Stronger on the backhand side?

[Cindysphinx]

I'm wondering if anyone else here feels they are considerably stronger or more consistent on the backhand side, and whether that backhand strength applies to groundstrokes or volleys or both.

Personally, one of my favorite shots to hit is a backhand volley. I tend to be very ineffective on the forehand side because I don't get any angle and often volley straight back to the the deep player.

Same problem on groundstrokes, as I am so much happier hitting my 2HBH groundstroke that I sometimes try to run around the forehand to hit the backhand. This rarely works.

I'd kill for one of those cool forehands everyone else can seem to hit without even trying.

Oh, is there anyone here who hits a 1HBH groundstroke who thinks it is better than their forehand?

 

[Voltron]

I was, until I switched to a 1HBH, it's doing alright, but I've only had it for a week. My 1HBH can be a weapon, but not as consistently as my forehand. I have one of those forehands though. We'll see in two more weeks what the 1HBH looks like.

 

[serveitup911]

My backhand is my weapon also. I can hit it hard and flat or hard with heavy spin. I can hit angles or down the line on a dime. I will usually miss less than 10 during a match. I usually hit my forehand down the line so my opponent goes crosscourt to my backhand. I have only played a couple players with better backhands than mine, but they were ranked in the top 50 in college.

Lots of pros and coaches told me to run around my backhand, but for me that is counter-productive. I will sometimes run around my forehand.

My backhand wins me lots of matches.

My favorite type of player to play is a guy who has a big forehand and tries to run around his backhand. I can angle him to his backhand and then go down the line with my backhand.

 

[shojun25]

Since I'm a lefty, my bh is stronger and more consistent than my fh because I tend to hit serves from my right side. I wouldn't say that it is my strongest weapon, but its up there

 

[thejackal]

my forehand has been giving me trouble for a while now. im starting to get it back. in the meantime i did prefer backhands.

 

[Silentgunz]

my backhand isnt stronger then my forehand but it is more consistent and i can hit really good angles with my bh

 

[hewitt28]

my backhand is infinitely better than my forehand. it just feels more comfortable and i have a better motion/follow through. ppl who've seen it say it's sweet lookin . (I have a 2 hbh by the way).

 

[volker]

I'd kill for one of those cool forehands everyone else can seem to hit without even trying.

Have you ever tried a two-handed forehand like Seles? It was pretty cool as well.

 

[SlapShot]

I'm also much stronger from the backhand side.

When I was young, I learned to bat left handed in baseball, and that has helped me from the backhand side. I hit 4 different backhands, depending on the situation. I can drive it deep and relatively flat, I can hit with heavy topspin to hit angles (both 2HBH), a 1HBH when it's high/a stretch, and a strong slice.

My 1HBH isn't great yet, but I want to develop it as a weapon over the summer, so I can keep people off guard.

Now if I only could hit 4 different forehands...

 

[andreh]

Slightly weaker on the backhand side. I don't make more errors and I can hit the same powerlevel but I don't have the same precision from the baseline. With forehand I can pretty much hit dime laying the court. Not so with the backhand.

 

[cghipp]

My backhand is much weaker than my forehand, but I prefer to play the ad side in doubles. The reason is that my crosscourt backhand return is much stronger than my inside-out backhand return. At the level I play, right-handed players have a harder time getting a serve to my backhand if I'm on the ad side. Also, I much prefer having my strength, my forehand, in the middle of the court.

 

[Ripper]

Slightly weaker on the backhand side. I don't make more errors and I can hit the same powerlevel but I don't have the same precision from the baseline. With forehand I can pretty much hit dime laying the court. Not so with the backhand.

Generally, both, amateurs and pros, will be stronger on the FH side, but it's not uncommon, at all, to see tennis players that are the other way around. Maybe, I'm in this group, too.

 

[JRstriker12]

Actually, I think my 1-hand BH is getting stronger or as strong as my FH since I've been working on it recently. MY BH has been a sore spot in the past, especially on service returns, but not so much in the past month or two, which has made me VERY HAPPY!

FWIW - I've read that the backhand stroke is much more natural than the forehand. Plus, I think the FH is a little more complex in the movement - so it's easier to have something go wrong and throw the FH off.

As far as volleys, I"d much preffer my FH volley since I can usually step in a crush the ball. My BH volley tends to me more of an angled finess shot. Plus on my FH volley, I feel I have more options of angles, where as I tend to go cross court on the backhand side.

CindySphinx, what tends to go wrong with your forehand? Are you hitting it too flat? Does it go too long? No enough depth?

 

[Pro Staff Pete]

My (one-handed) backhand is by far my best stroke. I absolutely love dominating rallies with it. Strangely, my inside-out shot is better than the 'more usual' cross court shot. It can be a great approach shot, but since most of the players are right-handed, you need to play it very well and precize in order to get yourself a good position for hitting a volley.

@ serveitup911; thanks for the tip! ("I usually hit my forehand down the line so my opponent goes crosscourt to my backhand.")

Never thought about that actually

 

[kevhen]

My 2H backhand is my depth weapon as I can place it where I want and drive it at a good pace. My forehand, I can hit nasty slice, but it doesn't have the same depth. When I hit my forehand with topspin, it tends to land a bit short or if I rip it, tends to go long. So my backhand is more of a weapon in singles.

My forehand volley is better than my backhand volley though as I can place it better and angle it better too, but then I sometimes hit with 2 hands on the backhand side but my backhand volley is catching up.

 

[Doc Hollidae]

I have a love and hate relationship with my backhand. I love him, but he hates me. I think my backhand is my best shot. In terms of boxing my backhand is like a jab with my forehand being the "haymaker" or uppercut.

And nothing feels better than driving a backhand down the line off an inside out forehand.

 

[lordmanji]

my fh used to be my strongest shot but after five years of inactivity i came back and suddenly it was gone. around that time i developed a twohander and picked it up in a wk. fast forward a year and a half and many equipment and technical changes later - i changed overgrips cuz some were too slippery, experimented with proportions of lead tape for stability, changed grip from full to semi west - and i think ive finally got it down.

i dont hit too many errors as i used to in part due to the technical changes but in a way they just delayed my development. the real work began with my stroke itself and i'll share what i was really doing wrong: crowding the ball, not pushing out with wrist, not fast enough rackethead speed (esp. with my racket), swing path wasn't high enough of a finish; not bending my right knee; moving my head.

i think alot of people dont work on their fhs enough thinking its automatically their best shot. but i was not happy with making more errors on that side than my bh. so whenever i rallied with friends id try to remember one and keep building on that on the next session. also i went out to hit by myself a few times. looked like an idiot but theres been some improvement. then again, yesterday i hit three ugly fhs in a row where it went straight to the ground but i corrected it afterward.

 

[TonLars]

My backhand has usually been my best stroke through the years. Close to when I first started learning tennis, one of the first lessons I ever took was on a vacation in Florida. She taught me a two handed backhand very well, right from the grip to the swing. Then I practiced it at home and it was solid and usually better than other players backhands. And in juniors, many kids havent developed good backhands, so that is an advantage to have.

Thats why I believe it is very important to teach a young kid or beginner to tennis the backhand first. If they can develop a strong backhand early on, it will form a foundation for the rest of their career which many players will not ever develop as they become comfortable relying on a good forehand and protecting their weak backhand.

 

[raiden031]

My backhand slices and volleys are better than on the forehand side.

I used to play with a 2-handed backhand, and it was much more consistent than my forehand, but I gave it up because it was too restrictive and uncomfortable, and I was not able to generate much power. Now I have a 1-hander that is less consistent than my forehand, but I am able to hit more winners with it (at the expense of more UEs too).

 

[ubel]

I'm wondering if anyone else here feels they are considerably stronger or more consistent on the backhand side, and whether that backhand strength applies to groundstrokes or volleys or both.

Personally, one of my favorite shots to hit is a backhand volley. I tend to be very ineffective on the forehand side because I don't get any angle and often volley straight back to the the deep player.

Same problem on groundstrokes, as I am so much happier hitting my 2HBH groundstroke that I sometimes try to run around the forehand to hit the backhand. This rarely works.

I'd kill for one of those cool forehands everyone else can seem to hit without even trying.

Oh, is there anyone here who hits a 1HBH groundstroke who thinks it is better than their forehand?

Yea, my 1HBH is better than my forehand at the getting depth, power, and consistency. Fortunately, my forehand still has the ability to hit achieve better angles than my backhand. So, even though I'll run around my forehand to hit a backhand most of the time in rallies, if I find an opportunity to hit an angle and pull my opponent off the court then I'll definitely hit that forehand :O)

Also, even though my backhand volley feels more natural and I can hit better slicing vollies with it, I'm pretty sure I'm equally horrible on both wings at touch and placement

 

[habib]

By backhand (1hbh) is certainly stronger than my forehand in the sense that I can hit it harder. However, my forehand is more consistent, I can put more spin on it, and I have better control over it. Having said that, I can nail better cross-court angles with my backhand (I think I'm just more comfortable taking the ball earlier to achieve said angles on the bh side), and I think I might even hit with more consistent depth on it.

 

[samizram]

My 1HBH used to be better than my forehand. Not in every department though, because my best shots were usually forehands, but my backhand was solid and consistent, and I loved hitting it.

But then I learned how to hit an inside-out forehand, and my forehand became a truly big shot. What's more, now I could vary my swing from roundhouse to inside-out at will. I call it "a forehand for all seasons." Because of it, my backhand has atrophied somewhat, since I run around shots when I can to lay my big forehand on them.

 

[TheGreatestAudia]

My 2HBH is much better than my forehand because I am right-handed but I play tennis left-handed. (I played baseball all my life and swinging the 2HBH is just like swinging a bat.) I serve right-handed and my forehand has gotten a ton better. I'm working on it non-stop because I have to catch up to my backhand at some point, right?

 

[4brotherdrive]

My backhand is better somedays, but it has a small strike zone and has low shot- tolerance (I have trouble hitting shots with spin and slice), the motion is as good as my forehands but I am working on increasing my strike zone and shot tolerance.

 

[travlerajm]

My backhand is my weapon also. I can hit it hard and flat or hard with heavy spin. I can hit angles or down the line on a dime. I will usually miss less than 10 during a match. I usually hit my forehand down the line so my opponent goes crosscourt to my backhand. I have only played a couple players with better backhands than mine, but they were ranked in the top 50 in college.

Lots of pros and coaches told me to run around my backhand, but for me that is counter-productive. I will sometimes run around my forehand.

My backhand wins me lots of matches.

My favorite type of player to play is a guy who has a big forehand and tries to run around his backhand. I can angle him to his backhand and then go down the line with my backhand.

I'm the same way. I like to employ the same strategies as you do.

 

[chess9]

I'm the same way. I like to employ the same strategies as you do.

Allen Fox laid it all out in his 1985 book "Think to Win". Still a good read.

-Robert

 

[Cindysphinx]

CindySphinx, what tends to go wrong with your forehand? Are you hitting it too flat? Does it go too long? No enough depth?

All of the above. Failure to generate topspin, causing ball to go long. Failure to clear the net due to a flat swing. Not enough depth from failing to step into the shot.

If it were just one thing, that would be great. It's a random assortment of things, but I think most of it is lack of confidence and being too tentative.

 

[jaykay]

Add me to the list of people whose 2HBH is a far, far superior weapon than any other stroke. I win matches with this stroke.