OHB yips?

[Prince Vegeta]

Sooo lately my one handed backhand has been terrible. Granted it doesn't help that I've been lucky to play once a week because of work, but I seem to have lost all consistency.

One of my problems I think I might have is that on some higher shots I've been coming up on my tip toe to try and make myself taller to get to it. Any one else do this?

Another thing I have caught myself doing is not extending through the shot enough and letting it all go. Kinda like I'm holding on too long and not rotating my arm through all the way; almost like when you try to hit a fade in golf and hold it off a bit?

Anyone know how to overcome these issues?

 

[ptuanminh]

I don't. I have 2HBH

 

[Slicerman]

If you use a 1hbh and like hugging close to the baseline then you need to use slice more. If not then stand a bit farther back than usual. But even if you do still meet the ball high you need get much farther behind the ball to have enough space to meet the ball with a closed racquet face. You could also try switching to a more extreme 1hbh grip specifically for high backhands, like semi-western grip.

 

[FiReFTW]

Yes, practice and work on it, its gonna take a while like any shot.

 

[NuBas]

Sooo lately my one handed backhand has been terrible. Granted it doesn't help that I've been lucky to play once a week because of work, but I seem to have lost all consistency.

One of my problems I think I might have is that on some higher shots I've been coming up on my tip toe to try and make myself taller to get to it. Any one else do this?

Another thing I have caught myself doing is not extending through the shot enough and letting it all go. Kinda like I'm holding on too long and not rotating my arm through all the way; almost like when you try to hit a fade in golf and hold it off a bit?

Anyone know how to overcome these issues?

I don't think you can avoid higher shots, sometimes you just gotta extend yourself and make use of the reach the one handed backhand has. Its OK to be on the balls of your feet but make sure your right foot is really the foundation and hitting through the ball requires good balance and counter balancing yourself with extension of your left arm, thats how you can extend through the ball. Not everyone will be successful at the OHBH because they may not have the flexibility for it, I find when I really commit and hit through the ball you feel that chest expansion or opening.

 

[Prince Vegeta]

I don't think you can avoid higher shots, sometimes you just gotta extend yourself and make use of the reach the one handed backhand has. Its OK to be on the balls of your feet but make sure your right foot is really the foundation and hitting through the ball requires good balance and counter balancing yourself with extension of your left arm, thats how you can extend through the ball. Not everyone will be successful at the OHBH because they may not have the flexibility for it, I find when I really commit and hit through the ball you feel that chest expansion or opening.

Yeah it's not for everyone and it's actually been one of my best shots the last few years. It's weird because lately its just not been clicking

 

[NuBas]

Yeah it's not for everyone and it's actually been one of my best shots the last few years. It's weird because lately its just not been clicking

Whats your current racquet?

Sometimes just gotta keep a fixed wrist, less moving parts will help with consistency.

 

[Prince Vegeta]

Whats your current racquet?

Sometimes just gotta keep a fixed wrist, less moving parts will help with consistency.

Dr 98+.

I honestly just feel like it's one of those things where I need to play more. I was just wondering if how anyone else overcame this issue.

 

[Shroud]

Sooo lately my one handed backhand has been terrible. Granted it doesn't help that I've been lucky to play once a week because of work, but I seem to have lost all consistency.

One of my problems I think I might have is that on some higher shots I've been coming up on my tip toe to try and make myself taller to get to it. Any one else do this?

Another thing I have caught myself doing is not extending through the shot enough and letting it all go. Kinda like I'm holding on too long and not rotating my arm through all the way; almost like when you try to hit a fade in golf and hold it off a bit?

Anyone know how to overcome these issues?

When i look at video i am amazed that on high balls i am often in the air at contact. I only have a 2" vertical leap but i do leave the ground and maybe you should get off the tips of your toes. 23 and 33secs shows it:

No idea what you are saying in the 2nd part

 

[Prince Vegeta]

No idea what you are saying in the 2nd part

It was just a golf reference for those who may understand what I'm talking about. I feel like I'm hanging on and not releasing the racket in my fallow through making my shots very inconsistent.

 

[NuBas]

Dr 98+.

I honestly just feel like it's one of those things where I need to play more. I was just wondering if how anyone else overcame this issue.

Pretend you are inside of a clock vertically around you. Extend your arm straight and elevate it so that you are pointing at 2 or 10 o'clock, 6 being right under you and 12 top of your head and 3 directly in front of your eyes. This is a comfortable height to reach and hit the high one hand backhand but obviously keep the arm in front of your body because if the ball goes over your shoulder then you're done. This is what my arm looks like when I make contact/hit the high ball and I make conscious of my racquet face keeping it slightly closed and letting the racquet do the work from the swing. You don't have to jump but need to be elevated to maximize your reach.

I think timing, setting up, and stepping into the shot will fix your problem. You can think about 'coming over the ball' if that helps. At least this is how I would instruct myself if I was having that problem.

 

[Prince Vegeta]

Pretend you are inside of a clock vertically around you. Extend your arm straight and elevate it so that you are pointing at 2 or 10 o'clock, 6 being right under you and 12 top of your head and 3 directly in front of your eyes. This is a comfortable height to reach and hit the high one hand backhand but obviously keep the arm in front of your body because if the ball goes over your shoulder then you're done. This is what my arm looks like when I make contact/hit the high ball and I make conscious of my racquet face keeping it slightly closed and letting the racquet do the work from the swing. You don't have to jump but need to be elevated to maximize your reach.

I think timing, setting up, and stepping into the shot will fix your problem. You can think about 'coming over the ball' if that helps. At least this is how I would instruct myself if I was having that problem.

This was a good visualization. Thank you.

 

[psv255]

Tomaz from feel tennis had some good points for handling high ohb shots, the main two points being to prepare higher on the backswing than normal, and also to hit more across the ball.

I find that making contact with the racquet angled upward, rather than parallel to the ground (i.e. kind of a backhand windshield wiper) makes it easier to handle higher balls.