Borg's backhand...right-hand dominated?

[VictorS.]

I made a thread regarding Borg's unorthodox backhand a while back. There was definitely some interesting insights regarding this classic shot. Obviously, most two-hand backhands today are left-hand dominated in a sense. However, I was wondering whether Borg's backhand was instead right hand dominated? It seems this way since he even lets go of the stroke with his left hand almost immediately after making contact with the ball. The follow-thru is almost entirely with the right hand.

Another thing, I noticed Wilander's backhand in old footage seemed quite similar to Borg's. Is this in fact the case? How did it differ? Any insights would truly be welcomed.

 

[Camilio Pascual]

When I switched to a 2-hander 4 or 5 years ago, I was taught Borg's 2HBH as a left hand dominated backhand. I'll try to find it, I've read somewhere where Braden or a similar tennis guru studied Borg's shot and it showed the left arm muscles bulging to a degree that indicated he was hitting with the left hand dominating. I remember reading on this board recently that Borg let go early with his left hand, which would certainly contradict what I was taught.

 

[Dedans Penthouse]

my 2 cents:

I think it's a RIGHT-hand dominant shot. The fact that Vic Braden saw "muscles" bulging in Borg's left forearm may be attributable to the fact that he had a pronounced "wrist snap" when he pulled the racquet face into the ball at contact. On grass when there was a short ball with a very low bounce, Borg on occasion would resort to hitting a scooping underspin shot which was hit with two hands and also featured the release of the LEFT hand a smidgen after contact.

Borg's grip is (imho) too strong of an Eastern backhand grip to be left-hand dominant. His right hand is so far on top of the grip and his knuckles point directly forward as if he were gripping a motorcycle's handlebars. If you can check out a picture of his right hand AT CONTACT, you'll note that he doesn't have that "droopy" right-hand wrist that you see with a lot of the two-handed backhand; their right hands being in a Continental/Eastern forehand grip. Some "droopy" right hand wrists are pronounced, e.g. Maria Sharapova, and some are not that pronounced e.g. Andre Agassi, but even Agassi's right hand is not as "on top of the grip" (strong Eastern backhand) as Borg's. The only right hand grip with a 2-hand backhand that was as Eastern-ish as Borg's was Jim Courier, but Courier's backhand had the was more of a "front elbow UP" baseball bashing stroke albeit without the "release" after contact (i.e. a pretty ugly, muscle-y stroke).

Willander's right hand grip is less of an Eastern backhand and more towards a Continental grip. And his take back and forward swing isn't as pronouced a "banana" (down/up backswing....down/up forward swing) shape as Borg's. Mats' grip on the right hand appears to be closer to Agassi's---the ring finger knuckle and pinky knuckle being slightly lower than the middle finger and index finger knuckle. Compare that with Borg's: Borg's knuckles were all "aligned" straight across---all pointing forward on the same level at contact.

 

[BigboyDan]

Righthand dominant; he pulled the shot through the zone. If Borg hadn't let go of the racquet with his left hand, his body (hips) would have torqued so severely that he couldn't follow through. Very baseball swing-like.

 

[tetsuo10]

Lots of baseball players release their dominant (top) hand on their follow through. Didn't Borg say he got his backhand shot from his hockey slap-shot? If so, then it should be more left-hand dominant. But I haven't looked very closely at it, so what he actually does may be different.

 

[Camilio Pascual]

my 2 cents:
His right hand is so far on top of the grip and his knuckles point directly forward as if he were gripping a motorcycle's handlebars.

What kind of motorcycle? A cafe racer or hi risers on a chopper?

 

[VictorS.]

Does anybody have a borg backhand video we could somehow view?? I've looked all over the web....no real luck.

I did find this little private lesson he gave to this girl from fit-tv. It's a pretty basic lesson and there's not much there, however if you see some of the highlights at the beginning, it's obvious he still hits his backhand the same way, even with the modern racket technology. here's the link for anyone interested:

http://umanitoba.fitdv.com/new/video/video.html?vid=bjornborg&play=false

 

[BILLYBORG]

Actually, Borg's backhand was almost equally left & right hand dominant, especially on balls that had to be hit higher. Most of his power & top spin comes from the incredible wrists (plural) snap. If you have to choose though, it was more left handed dominant beyond a shadow of a doubt, since mine exactly emulated his. Too bad I was two steps slower with McEnroe's temper:>)

 

[Grimjack]

Another good look at the Borg BH in motion...

http://www.teachingtennis.com/coach/images/borgbackhand.gif

 

[Grimjack]

And the Guga BH from the same site. Not because it's relevant to the discussion. Just because man, is his BH cool.

http://www.teachingtennis.com/coach/images/guga.gif

 

[Datacipher]

I've read somewhere where Braden or a similar tennis guru studied Borg's shot and it showed the left arm muscles bulging to a degree that indicated he was hitting with the left hand dominating. .

Vic wrote about this in Mental Tennis, I believe he hypothesized it may have come from Borg's left handed hockey slap shot.

 

[Jet Rink]

Actually, Borg's backhand was almost equally left & right hand dominant, especially on balls that had to be hit higher. Most of his power & top spin comes from the incredible wrists (plural) snap. If you have to choose though, it was more left handed dominant beyond a shadow of a doubt, since mine exactly emulated his. Too bad I was two steps slower with McEnroe's temper:>)

I've got some Borg matches on tape that confirm this (I don't hit a two-hander though BillyB!).

Victor, I had a thought like this a couple of days ago, so I appreciate your post. Your original post intrigued me too and I remember it well.

Borg is so good at getting his knees bent in prep and his timing and speed are superb. But you can really see him "snapping" through the shot on the BH side.

If I'm not mistaken, Joe used to have a Borg racquet on his site and you could see the wear on the grip pretty well too.

Jet

 

[BERDI4]

I think players who were born on clay (Borg and Wilander) have a more right handed oriented backhand, as they need longer swing swings to compensate the slower bounces.
Fast court players have less time so they tend to use the left hand more to compensate the late hits.