One Hand backhand footwork

JEDBERG1

Rookie
I struggle with my footwork on the backhand side. Do you all know of any good videos of drills to help my footwork on the one hander.
 

Dou

Semi-Pro
post a video of yourself?

footwork is the LEAST important part of the shot... need to learn what the HAND does first, then the rest of the body will follow.
 

Kevo

Legend
Lots of practice. Work with a ball machine is good. You have to understand the spacing between you and the ball. Start off with something a bit slower and easier where you have plenty of time. Then speed the machine up until you are just a little bit rushed but you can still get to the ball and set up for a good shot. Work at that pace for a while until it becomes easy. Then speed things up a bit more. Just do that over and over again. If you have a suitable coach or hitting partner you can work on that live, but you need to be working just within your comfort zone and then ramp it up bit by bit.
 
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JEDBERG1

Rookie
Good point, I have the tendency to go full speed all the time. I will try and slow things down and get the footwork correct and then speed up. Thank you
 
If you have a ball machine then you can set up cones or squares to practice getting into position, landing, and recovery. There was a good video I saw a while back, I don’t remember exactly but If you search 1-2 rhythm one handed backhand you should be able to find it. It’s basically just the idea of having a rhythm to the shot where you have a slow coil and fast uncoil phase. It really helps to slowly get setup, find the point where you are maximally coiled, and then explode into the shot from that position. Once you find where your coil phase ends it’s much easier to work your way backwards and visualize the footwork you need to do to get there from your split step.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 

JohnYandell

Hall of Fame
The feet and the body turn simultaneously with a variety of first step patterns. The set up is on the outside foot with the back leg coiled and the opposite foot up on the toes. At this point the body turn has continued until the shoulders are 90 degrees plus to the net. This should be timed to about when the ball bounces on the court.
 

Curious

G.O.A.T.
What recovery footwork do you use on one handed backhand? Difficult to crossover step back unlike the forehand recovery. Do you step out with the back foot after hitting the ball and shuffle back the first step? Couldn’t find any videos on this.
 

Dragy

Legend
What recovery footwork do you use on one handed backhand? Difficult to crossover step back unlike the forehand recovery. Do you step out with the back foot after hitting the ball and shuffle back the first step? Couldn’t find any videos on this.
Why not watch some practice rallies with OHBH players? You'll see what they do.
 

Dragy

Legend
Yeah, that’s what I figured out afterwards. :)
The very basic part is to not get stuck in closed stance, but bring back foot around (if you are hitting with "weight transfer") and sometimes also drop the front foot back - somehow reach open stance right after you follow-through your swing. From there they either shuffle, if the recovery position is close, or they can do cross-over first, if need to cover more ground:

Z59rpoU.png
 

Curious

G.O.A.T.
The very basic part is to not get stuck in closed stance, but bring back foot around (if you are hitting with "weight transfer") and sometimes also drop the front foot back - somehow reach open stance right after you follow-through your swing. From there they either shuffle, if the recovery position is close, or they can do cross-over first, if need to cover more ground:

Z59rpoU.png
Even when I bring the left foot around it’s still too much behind to make a front crossover step. So I end up either with a behind the back crossover or take my right foot back. Both feel bad and slow.
 

Dragy

Legend
take my right foot back.
That’s what Thiem does a lot. The thing is he’s athletic and drops his right foot back beneath the center of mass while still “in the air”, light on feet. Like mogul step.

If you lack this dynamic and if you stand still as you swing on your feet, yes, you get stuck not open enough.

It’s akin to split-step actually, you put your feet as you need them while your center of gravity is drifting down.

OR you get enough of “weight transfer” as you hit so that your back foot gets carried enough around. But that usually happens if you get behind the ball rather than move laterally to it.

If you are not athletic and dynamic enough, well, you will be slow to recover. Or use open stance initially, which isn’t a great idea with OHBH particularly.
 
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