I have a 13 year old female who has a pretty good game, but her backhand is her weakness. On her two-handed backhand she lets go of the racquet and float the ball. I think part of the problem is she is not getting into position and takea the ball too high in her strike zone and it has become a habit. Any suggestions on how to correct this bad habit?
I have this kid...who lets go of the racquet on backhand
- Thread starter Clay Mize
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J011yroger
Talk Tennis Guru
kramer woodie
Professional
Lefty forehands are great if she is right handed. Only other option I can imagine is to teach her a One Handed Backhand. Good luck figuring out a solution.
Shalom
Shalom
Raul_SJ
G.O.A.T.
With lefty forehands, do you choke up on the grip, to where it would be on a 2 hander? Or just use a normal lefty grip?
J011yroger
Talk Tennis Guru
Good suggestion and reminder. I have had her do that and she always says it helps her. I haven't had her do that in a while. She hits lefty very well when she does it. Thanks.
J011yroger
Talk Tennis Guru
Hello!
I think the main point here is that she is not in the right position to hit the ball. The ball is too high in the strike zone, as you said. And that’s what you need to work on here. It doesn’t matter how good her lefty forehand is, because if the ball is over the shoulder level, she won’t be hitting great backhand shots.
In my opinion you should make sure she understands when to take a few steps back and hit the ball in the perfect strike zone. Make sure she notices a higher ball when it’s bouncing off the opponent’s racquet and no later than the net.
For a practice session you could do something like this.
Hit some balls and make her say if the ball is high or low as early as she sees it (has to see it before the ball passes the net).
Explain that she has to make some steps back, if the ball is coming high.
After this introduction, continue step-by-step.
1. Be on the same side as her and feed some high balls from hand. She has to make some steps back and wait till the ball is in her strike zone, also don’t forget the last step, it should be done towards the ball.
2. Alternate high ball and low ball while still feeding from hand.
3. Take a few steps back and start feeding faster high balls, then alternating high/low balls.
4. Go on the other side of the net. Start at the net slowly feeding balls with a racquet. Again high and high/low.
5. Go to the service line, repeat the procedure.
6. Finally reach the baseline and feed some more highs, highs/lows.
7. Try hitting and alternating high and low balls.
Personally, I would have done something like this if my player had this kind of a problem.
Hope this helps. If any instructions are unclear, please comment on that, I will try my best to explain.
If this isn’t the problem that you want to solve with this player, maybe I didn’t quite understand the description.
I think this is well said and I will do this in my next practice with her. She is definitely taking balls too high that would be much easier for her with a couple steps back. I think one issue is that she is a little lazy with her footwork and I need to keep making her aware of that. Thanks for your thoughtful reply.
I am happy to help.
Lazy footwork is also a habit. Just like hitting the ball higher than the shoulders, not moving back. It’s pretty much the same structure of a session to make her move better backwards, frontwards or sideways.
Another thing is that she might not completely understand what effort means. Show her some great footwork. Maybe take her to a training of a much better player (ATP/WTA). Sometimes, when a student sees a better player with a great footwork, it clicks in the head, and next thing you see, she is trying to copy the effort of an ATP/WTA player.
kramer woodie
Professional
One way to help students recognize high bouncing balls early, is to attach poles to the net posts and string a rope between the poles. If you place the rope at seven to eight feet above the court and the incoming ball clears the rope or even if it passes just below the rope, the student will recognize
and brain input the high balls/high bounce or lower balls 2 feet above the net cord low bounce.
As for taking the ball at shoulder height, try to get her to move forward and take the ball on the rise. She should fairly quickly realize which balls she has to move back on verses those she can short hop of take on the rise. If she can be successful taking the ball on the rise, she must have a swing path that the racquet head travels over the ball in the follow through, to pull the ball down into the court.
Shalom
and brain input the high balls/high bounce or lower balls 2 feet above the net cord low bounce.
As for taking the ball at shoulder height, try to get her to move forward and take the ball on the rise. She should fairly quickly realize which balls she has to move back on verses those she can short hop of take on the rise. If she can be successful taking the ball on the rise, she must have a swing path that the racquet head travels over the ball in the follow through, to pull the ball down into the court.
Shalom
pencilcheck
Hall of Fame
Let go the racquet and float the ball? I'm not sure if I understand that correctly, you mean she literally let go of the racquet and make it like a slice?
There are a lot of lessons online that you can pull that teaches the basics of 2hbh, that should help her overcome her fear and be more consistent.
There are a lot of lessons online that you can pull that teaches the basics of 2hbh, that should help her overcome her fear and be more consistent.
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