I can hit backhands hard, but not forehands. What am I doing wrong?

[thomasferrett]

I'm one of these people for whom backhands come easier to me than forehands.

Asides from the fact that I naturally have a much stronger back than chest (I train pull-ups with 60kg attached to my waist, yet I never bench press), the two reasons I find it easier to hit backhands harder are;

1). When you hit a 1hbh, you swing truly away from your body. You can thrash the arm as hard as you like and the racket will never hit you in the face. Unlike the forehand, when you are kinda swinging into yourself. (You do swing 'away from your body', but the swing comes back around and into yourself). I have literally hit my face when trying to hit a reverse forehand hard, and, if not doing a reverse finish, I have hit myself in the opposite armpit, and even if I don't actually hit myself, my opposite chest feels like it's blocking some of the potential power of the shot by slowing down my arm.

2). You have the off-hand drawing the swing back on the 1hbh. My dominant arm is slightly pulling against the non-dominant hand during the backswing and it feels like you're pulling back a long-bow, and you're ready to explode into the shot as soon as you let go with the off-hand. You don't use your off-hand to pull back your dominant hand in the backswing of forehands, so I dunno, I never really get that build-up of potential energy feeling, and the subsequent release to explode into the shot.

So how can I fix these problems and start hitting forehands as hard as backhands?

 

[Coolio]

Il reply as I share a very similar experience to you.

Lucky for me I had a good coach that taught me the 360 degree spinning top forehand.
Your forehand wont hit your body if you rotate your whole body with it!
Granted it is a little bit tiring to keep this up for 3 sets but if you have the fitness for it, it will take your game to the next level.

 

[sez]

The fact that you say it feels like your hitting a forehand into yourself suggests you're technique could be the problem and you are not using you're shoulder and upper body. Consider your hand only give you about a half circle range of movement but using you shoulders and upper body you can achieve a full circle range of motion. Try to leverage that when hitting your forehand, then you should get the same, hitting into open space kinda feeling.

 

[LeeD]

I also can hit much harder backhands than forehands.
Same problem, surfed for 25 years, got really strong lats, but very little bicep and chest muscles.
So I hit my forehands flatter, since I don't have much swing, to make the ball go faster.

 

[Bdole]

Same issue here, too. I think it's a matter of the OHBH having less moving parts. You set up, hold the torso still, and swing the arm.

Whereas the forehand requires a very specific coordination of arm swing and torso rotation. I believe we're losing leverage on forehand that's easier to come by on backhand.

Probably comes down to working on our weaknesses, but I'm curious to hear other replies/solutions.

 

[sureshs]

Unlike the forehand, when you are kinda swinging into yourself. (You do swing 'away from your body', but the swing comes back around and into yourself). I have literally hit my face when trying to hit a reverse forehand hard, and, if not doing a reverse finish, I have hit myself in the opposite armpit, and even if I don't actually hit myself, my opposite chest feels like it's blocking some of the potential power of the shot by slowing down my arm.

hehehehe that is why I don't swing hard or full on my forehand hehehe but use a heavy frame to still keep it respectable

Played with an college club player just 1 year out of school this morning and did rather well I must say.

 

[dominikk1985]

do you have sufficient trunk rotation? on the FH (and two hander) you need to rotate more than on the one hander.

many people that have pop in their one hander but cannot accelerate freely on their FH and even moreso the two hander don't rotate their hips and trunk enough.

if you don't rotate it indeed can feel like you block yourself off.

also make sure that you have some kind of "separation", i.e the front shoulder staying closed for a little bit longer as the hips start to open. that gives you extra stretch and power.

that applies for the FH and for the twohander too.

 

[thomasferrett]

do you have sufficient trunk rotation? on the FH (and two hander) you need to rotate more than on the one hander.

many people that have pop in their one hander but cannot accelerate freely on their FH and even moreso the two hander don't rotate their hips and trunk enough.

if you don't rotate it indeed can feel like you block yourself off.

also make sure that you have some kind of "separation", i.e the front shoulder staying closed for a little bit longer as the hips start to open. that gives you extra stretch and power.

that applies for the FH and for the twohander too.

Thanks for the advice.

Yes I believe it is either because I'm not rotating enough on forehands, or I'm timing the rotation wrong.

I actually do rotate the trunk quite a lot on my 1hbh (I don't hit a really old-school style backhand like McEnroe or Lopez), but it feels more natural to do it there, because, as I said in my OP, the working muscles are pre-stretched by the left arm physically stretching them backwards, and you will never hit yourself on the follow-through no matter the timing of the trunk rotation.

Also, I use a nearly full western grip on my forehand, yet I'm not very comfortable hitting in open stance (so I think something wrong is going on there). I generally hit neutral or even closed stance forehands because I feel I can get more power from it, but the closed stance hitting is where the feeling of blocking off the followthrough with my body comes from.

 

[zaph]

I am the reverse of you, more power on the forehand. To be honest I am surprised that so many players have bigger backhands, it is a harder shot for most people.

As for your forehand, there must be something technically suspect about it, from the way you describe it. I have never seen anyone hit themselves with their own follow through.

Power on the forehand comes from doing the basics right and an x factor. By basics, I mean get your feet in the right place, weight forward, watch the ball, and middle it. Get any of that wrong, and there is no point going for a big shot.

The xfactor is something I have been thinking about, why some people can hit bigger than others. Obviously size and strength has something to do with it, but it can't be everything. I can outhit much bigger guys on the forehand side.

I think it is down to having a fast arm. On the forehand I can accelerate the arm, which gives me the power. With my double handed backhand, I can't do it as effectively, so it is slower.

 

[Shroud]

Same issue here, too. I think it's a matter of the OHBH having less moving parts. You set up, hold the torso still, and swing the arm.

Whereas the forehand requires a very specific coordination of arm swing and torso rotation. I believe we're losing leverage on forehand that's easier to come by on backhand.

Probably comes down to working on our weaknesses, but I'm curious to hear other replies/solutions.

I definitely could generate more power on the 1 handed bh than my forehand. Recently the fh caught up (though its still a work in progress).

For me there were 2 things.

1. My contact point was way off and too close and not as far out in front. Changing to more of a 45 degree contact point with the elbow not tucked against the body really helped.

2. I changed to taking the racket back with a torso turn and not with the arm. That gets me set up to use the body more and since I have a large one it seems to add some mph...

 

[gut wax]

Do you keep your wrist flat?

 

[Shroud]

Do you keep your wrist flat?

what do you mean flat?

 

[gut wax]

what do you mean flat?

Is it hibernating instead of pronating, supinating, etc..

 

[thomasferrett]

Is it hibernating instead of pronating, supinating, etc..

The hibernating wrist?

What!??

 

[pnoytennis]

point number 2 is not entirely correct. a correct forehand requires the non dominant hand to push the dominant hand back. and right before you hit the non dominant hand will be parallel to the baseline.

is your issue lack of power? spin? penetration?

it might also be court positioning. what is your preference do you like cross courts? inside-in? inside out?

 

[dct693]

Also, I use a nearly full western grip on my forehand, yet I'm not very comfortable hitting in open stance (so I think something wrong is going on there). I generally hit neutral or even closed stance forehands because I feel I can get more power from it, but the closed stance hitting is where the feeling of blocking off the followthrough with my body comes from.

If you're using a nearly full western grip, it will be very uncomfortable to hit from a neutral, and esp. from a closed, stance. The natural contact point for a Western grip forehand is further in front of the torso than with a less extreme grip. More extreme grips often feel more natural with more open stances. Using the open stance means more torso coiling and rotation to get power to the ball rather than shifting your body weight from the back to front foot. My guess is that you're not coiling the upper body and "loading up" the back leg enough on your forehands to get the power to your stroke.

To make an analogy to your 1HBH, you must coil and rotate the torso (so much so your opponent can read a message on the back of your shirt). You load up the rear leg and then transfer your weight to the front foot as you begin your stroke. Rotate your torso to begin the swing, then stop rotating your torso as you send the arm which has "lagged" behind.

Can you post a video?

 

[colowhisper]

I have always had a more stable backhand than forehand. I've worked to improve over time, and this video really helped me even though it's a kid lesson, I watch it often.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=vvVcoOl1Cfs

 

[gut wax]

The hibernating wrist?

What!??

Is the wrist just along for the ride?

While wrist shouldn't play a role that causes errant shots *and* injury through overuse, *too* passive a wrist has no power (due to lack of confidence and/or fear of injury) and can absorb too much shock, which is injurious over time.

 

[LeeD]

Just shadow swing forehand and backhand, LISTEN.
I can swing backhand much faster than forehand.
I can hit forehands more consistently fast than backhands.