms and rackets are different. Gasquet's racket has not come down and is still in front of his body. Is Mojo copying some other backhand stroke? Mojo has also done pronation to bring the racket down. Impression is that Mojo is doing his own thing. ? (To see angles more accurately, the cameras for both backhands need to view the players and courts from the same angle. Wear tight fitting clothes or a short sleeve shirt to better see the upper arm, elbow angle, etc.)
3599464


Frame at -233 ms. Mojo has brought his racket farther down. Gasquet's racket has gone up slightly. Mojo's elbow looks bent more and his upper arm (between the shoulder and elbow) has more downward rotation (ISR). Compare ISR angle to ISR angle as these frames progress.
3598368


Frame at -200 ms. Mojo's racket is still lowering and low. Gasquet's is just starting to lower.
3598367


Frame at -167 ms. Mojo's upper arm is down from the shoulder joint. Gasquet's upper arm is more across the chest.
3598366


Frame at -133 ms. Mojo's racket still lowering. Gasquet's now lowering with more rapid drop.
3598371


Frame at -100 ms. Mojo's upper arm is down at the chest. Gasquet's upper arm is more across the chest. Gasquet now appears to have started more upper body turn. I believe that to produce this early arm and racket acceleration that Gasquet is pressing hard on his upper arm with his chest powered by the forces of turning his upper body. If a credit card were between his chest and upper arm, would it be pressed tightly? How much upper arm pressing Mojo is doing this is not clear (due to the obscuring shirt and arm angle). But his upper body does not appear to be turning as rapidly.
3598370


Frame at -67 ms. The racket head speed developed by any rotation depends on the location of the axis of rotation and the distance out from that rotation axis. Look at the arm and racket angle and the distance out from the location of the rotation axis (guessed for now). It looks as if Mojo's arm angle is not favorable for racket head speed. Also, Mojo's racket is already much more rotated toward the ball trajectory. Gasquet's racket is >180° back from the ball's trajectory. Gasquet's upper arm is pressed to his chest as discussed.
3598369


Frame at -33 ms. Look at the racket to ball trajectory angle for Mojo, 45°? Look at the racket to trajectory angle for Gasquet still >180°. The total turns of Mojo's and Gasquet's upper bodies from Frame -267 ms seem somewhat similar, similar average speeds. The upper arm and racket have been used differently. Another motion - now look at the elbow bones and estimate the angular position of internal shoulder rotation, or axial rotation of the upper arm in the shoulder joint. Compare ESR from -33 ms to -0 ms.
3598373


Frame at -0 ms closest to impact. The big differences from Frame -33 ms to Frame -0 ms are the angular movement of Gasquet's racket and the much larger movement of his hand in the forward direction in comparison to Mojo. Also, Mojo's racket is open and Gasquet's is closed at impact. Possibly the ball height was a factor in how closed the racket was.? Now look at Gasquet's elbow bones and compare them to Frame -33 ms. Gasquet has done rapid external shoulder rotation (ESR) from Frame -33 ms to Frame -0 ms. That has moved the racket up and added to the topspin that the upward hand path already would have produce without ESR. Because Gasquet brought down his racket earlier with a near straight arm, it caused rapid ISR and pre-stretched his ESR muscles, he is using those stretched muscles in this frame. (Search the Stretch Shorten Cycle).
3598372


Frame at +33ms after impact. Mojo's hand and racket go more forward. Gasquet's goes more forward and up. ESR has continued.
3598375


Frame at +67 ms. Comparison of the follow throughs.
3599040


Video.

Last edited: Mar 5, 2017"

A good camera angle from the side of the court. Try this and use this video for comparison.
 
Last edited:

Chas Tennis

G.O.A.T.
Can you tell from this camera angle?


I don't see considerable chest press in the first five minutes or so or much uppermost body turn. I see your upper arm separating from the chest from shoulder joint motion. If there is some part of the video where you think you are doing it, give me the time. If you take a video and think that you had a good shot or an interesting shot give a thumbs up right after that shot in the video.

The chest needs considerable acceleration from the uppermost body turn and initially less or none from the muscles that move the shoulder joint.

A ball machine with low pace is better that a hard shot that pressures you into your usual backhand.

You might try bounce-hit using only your uppermost body turn - no shoulder muscles. Don't stress your back.
 
Last edited:

34n

Semi-Pro
I don't see considerable chest press in the first five minutes or so. I see your upper arm separating from the chest from shoulder joint motion. If there is some part of the video where you think you are doing it, give me the time. If you take a video and think that you had an good shot or interesting shot give a thumbs up right after that shot in the video.

The chest needs considerable acceleration from the uppermost body turn and initially less or none from the muscles that move the shoulder joint.

A ball machine with low pace is better that a hard shot that pressures you into your usual backhand.

You might try bounce hit using only your uppermost body turn - no shoulder muscles. Don't stress your back.

I don't think I am doing chess press. I thought you might see it and I would report what I feel. ( You can't tell what other players feel ). If not, there is nothing to report )) I do not feel a slightest pressure between upper arm and chest on any of my shots.

It was not a high pace. We were hitting targets, most of the shots are very controlled.
Ball machine is pretty useless to me. For perfect motion I would rather do shadow swings at home.

I do not use any muscles in the upper body and do not feel any stress in my back. All load is on my legs.
 

Chas Tennis

G.O.A.T.
The upper body is between the pelvis and uppermost body (shoulders area). The trunk is in between. The trunk can twist, stretch muscles and provide larger muscle torques than the shoulder joint muscles. The legs can also turn the pelvis. This is the mechanism behind the chest press forces and the chest press video checkpoint. Details are best seen in videos. I don't understand all that is going on.

Take a 2 lb dumbbell in your hand. Put your near straight arm across your chest, high but comfortable. Legs and pelvis hold their positions. Turn off your shoulder muscles. Turn back to coil trunk and swing your uppermost body - just your two shoulders - forward with trunk twisting somewhat as in a backhand - but nothing fast or stressful. You will feel chest press. This is to demonstrate the chest press feeling but is not a literal instruction for the 1HBH. It is better to view videos for details of motions than use word descriptions.

The shoulder blade (scapula) moves around on the back and the side of the rib cage. Look at the position Wawrinka's shoulder blade when he is looking over his shoulder, his scapula is forward. A video observation.............
 
D

Deleted member 769694

Guest
Bent, you want your arm as fresh as possible for the shot. Use your strong/non hitting parts on prep.

Doesnt matter how the racket goes back, but really matters how it comes foreward.
 

34n

Semi-Pro
The upper body is between the pelvis and uppermost body (shoulders area). The trunk is in between. The trunk can twist, stretch muscles and provide larger muscle torques than the shoulder joint muscles. The legs can also turn the pelvis. This is the mechanism behind the chest press forces and the chest press video checkpoint. Details are best seen in videos. I don't understand all that is going on.

Take a 2 lb dumbbell in your hand. Put your near straight arm across your chest, high but comfortable. Legs and pelvis hold their positions. Turn off your shoulder muscles. Turn back to coil trunk and swing your uppermost body - just your two shoulders - forward with trunk twisting somewhat as in a backhand - but nothing fast or stressful. You will feel chest press. This is to demonstrate the chest press feeling but is not a literal instruction for the 1HBH. It is better to view videos for details of motions than use word descriptions.

The shoulder blade (scapula) moves around on the back and the side of the rib cage. Look at the position Wawrinka's shoulder blade when he is looking over his shoulder, his scapula is forward. A video observation.............
This is not how I feel the shot. I need solid contact and feel of the weight of the ball with my legs. I lift the ball. Even with the shots above my shoulder I have this sensation of lifting the ball.
Muscles above pelvis are not involved. At least I do not feel any load on them
 

Shroud

Talk Tennis Guru
The upper body is between the pelvis and uppermost body (shoulders area). The trunk is in between. The trunk can twist, stretch muscles and provide larger muscle torques than the shoulder joint muscles. The legs can also turn the pelvis. This is the mechanism behind the chest press forces and the chest press video checkpoint. Details are best seen in videos. I don't understand all that is going on.

Take a 2 lb dumbbell in your hand. Put your near straight arm across your chest, high but comfortable. Legs and pelvis hold their positions. Turn off your shoulder muscles. Turn back to coil trunk and swing your uppermost body - just your two shoulders - forward with trunk twisting somewhat as in a backhand - but nothing fast or stressful. You will feel chest press. This is to demonstrate the chest press feeling but is not a literal instruction for the 1HBH. It is better to view videos for details of motions than use word descriptions.

The shoulder blade (scapula) moves around on the back and the side of the rib cage. Look at the position Wawrinka's shoulder blade when he is looking over his shoulder, his scapula is forward. A video observation.............
can you make a vid of this. Its majorly confusing what you are saying. Like how does one "turn off your shoulder muscles"?
 

Chas Tennis

G.O.A.T.
can you make a vid of this. Its majorly confusing what you are saying. Like how does one "turn off your shoulder muscles"?

The term 'relax' is often used in tennis for not activating your muscles.

Have you tried the demo with a 2 lb dumbbell? The demo's appearance would be very similar to the one hand backhand. In other words, it is simply moving your straight arm with the uppermost body.

Comparing both (demos, not instructions, as they involve initial acceleration but not impact).

Using shoulder joint muscles
1) Try not moving your uppermost body at all.
2) Move your straight arm at the shoulder joint only.
3) You are using shoulder joint muscles.

Here is Feliciano Lopez shadow swinging with a 2 lb dumbbell using shoulder joint muscles and also some uppermost body turn to start.

Put a credit card between his upper arm and chest and it FALLS OUT during initial accelaration. Insert credit card under your upper arm.

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Using uppermost body with no shoulder joint muscles
1) Relax your shoulder joint muscles.
2) Turn uppermost body with aceleration so that the near straight arm, across your chest, moves and you feel some chest press.

Here is Gasquet shadow swinging with a 2 lb dumbbell using uppermost body acceleration and maybe a little shoulder muscle forces to start.

Put a credit card between his upper arm and chest and it is HELD TIGHT during initial acceleration. Insert credit card under your upper arm.
 
Last edited:

34n

Semi-Pro
Not digressing but I think you can improve your backhand if you stop arming and wristing your backhand. Also your left foot has to be on the ground
That is why I spend drilling nearly 50% of my court time. At least not to decline fast.
What is wristing?
 

34n

Semi-Pro
That's a nice backhand in my opinion and I am extremely vocal about the chest press being trash.
I would coin a term “chest touch”. Chest touch happens all the time but no pressure. Chest press never. If you are learning back hand, avoid it. Chest press will break kinetic chain in half.
( Chas is incorrect with his credit card thought experiment. Credit card will fall down and should fall down)
 

Chas Tennis

G.O.A.T.
Here is a Youtube that shows high level 1H backhands. You can see some backhands with chest press and some that that don't have it.

I played it back at 25% speed (see gear on Youtube screen) as many clips are not slow motion. To do stop action on Youtube use the period/comma keys.
Based on the first caption for the Kolschreiber backhand - "hips stay sideways throughout the stroke" I would take the captions with a grain of salt and have a close look for yourself.

Justine Henin is a model of chest press. 47 sec

Kuerten has one backhand viewed somewhat from above at 1:36 - the ideal camera viewing angle for the chest press issue is from above. I'd interpret 1:36 as a chest press but he also has others backhands that don't appear to be chest press. It is best to interpret chest press by whether the upper arm turns in sync with the uppermost body as well as having the appearance of being in contact with the chest.
Note - the extreme range of motion of Kuerten's shoulder blade, his chin is behind his shoulder.

I think that techniques with and without chest press are being done in high level 1H backhands. In this video, chest press is probably not in the majority.

For the OP, there are lots of bent or straight elbow take backs to be counted.

Don't you love the forum format where many people can present their views and the evidence for those views.......................
 
Last edited:

pencilcheck

Hall of Fame
That is why I spend drilling nearly 50% of my court time. At least not to decline fast.
What is wristing?
Means that your shot involves extension or movement of your wrist which can be easily observed after follow through comparing how it looks before swing.

try to eliminate that completely, it might sound counter intuitive but the less you feel the need to move your wrist the better you will hit if done correctly
 

34n

Semi-Pro
try to eliminate that completely, it might sound counter intuitive but the less you feel the need to move your wrist the better you will hit if done correctly
I can eliminate wrist movement. In fact I do it on tough shots, when I am late or when the speed of incoming ball is too high. But for normal shots wrist movement gives me precision and variety in spin and pace . I like very relaxed and live wrist. Otherwise I would have played with two hands.

As an example.
I consider this video to be the best advice on how OHBH should be played and taught . See emphasis on wrist movement

 
Last edited:

pencilcheck

Hall of Fame
I can eliminate wrist movement. In fact I do it on tough shots, when I am late or when the speed of incoming ball is too high. But for normal shots wrist movement gives me precision and variety in spin and pace . I like very relaxed and live wrist. Otherwise I would have played with two hands.

As an example.
I consider this video to be the best advice on how OHBH should be played and taught . See emphasis on wrist movement

Sorry I disagree with this vid, that OHBH will quickly falter on any decent 4.0+ rally with huge topspin and pace esp when the ball might have side spins and might be hitting away or into the player. I can almost predict that that player will spray his OHBH everywhere with that “windshield wiper” motion.

you also don’t need wrist to have control of spin and pace
 

34n

Semi-Pro
Sorry I disagree with this vid, that OHBH will quickly falter on any decent 4.0+ rally with huge topspin and pace esp when the ball might have side spins and might be hitting away or into the player. I can almost predict that that player will spray his OHBH everywhere with that “windshield wiper” motion.

you also don’t need wrist to have control of spin and pace
I played with my backhand in 5.0 league, against nationally ranked players and active atp pros. It works ok. I would say I have more problems with my forehand.
My partners on the videos are over 4.0 for sure.
My strong belief is that wrist should be flexible and not locked by any means intentionally. It is the most important segment of the kinetic chain - equivalent of a whip tip that makes the sonic boom.
 

pencilcheck

Hall of Fame
I played with my backhand in 5.0 league, against nationally ranked players and active atp pros. It works ok. I would say I have more problems with my forehand.
My partners on the videos are over 4.0 for sure.
My strong belief is that wrist should be flexible and not locked by any means intentionally. It is the most important segment of the kinetic chain - equivalent of a whip tip that makes the sonic boom.
I am simply commentating based on what the vid taught, your backhand is not as bad as those taught in the vid I am just suggesting ways to improve that’s all

I thought the vid emphasized too much on the wrist and it is not good for those who are new to tennis or at lower level
 

34n

Semi-Pro
I am simply commentating based on what the vid taught, your backhand is not as bad as those taught in the vid I am just suggesting ways to improve that’s all

I thought the vid emphasized too much on the wrist and it is not good for those who are new to tennis or at lower level
Yes the video is specific about the wrist action. But it is obviously not the basis. Most important part is footwork.
For those who new I would say don’t worry about anything besides footwork.
 

ReopeningWed

Professional
I am simply commentating based on what the vid taught, your backhand is not as bad as those taught in the vid I am just suggesting ways to improve that’s all

I thought the vid emphasized too much on the wrist and it is not good for those who are new to tennis or at lower level
I think my wrist movement is probably the 3rd most important part of my backhand, and I need everything from #1-10.
 
Top