Single handed backhand for juniors...
- Thread starter Ash_Smith
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Relinquis
Hall of Fame
schiavone, the WTA player?
what now? lol
BevelDevil
Hall of Fame
Domic Thiem was a pretty good recent junior, now around ATP in the 300s. I like his style. I hope he breaks through.
Interesting things about his backhand: Continental-ish grip (hammered, of course), a Sampras-like "pendulum" takeback.
Yeah, Sampras kept his head down most of the time (he occassionally would step up on big shots, though). Lendl mostly stayed down.
Most pros now seem to have some leg lift, but to varying degrees. Dimitrov uses a lot of upward thrust. So did Kuerten, Henin and Edberg.
The upward thrust will certainly help with rackethead speed. The downside is that its probably harder to learn, so newbs may be well advised to stay down until they are ready to advance. Also, lifting may be a little more error prone, especially when fatigue sets in.
Cheetah
Hall of Fame
You do realize that supination on a 1hbh has been the status quo form since at least the early 90's right? It's 2013 now.
no
edberg, sampras, correctja, muster, even guga, all have relatively passive forearm action....
on some shots supination does happen, but they look more like an after thought or a side effect of the linear swing.
different body language from wawrinka or dimitrov.
Cheetah
Hall of Fame
noobs...
first of all even during that era everyone was saying that sampras and edberg had "classic" backhand styles and everyone agreed sampras' bh was flawed.
guga has supination. he has the same finish as 1handers today. surprised you'd think otherwise. go look at any guga video.
here's a video of sabatini from 1993. same finish. this means she had that backhand form in the 80's. Does this look like the supination is an 'after thought'? please.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YVvv7OV7xIM
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ok sabatini looks good.
this seems to be a similar debate to all the fh threads... when equipment allows, player will find the most effective way...
i have always said the lack of supination was not that the past players didn't know how to do it, it was due the limitation of small heads.
so back to the point - why is the old fart way still so popular... even the 2 guys in that college video you gave link to... if they take a swing path like sabatini's, both can improve that shot by big margin.
reason is simple, the obsolete way is still being taught.
this seems to be a similar debate to all the fh threads... when equipment allows, player will find the most effective way...
i have always said the lack of supination was not that the past players didn't know how to do it, it was due the limitation of small heads.
so back to the point - why is the old fart way still so popular... even the 2 guys in that college video you gave link to... if they take a swing path like sabatini's, both can improve that shot by big margin.
reason is simple, the obsolete way is still being taught.
same reason that the 3 balls in a row fh is still being taught.... but to a much lesser degree because fh is too visible.
the 1hbh, few jrs are learning the shot.... so you've got some old guys hitting the old way, teaching some other old guys with tennis elbows.... typical scene in a club.
problem is.... the old guys with tennis elbows need to handle the high balls even more than the pros (who have the footwork to avoid high hits).
mr. tennis elbow with the lazy feet, with a flawed swing path that cannot handle balls higher than chest.
you get the picture lol.
the 1hbh, few jrs are learning the shot.... so you've got some old guys hitting the old way, teaching some other old guys with tennis elbows.... typical scene in a club.
problem is.... the old guys with tennis elbows need to handle the high balls even more than the pros (who have the footwork to avoid high hits).
mr. tennis elbow with the lazy feet, with a flawed swing path that cannot handle balls higher than chest.
you get the picture lol.
Relinquis
Hall of Fame
is there supination at contact or is this something after that point in the follow through as a result of a loose arm and extended follow through?
I don't know if i do it, as i haven't really thought about how i hit my backhand too much, it's one of my best grounds strokes.
I don't know if i do it, as i haven't really thought about how i hit my backhand too much, it's one of my best grounds strokes.
Cheetah
Hall of Fame
it's a way of closing the face. you can have it 'set' or 'active' during the stroke. if it's active then it's what you would use to get a little extra brush on the ball.
go to virtualtennisacademy.com. free sign up. watch the backhand vids. heath goes into depth on it there. if you're too lazy to enter your email then you can watch the sample vid on the main page. the 'extreme topspin bh' vid.
the problem with this shot is never an issue of power.... anybody can backhand a home run (even on high balls)..... it's always an issue of face control.
by taking a mirror image of the ww fh racket path, you keep a constant angle from the power position to the end of the follow thru.
that's the beauty of it.
by taking a mirror image of the ww fh racket path, you keep a constant angle from the power position to the end of the follow thru.
that's the beauty of it.
BevelDevil
Hall of Fame
Conchita Martinez (at least cross court)
www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dh4bXQksxrs#t=0m28s
Alberto Berasategui
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-0l97WLuF0M
I think the Latin players are a step ahead.
My guess is that Americans view the 1hbh as a net rushers stroke, while some other countries view it as a legitimate baseliner option. Perhaps it's the association with McEnroe and Sampras and the lack of red clay in the states.
Relinquis
Hall of Fame
Are there any American pros in the top 100 who hit single-handed anymore?
I've heard quite a few people say that it is seen as an obsolete stroke by some coaches in the US. I wonder if they are teaching it at all to be honest, are they? I'm not familiar with US coaching at all.
I've heard quite a few people say that it is seen as an obsolete stroke by some coaches in the US. I wonder if they are teaching it at all to be honest, are they? I'm not familiar with US coaching at all.
Lester Cook (who mightve topped off in the 200s a couple of years ago) hits one-handed. So does Jeff Dadamo.
I'm digging really deep here, as you can see.
