Tennis magazine open stance one-hand backhand vs. Muster's backhand

1171

Rookie
The new tennis magazine issue showed open stance Lubicic backhand for high ball.

It looks like the old Moo Man Thomas Muster's one-hand backhand.

Comments on Muster's backhand please. Good model to copy? I remember seeing him pelting his backhand strong ten years ago. His open stance backhand was secondary to his leg injury? I remember seeing video of him sitting on the home made bench, with his injured leg on the bench, sitting both forehand and backhand. Did his one-hand open stance backhand come from that bench practice after the injury?

All in all, is this open stance one-hand backhand a good one to copy?
 

Bungalo Bill

G.O.A.T.
1171 said:
The new tennis magazine issue showed open stance Lubicic backhand for high ball.

It looks like the old Moo Man Thomas Muster's one-hand backhand.

Comments on Muster's backhand please. Good model to copy? I remember seeing him pelting his backhand strong ten years ago. His open stance backhand was secondary to his leg injury? I remember seeing video of him sitting on the home made bench, with his injured leg on the bench, sitting both forehand and backhand. Did his one-hand open stance backhand come from that bench practice after the injury?

All in all, is this open stance one-hand backhand a good one to copy?

I would recommend learning the open stance onehanded backhand. It takes a pulling of the butt cap and discipline to lengthen the stroke through the ball without pulling off path prematurely.

However, I would recommend learning it once you have learned the "normal" onehanded backhands first. You can start practicing the open stance onehanded backhand return.

I think tennis is the most unique sport for beginner to intermediate players. Some how we think if a pro can do it, so can/should I. But we never really say this after watching an Olympic Downhill Skier blast the hill or a Surfer taking off at 12' Pipeline or 30' Waimea Bay! We say "wow, I could never do that I would fall and hurt myself, that is too risky!"

However, we will try and learn shots without realizing that the shot being learned presents a lot of risk to our game and our practice. Take for example the ball hit between the legs shot. Nevermind, you almost never win the point. But because we saw a pro do it - we think we should to. Afterall, it doesnt hurt us right?

Pros are out on the court for hours and days on end. They are strong, elite athletes and can do things we can't and sometimes shouldn't do. You got to be careful with that because you are going to spend precious practice time (which we have little of) practicing something that really should be learned later in the process. It is about economics. You have to measure your opportunity cost.

I would suggest this:

1. Groundstrokes: Practice the closed and neutral (or forward) stances. Get those down. Practice moving your feet quick and recognizing the ball as early as possible. Work on your anticipation skills within these stances. They make a solid foundation for the onehanded backhand. Master your ability to start and stall your rotational forces as you move into the contact zone.

2. Service Returns: With someone hitting you serves from the service line, practice your semi-open and forward stances. Get good at reading the serve and getting set quickly - move those feet. Run spriints, tennis drills, and jump rope for foot speed. Mix in the open stance onehander as an introduction stance.

Only begin to incorporate the open stance in your groundstrokes when you have reached an advanced level of proficiency in the other stance areas. You may find you don't need the open stance onehander on groundies.
 

1171

Rookie
Point well taken.

Lengthen the stroke without pulling off path prematurely in the open-stance.

I think it will work well for the return of serve.
 
1171 said:
I think it will work well for the return of serve.

I think that is how it should go with the backhand. A hitting partner I have with a one-handed bh says that if you have time to prepare, why not square yourself up for a closed stance? If you have less time to prepare such as your example of the return of serve, the open stance is the way to go.
 
T

TwistServe

Guest
1171 said:
Point well taken.

Lengthen the stroke without pulling off path prematurely in the open-stance.

I think it will work well for the return of serve.

The only reason it _may_ work on the return of serve is because you have so little time to prepare... like it was posted previously in other threads, the open stance one handed backhand is something that you're forced to do because of time constraints.. when you have time, you'll square or close your stance more.. is it something to practice?... How often do you practice lounge vollleys, diving volleys, defensive stretched forehand slices?
 

x Southpaw x

Semi-Pro
TwistServe said:
The only reason it _may_ work on the return of serve is because you have so little time to prepare... like it was posted previously in other threads, the open stance one handed backhand is something that you're forced to do because of time constraints.. when you have time, you'll square or close your stance more.. is it something to practice?... How often do you practice lounge vollleys, diving volleys, defensive stretched forehand slices?
I believe what BB posted had lots of reasons. One important one being that you will be able to hit short crosscourt returns into the pocket more easily with open stance than close stance 1BH.
 
T

TwistServe

Guest
x Southpaw x said:
I believe what BB posted had lots of reasons. One important one being that you will be able to hit short crosscourt returns into the pocket more easily with open stance than close stance 1BH.

Wow however you infered that through BB's post is up to you.. it is just as easy if not easier to hit a sharp angle crosscourt backhand using a neutral stance than an open stance? Why? Becaues you can step into the ball and cut it early before it rises. With then open stance you're going to let the ball rise to you. You're also going to have to swing later.
 

Mahboob Khan

Hall of Fame
1-handed BH: I feel more comfortable hitting my backhands with square stance (feet in the same line), but in abnormal situations I can also hit with open stance. Obviously you need to turn your upper body, and need stronger arm to hit your 1-hander with open stance.

I strongly believe that a player should be able to hit 1-handed BHs with square as well as open stance. Let the situation dictate the stance!
 

joe sch

Legend
Mahboob Khan said:
1-handed BH: I feel more comfortable hitting my backhands with square stance (feet in the same line), but in abnormal situations I can also hit with open stance. Obviously you need to turn your upper body, and need stronger arm to hit your 1-hander with open stance.

I strongly believe that a player should be able to hit 1-handed BHs with square as well as open stance. Let the situation dictate the stance!
I agree that the situation should dictate the players hits, stances and grips. The service return is a good example of this : If you have a 150mph Roddic serve hit strait at you, you will probably have to stay in an open stance and use mostly arm to muscle/block the return. I believe if you have time to close your stance which allows you to use a longer windup, then this will enable you to get more racket head speed and a more complete stroke. Ofcourse contact point and followthru will be affected greatly by the grip you choose.
 

AngeloDS

Hall of Fame
Woah Open Stance One Handed Back Hand? I'm lousy on my backhand returns on serves when the ball is going fast. I can't get into the closed stance position fst enough while swinging my racquet. Bungalo Bill, do you have any pictures of this or videos or good instruction?
 

Bungalo Bill

G.O.A.T.
AngeloDS said:
Woah Open Stance One Handed Back Hand? I'm lousy on my backhand returns on serves when the ball is going fast. I can't get into the closed stance position fst enough while swinging my racquet. Bungalo Bill, do you have any pictures of this or videos or good instruction?

Yeah a good video to get is Nick B's "right back atcha" returns. In the onehanded backhand section you will see the model hit an open stance onehander with instruction on how to achieve it.

Once you get that down (and the other normal stances are progressing nicely for grounstrokes), learn the open stance backhand for groundstrokes.

I just think the open stance groundstroke onehander should be learned sequentially.
 

1171

Rookie
Muster hits the backhand just like the photos in this month's Tennis magazine. Both Muster and Lubicic start with Open stance, but finish the stroke with close stance.

Open, push off with both legs, finish in close stance. That's how you hit a backhand return of the serve.

I disagree with the comment that this is a minor shot. If you hit with one hand backhand, 50% of the serves will be going to your backhand (at least). Open stance one-hand backhand is very worth practicing.
 

Bungalo Bill

G.O.A.T.
1171 said:
Muster hits the backhand just like the photos in this month's Tennis magazine. Both Muster and Lubicic start with Open stance, but finish the stroke with close stance.

Open, push off with both legs, finish in close stance. That's how you hit a backhand return of the serve.

I disagree with the comment that this is a minor shot. If you hit with one hand backhand, 50% of the serves will be going to your backhand (at least). Open stance one-hand backhand is very worth practicing.

Yes, the direction of a onehander backhand is to hit more balls from the open stance due to the speed of the game increasing. This places pressure on the closed stance backhand. The open stance backhand also puts to bed the myth that a onehander cant hit from an open stance.

However, you need to read the fine print for the open stance backhand for groundstrokes (I am not talking about the return of serve which is more obvious to learn it for this area).

The onehanded backhand needs a good foundation and excellent racquet and rotational control. Your feet and aniticpation skills are paramount in your training. The majority of your shots should be hit with a forward stance (stepping into the line of the ball). And the 45 degree angle should be the staple angle for the onehanded backhand.

What I am afraid of is this: People will get lazy. Try to hit all their backhand groundies with an open stance. I dont think Mahboob or anyone of us are saying this.

I beleive you have a good grasp on what you need to do now and how the open stance forehand will fit in your game. If I were you, I would develop your footwork and footspeed first and master your forward and closed stances, then introduce the open stance groundstroke backhand at a later point in your training.
 
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