R
roddickslammer
Guest
can you tell me how to get power on a one handed backhand? im only 13 but cant stand the two hander ITS SO AWKWARD and my coach told me to stick to a one hander cause i have good technique on it apparently..
By no means I'm an expert in the 1hb, so please correct me if I'm wrong. This is what I do to get the most power out of it -
- stay low, knees bent before the shot;
- early swing preparation, chin above your shoulder;
- move (step) forward _with_ the shot;
- hit through the ball;
- (almost) straight arm at the point of contact.
I tried to concentrate on those items and my backhand seems to be improving (I posted a video here couple of months ago), but still it is not comparable to the forehand in terms of power/reliability/winners...
- stay low, knees bent before the shot;
- early swing preparation, chin above your shoulder;
- move (step) forward _with_ the shot;
- hit through the ball;
- (almost) straight arm at the point of contact.
I tried to concentrate on those items and my backhand seems to be improving (I posted a video here couple of months ago), but still it is not comparable to the forehand in terms of power/reliability/winners...
One very key item on the 1hbh is timing and where your taking the ball (high medium low). That said, the fundamentals are the key, and you have to make a full commitment to the stroke regardless of the outcome until you get the whole thing worked out (with your coach).
Strength also helps, another area your coach maybe able to help with.
Strength also helps, another area your coach maybe able to help with.
friend of mine also gave these pointers to me. you should turn your upper body so that the small of your back is facing the net and hold the racquet with your off-hand like you're about to smack someone with a towel or like you're stretching a rubber band. both these things help you generate more racquet speed.
Bungalo Bill
G.O.A.T.
Those are good points and good things to work on.
Your suggestion to get the front shoulder under your chin should provide sufficient unit turn on the takeback to generate power.
How fast you are able to rotate into the ball and then "stall" your rotation so your arm can slingshot or pass through will help generate power.
Strengthening your abdominal muscles also helps a onehander with power in their stroke. Strengthening your core is important for other reasons as well.
Weight transfer and your timing is paramount. If you have a good solid rotation into the ball, driven by your weight transfer, if you make clean contact with good timing, you should be able to hit with power.
split-step
Professional
Mr. Anderson
Banned
Hey so how exactly do I "muscle" a ball? I never got a clear answer on this, and I'm not sure if I'm doing this, because I have a good 1hbh but I don't open up my shoulders or back after the stroke
Mr. Anderson
Banned
Oh and i don't mean that to do that, but instead to avoid it
RanchDressing
Hall of Fame
work on the muscles on the outside of your arm... the ones that help push the ball......
and timing is HUGE for 1hbh
and timing is HUGE for 1hbh
Yup, the ideal contact zone for a one-hander is something like knees-to-waist. With the ball in that zone, I can smoke a one-hander with ridiculous pace (for me) - certainly far harder than I can hit my forehand. Once the ball gets higher though, I'm not aiming for point winning power, but for a slightly loopier yet still powerful and quite a bit heavier shot.
R
roddickslammer
Guest
Another problem i have is that when i hit with my 1hbh i am brushing up but the ball goes down instead of up... Help??
R
roddickslammer
Guest
you should "put" all your weight on your right foot if you are a right hander and just go in the shot with all your weight. for more power i would even recommend a bit opened preparation for shot and just try to imagine you are arguing with your brother and you want to kick his face 
so go through the ball using your hand as fast as possible
also keep lower (knees) and dont try to play with too much top spin (except if you are using some babolat racket or something)
so go through the ball using your hand as fast as possiblealso keep lower (knees) and dont try to play with too much top spin (except if you are using some babolat racket or something)
Well, it's just a video of myself practicing with a ball machine; to learn the proper backhand, you'd be better off watching Gasquet's videos
Anyway, I've found that old topic . Now I have a much better backhand, thanks to the feedback I got on this forum. You guys rock! :razz:
Bungalo Bill
G.O.A.T.
I would be happy to expand on this. However, I would like to say that out of all the suggestions given to improve the power you get out of your onehander, clean contact and timing are the most important. It is the most important for any stroke you hit in tennis.
For a onehanded backhand, your unit rotation should take your racquet back along with one-half of the small U-shaped (smile pattern) pattern that your hitting hand makes when it prepares the racquet. You do not want your hitting hand moving all over the place because this will hurt your timing and possibly your ability to make clean contact.
Remember, just because you are watching the ball, it doesn't mean your entire brain is devoted to just managing the information coming in regarding the ball speed, spin, and where it is going to bounce. It is also trying to calculate where the racquet head is in relation to the information coming in within fractions of a second besides other things (your breathing, your footwork, etc...). So the less going on with the racquet hand and the racquet, the better.
For a onehander, I do not recommend learning the "flamboyant" aspects of most professional onehanders. The reason is they are exceptional athletes and they have spent hours and hours on court developing their ability to hit cleanly and on time. Naturally, they can exaggerate their motion a bit because of the confidence they have in themselves in hitting this shot.
I usually like to dial it down a bit for players that are trying to get better with their onehander.
When the player begins rotating his shoulders to bring his racquet down and forward, just before contact, your shoulders should stall allowing your hitting arm to pass through linearly. This improves your ability to hit cleanly and on time. You do not hit across the ball because you are rotating as your hitting it.
What helps is to send your non-dominant arm back toward the back fence to control your rotation. Further, because you stalled a major part of momentum (your shoulder rotation), that momentum needs to be sent somewhere. It gets transferred to your hitting arm which should take this energy and accelerate the racquet into the ball.
This all happens seamlessly and is not herky-jerky or robotic. It is smooth and largely should go unnoticed because the acceleration in the arm is not forced it simply takes what it receives and moves the hand/racquet into contact and the ball.
In this video, watch the arm accelerate (remember, acceleration does not mean a sudden burst of unbelievable speed) naturally as the shoulder rotation stalls and the non-dominant arm goes back.
http://es.youtube.com/watch?v=gUQxb4ZtR-4&feature=related
Here is a lesson on Federers backhand. Again watch the racquet drop and then accelerate. As mentioned above, the front shoulder under the chin is sufficient for a unit turn, Rodgers has turned from the torso even further for even more rotation and presents a good viewof his back from his opponents perspective. Watch the non-dominant arm. Watch the pattern his hitting hand creates on the racquet takeback. I could definetly get further into this video such as the "L's", the hitting hand pattern, etc... for everyone to learn how to really work on and improve their onehander.
http://es.youtube.com/watch?v=RORTYH588cE&NR=1
Here is one on Blake, however, his non-dominant arm stays by his side. This is acceptable as well because it is holding the shoulder rotation and leaving his shoulders as linear as possible.
http://es.youtube.com/watch?v=KTyyITw-fyo
As we expand further, take note that the onehanded backhand is a FRONT foot hitting shot. This is where I get a little rocked when some people say the onehander is easier because it isn't so demanding on your footwork. In other words, you can have lazy feet and still hit a good one. For all those that think that, try hitting your onehander on EVERY ball off your front foot!
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Mr. Anderson
Banned
Hey, I don't know if this has happened or happens to anyone, but I noticed lately that when I'm going to hit my 1hbh, half of my index finger is on the air! I don't like this, and don't know why it happens, but if I try and stick the finger to the handle, it just feels weird! Like if the racket slips or drops in front of me or something, very weird. I started to notice this when they changed my grip, the last time I took my racket to get stringed, I told the guy to also change the grip, and instead of my regular white wilson grip, the guy put on a black one, and this one actually feels kinda slippery! I don't like this grip, it sucks and like I said the racket slips, so that could be it.
Mr. Anderson
Banned
What do you think about what I said Bill? Has that ever happened to you? Oh I don't even know what type of backhand you use:-?
Bungalo Bill
G.O.A.T.
I have seen weirder things.
I am always of the camp that club players should keep their hand/fingers on the handle for stability. Club players do not have the best timing in the world and sometimes making clean contact suffers.
Maybe I am a bit old school on this but, players at the intermediate and below level need to learn to take advantage of the butt of the racquet and the handle when they place their hand on it for leverage and control.
So I would be in favor of keeping that index finger on the racquet.
Well, slipping is a problem and tells me you dont have enough pressure on the handle, are not making clean contact, or timing is off.
Mr. Anderson
Banned
I have seen weirder things.
I am always of the camp that club players should keep their hand/fingers on the handle for stability. Club players do not have the best timing in the world and sometimes making clean contact suffers.
Maybe I am a bit old school on this but, players at the intermediate and below level need to learn to take advantage of the butt of the racquet and the handle when they place their hand on it for leverage and control.
So I would be in favor of keeping that index finger on the racquet.
Well, slipping is a problem and tells me you dont have enough pressure on the handle, are not making clean contact, or timing is off.
Do you mean gripping the racket like Federer does? I grip it like this naturally, with my pinky or little finger on the edge of the racket, but not like hanging, is this what you mean?
Bungalo Bill
G.O.A.T.
The reference I use is the heel of the palm. I keep mine on the butt of the handle (wide part). It allows me to relax my grip some but still gives me leverage to control the racquet head through my swing.
I have a very fast swing speed.
Mr. Anderson
Banned
What about your pinky finger? Where do you place it?
Bungalo Bill
G.O.A.T.
Well, If my heel is on the wide part, it would most likely be on the handle. Dont give that much thought but I will check at home.
Caladbolg
Banned
Fair enough. Hey did you check what I asked you on the other backhand thread named "how to achieve power with a 1hbh"? I'd really appreciate if you do
Bungalo Bill
G.O.A.T.
Okay, I think I did. I will review it again.
Bungalo Bill
G.O.A.T.
Great thread. BB is on fire as usual. I printed this one out.
-Robert
Thanks! I appreciate it!
