HOW TO HIT THE BACK HAND OVERHEAD:
BY Kiteboard:
The backhand overhead is generally thought to be the most difficult shot in tennis to master. But, like any other shot, it’s a matter of the right technique. Most people deal with it by abbreviating their follow through and hitting the shot even with their dominant shoulder, which is a whole shoulder width too late. The ideal contact point is a whole shoulder width in front of the body. Think of your fh oh, and where you hit it in relation to your shoulder. It’s in front, even with your non dom. Shoulder, right? You point to the ball with your left hand and hit to the spot you are pointing towards with your left hand, in front of your left shoulder. If you were to hit the fh oh, as late as most people hit their bh oh, you would be hitting the ball way back even with your right shoulder, and abbreviate your follow through, and hit mostly angled fh oh with little to no power, and it would be a touch shot only, just like most bh oh are hit today. Even two handers should learn to hit the bh oh with one hand. Do you see anybody hitting the fh oh with two hands? No. Why is that? The range of full motion is not available with two hands on the racquet when the ball is above your head. The second hand stops full follow through.
THE FIRST STEP: READ THE LOB: The first step is to read your opponent’s lob to your back hand side. We are all taught to lob to the backhand side if possible, as that is the most difficult shot in tennis to execute properly. How many times have you hit a great volley at the net, only to see the lob going over to your back hand side? The quicker you read a shot, the faster you can react to it. It’s almost a math equation: The speed of the read times the speed of your reaction is equal to a winning response and a successful answer to the question your opponent is asking of you.
THE SECOND STEP: REACTION TO THE LOB: The second step is to react quickly to the lob over your backhand side. Footwork: Your right leg crosses over to the left side and stomps down, with a heavy drive plant step, which starts your chest and your momentum going backwards, and gets your hips closed off and parallel to the doubles alley sidelines, and turns your body as you begin to back pedal and side step backwards.
It’s key to close off your hips parallel to the sideline, to get a good coil on the shot from the very start, and to give yourself a proper swing path for a fully coiled and accelerated shot. Your left hand holds the stick loosely, thumb at the throat, with the top of the stick pointing straight downwards and the butt of the stick straight upwards pointing at the sky. Your right elbow points straight up at the sky as well as you prepare to hit the shot as you are back pedalling.
THE THIRD STEP: SHOT: You back pedal to a hard rear plant with your left leg, and step into the shot if you have time and space, with your right leg, and rotate your weight and stick with great acceleration forwards, towards the contact point, a full shoulder width in front of your right shoulder, not directly even with your right shoulder as most people are taught to hit it. If you hit your fh overhead the same way, the contact point would be at the rear of your body, behind, at the point where your right shoulder begins. Like any other shot, no coil, no power. No weight transfer, no power. Wrong contact point, the ball goes out. No commitment, no results.
FOLLOW THROUGH: After the contact point, comes the follow through. The follow through is viciously fast, arm barred, with a full weight transfer from rear plant foot to front step foot. Whether you are hitting dtl or cc, the contact point will determine the direction of the shots’ trajectory. If you hit the left side of the ball, the shot will go cc, middle will go dtm, and right side of the ball will go inside out to the opp. Fh. Angle.
SUMMATION: No shot is too difficult with the right technique. Read, react, prepare, plant, forward acceleration on the right contact point of the ball will yield devastating results.
BY Kiteboard:
The backhand overhead is generally thought to be the most difficult shot in tennis to master. But, like any other shot, it’s a matter of the right technique. Most people deal with it by abbreviating their follow through and hitting the shot even with their dominant shoulder, which is a whole shoulder width too late. The ideal contact point is a whole shoulder width in front of the body. Think of your fh oh, and where you hit it in relation to your shoulder. It’s in front, even with your non dom. Shoulder, right? You point to the ball with your left hand and hit to the spot you are pointing towards with your left hand, in front of your left shoulder. If you were to hit the fh oh, as late as most people hit their bh oh, you would be hitting the ball way back even with your right shoulder, and abbreviate your follow through, and hit mostly angled fh oh with little to no power, and it would be a touch shot only, just like most bh oh are hit today. Even two handers should learn to hit the bh oh with one hand. Do you see anybody hitting the fh oh with two hands? No. Why is that? The range of full motion is not available with two hands on the racquet when the ball is above your head. The second hand stops full follow through.
THE FIRST STEP: READ THE LOB: The first step is to read your opponent’s lob to your back hand side. We are all taught to lob to the backhand side if possible, as that is the most difficult shot in tennis to execute properly. How many times have you hit a great volley at the net, only to see the lob going over to your back hand side? The quicker you read a shot, the faster you can react to it. It’s almost a math equation: The speed of the read times the speed of your reaction is equal to a winning response and a successful answer to the question your opponent is asking of you.
THE SECOND STEP: REACTION TO THE LOB: The second step is to react quickly to the lob over your backhand side. Footwork: Your right leg crosses over to the left side and stomps down, with a heavy drive plant step, which starts your chest and your momentum going backwards, and gets your hips closed off and parallel to the doubles alley sidelines, and turns your body as you begin to back pedal and side step backwards.
It’s key to close off your hips parallel to the sideline, to get a good coil on the shot from the very start, and to give yourself a proper swing path for a fully coiled and accelerated shot. Your left hand holds the stick loosely, thumb at the throat, with the top of the stick pointing straight downwards and the butt of the stick straight upwards pointing at the sky. Your right elbow points straight up at the sky as well as you prepare to hit the shot as you are back pedalling.
THE THIRD STEP: SHOT: You back pedal to a hard rear plant with your left leg, and step into the shot if you have time and space, with your right leg, and rotate your weight and stick with great acceleration forwards, towards the contact point, a full shoulder width in front of your right shoulder, not directly even with your right shoulder as most people are taught to hit it. If you hit your fh overhead the same way, the contact point would be at the rear of your body, behind, at the point where your right shoulder begins. Like any other shot, no coil, no power. No weight transfer, no power. Wrong contact point, the ball goes out. No commitment, no results.
FOLLOW THROUGH: After the contact point, comes the follow through. The follow through is viciously fast, arm barred, with a full weight transfer from rear plant foot to front step foot. Whether you are hitting dtl or cc, the contact point will determine the direction of the shots’ trajectory. If you hit the left side of the ball, the shot will go cc, middle will go dtm, and right side of the ball will go inside out to the opp. Fh. Angle.
SUMMATION: No shot is too difficult with the right technique. Read, react, prepare, plant, forward acceleration on the right contact point of the ball will yield devastating results.
