Two-handed Backhands - Right vs Left Handed Dominant

[Xievie]

Speak in relation to right-handed players when discussing this, but I was wondering what you gained for using the right hand more than the left on the two-hander? I couldn't seem to pull up and decent old threads for this.

Agassi seems and claims to be right-hand dominant while people are convinced that Djokovic is left-hand dominant. Both seem to be considereed GOAT backhands.
Interestingly, Nick Bolletieri is a supporter of left-hand dominance despite Andre being right-hand dominant.

Right-hand dominance seems to be similar to a one-handed backhand. Regardless, one should rotate either way.

 

[rkelley]

I think for most people, pros included, you should think of the 2hbh as controlled by the left hand primarily, but gets significant power from the right hand. That said, if you're just starting out I think the basic drill of hitting with your left arm totally controlling the shot and using your thumb and two fingers on the right hand to just stabilize the racquet is good. As you become more advanced you'll want to start bringing in the right arm more, using it to pull on the racquet and add power. The balance between right and left arm can vary, can be dependent on whether your left arm is bent or straight at contact, and generally I don't know if there's any meaningful way to quantify it. Yandell (I believe) thinks that a big bend in the left arm at contact, like many of the women on the tour hit, indicates more left arm in the stroke. A majority of the men hit with the left arm straight at contact and that could mean more right arm (seems like it has to honestly - you can't push through the stroke with a straight arm).

Agassi hits with both arms straight at contact (Nadal does too). This is not bad, but it's not super common either. Djokovic's bh is typical of what's consider excellent form (for a straight(ish) left arm at contact) at this point. I love his bh.

 

[Tight Lines]

Your grip basically dictates which hand should be more dominant. Agassi had an eastern bottom hand and eastern top hand. Both are equally dominant.

 

[rkelley]

Your grip basically dictates which hand should be more dominant. Agassi had an eastern bottom hand and eastern top hand. Both are equally dominant.

E. bh on the bottom (right) hand and E. fh on the top (left) hand? That would seem to make for a really awkward grip combo, but maybe I'm just missing something. Happens a lot. I thought Agassi was cont. on the right, E. fh on the left.

 

[WildVolley]

The left-hand dominant (left hand for a right-hander) technique is dominant at the moment, which makes Agassi the outlier. I'd argue the best 2hbhs today (Djokovic, Murray, Gulbis) and some famous (Nalbandian) are/were left-hand dominant at contact. You can tend to see this in that the fh-arm is most-often bent at contact and the top-hand arm is mostly straight and strongly behind the grip at contact. Even Nadal, who has a preference for a straight/straight contact seems to rely more on his right arm than Agassi relied on his left.

Both hands play a role in hitting a 2hbh, but I think the modern shot is more like a modified weak-hand forehand than a 1hbh with the other hand along for the ride. Personally, I don't teach the
Agassi style 2hbh, but if the student can hit it, I don't have a problem with that technique.

 

[Tight Lines]

The left-hand dominant (left hand for a right-hander) technique is dominant at the moment, which makes Agassi the outlier. I'd argue the best 2hbhs today (Djokovic, Murray, Gulbis) and some famous (Nalbandian) are/were left-hand dominant at contact. You can tend to see this in that the fh-arm is most-often bent at contact and the top-hand arm is mostly straight and strongly behind the grip at contact. Even Nadal, who has a preference for a straight/straight contact seems to rely more on his right arm than Agassi relied on his left.

Both hands play a role in hitting a 2hbh, but I think the modern shot is more like a modified weak-hand forehand than a 1hbh with the other hand along for the ride. Personally, I don't teach the
Agassi style 2hbh, but if the student can hit it, I don't have a problem with that technique.

Do you have female students? If so, what grip do you teach between a SW/Conti and E/conti? I think most female players have a SW/conti grip, which is why you see the elbow and wrist of the top hand laid back/bent at contact.

Harry

 

[WildVolley]

Do you have female students? If so, what grip do you teach between a SW/Conti and E/conti? I think most female players have a SW/conti grip, which is why you see the elbow and wrist of the top hand laid back/bent at contact.

Harry

Yes, I have a few female students who hit the 2hbh. I tend to teach (for a rher) continental with the right hand (easy to switch to a slice or drop-shot) and eastern fh to SW fh with the left hand. I think that laid back wrist can also occur with the eastern fh grip with the left hand as well as the SW fh grip.

The thing that always stands out in the pictures of the women pros is how often they hit an obvious bent/bent form at contact. My guess is that this is a result of lack of strength when they play as a junior, so it feels stronger to keep both hands close to the body. Obviously, the ball can be hit very well and very hard this way. However, I prefer to see the left arm straighter at contact. I suggest that to my women students, but it isn't something I care too much about. I think it is easier to get topspin with the left arm a little straighter and farther from the body.

 

[Tight Lines]

I think that laid back wrist can also occur with the eastern fh grip with the left hand as well as the SW fh grip.

Agree.

The thing that always stands out in the pictures of the women pros is how often they hit an obvious bent/bent form at contact. My guess is that this is a result of lack of strength when they play as a junior, so it feels stronger to keep both hands close to the body. Obviously, the ball can be hit very well and very hard this way. However, I prefer to see the left arm straighter at contact. I suggest that to my women students, but it isn't something I care too much about. I think it is easier to get topspin with the left arm a little straighter and farther from the body.

The reason why women with a SW top hand grip hits with a bent left arm has to do with the contact point. With a SW top hand grip, if you are encouraging the women players to have a straighter left arm, you are essentially asking them to extend through and hit the ball way out in front. That might not necessarily be good because women usually lack strength in their upper body to extend toward the ball. If she had a bent arm, OTOH, then her contact point would be intentionally late (see the photos above where the contact point is laterally inline with the body). That allows the women players to use more of a body rotation (as opposed to arm extension) to drive through the ball. So, I'm not sure if it's a good idea to ask female players to keep a straighter arm. JMHO.

Harry

 

[LeeD]

Tracy Austin just spoke on this subject last night during the Kunet's vs hottie legs match.
She said some player's use right dominant, some even, and some left dominant, and most all CHANGE during the course of a match just a little bit depending on shot hit and positioning, and incoming ball.
I"d think Tracy would know a bit about 2hbh from various player's.

 

[donquijote]

If you're doing 'it' with your left hand that means you're good at holding and commanding a stick with the non-dominant hand. Keep going.

 

[oble]

I converted to a 2hander several months ago, and I find that I hit better if I let my left arm (I'm a righty) be a bit more dominant, so it feels more like 60/40 left/right most of the time. It feels more like 50/50 if I'm taking a hard, deep shot from the opponent on the rise, sometimes half-volleying, at the baseline just to help with redirecting the pace back. I'm not very good at this yet, but I do find that to hit very sharp angle cross-court bh when pulled out wide, the left arm will become even more dominant which seems to help creating the angle.
Overall, it's definitely a more left arm dominant stroke for me. I use conti bottom/eastern top grip, left arm is mostly straight or mildly bent.

 

[DolgoSantoro]

How do you tell which hand is more dominant?

 

[WildVolley]

How do you tell which hand is more dominant?

That's a good question. You can do it subjectively when assessing your own backhand. When watching the pros, you can try to look and see which hand is driving the racket through the ball at contact.

The bent right arm of Djokovic at contact at least hints that he's not using that arm primarily at contact, though it isn't outright proof. I guess we'd need to monitor the muscles to know precisely.

Obviously both arms are used, but Agassi maintained his right arm was dominant and, for example, I maintain my left arm is dominant when I hit a 2hbh.

 

[Tight Lines]

How do you tell which hand is more dominant?

Generally speaking, and I got this from a prominent junior development coach, E/E is 50/50, E/Conti is 60/40 and SW/Conti is 70/30 on average.

Harry

 

[rkelley]

The bent right arm of Djokovic at contact at least hints that he's not using that arm primarily at contact, though it isn't outright proof. I guess we'd need to monitor the muscles to know precisely.

Look at Djokovic's bicep and upper forearm in his right arm near contact. You'll see that the muscles tense up indicating that they are engaged during the stroke. His right arm is bent, as you noted, and the forearm is in line with the racquet near contact.

He's basically pulling on the racquet with the right arm. The pulling helps the racquet head come around into contact. I think it's an important power source for the stroke.

 

[heninfan99]

I wonder if the double straight arms, like Agassi, imply more use of the bottom hand whereas double bent might be even or upper hand dominance.

That's a good question. You can do it subjectively when assessing your own backhand. When watching the pros, you can try to look and see which hand is driving the racket through the ball at contact.

The bent right arm of Djokovic at contact at least hints that he's not using that arm primarily at contact, though it isn't outright proof. I guess we'd need to monitor the muscles to know precisely.

Obviously both arms are used, but Agassi maintained his right arm was dominant and, for example, I maintain my left arm is dominant when I hit a 2hbh.

 

[1st Seed]

I'm a righty who plays lefty two hands both wings.real odd,

 

[dgold44]

I am a righty and my backhand is heavy right hand dominated.
I also prefer to keep both arms bent ( this is what many women players do).

I always liked the double bent arm

 

[Tight Lines]

I am a righty and my backhand is heavy right hand dominated.
I also prefer to keep both arms bent ( this is what many women players do).

I always liked the double bent arm

This usually means the top hand is a SW grip. If so, your right arm is pretty inactive. You sure your right hand is providing most of the power? It should be the other way around.

Harry

 

[rkelley]

This usually means the top hand is a SW grip. If so, your right arm is pretty inactive. You sure your right hand is providing most of the power? It should be the other way around.

Harry

Harry, I don't think you can make such an absolute statement regarding the link between grip and arm dominance. I think it's more complicated than that.

I think you can say that certain grip combinations tend to work better with certain arm structures at contact, and certain arm structures tend to have differing proportions of right and left hand.

ADDITION
I should also add that I think SW grip on the left hand is a pretty common grip for lots of different arm structures at contact so I don't think it says very much about hand dominance. You can use a SW with any of the three combos of bent and straight (I have not seen a pro hit bent left, straight right so that one we'd have to say that combo is not desired form).

 

[dgold44]

This usually means the top hand is a SW grip. If so, your right arm is pretty inactive. You sure your right hand is providing most of the power? It should be the other way around.

Harry

My left hand is Eastern left hand forehand
Right hand is between Contiental and Eatern Forehand.

 

[dgold44]

most of my power from my backhand comes from my loop that i added last summer !!!

 

[Tight Lines]

Harry, I don't think you can make such an absolute statement regarding the link between grip and arm dominance. I think it's more complicated than that.

I think you can say that certain grip combinations tend to work better with certain arm structures at contact, and certain arm structures tend to have differing proportions of right and left hand.

ADDITION
I should also add that I think SW grip on the left hand is a pretty common grip for lots of different arm structures at contact so I don't think it says very much about hand dominance. You can use a SW with any of the three combos of bent and straight (I have not seen a pro hit bent left, straight right so that one we'd have to say that combo is not desired form).

The general rule (and what I believe are the most efficient arm structures for a particular grip combination) is what I laid out. Of course, there are exceptions.

Harry

 

[WildVolley]

I wonder if the double straight arms, like Agassi, imply more use of the bottom hand whereas double bent might be even or upper hand dominance.

I think you're on the right track. The straight arm, like Agassi uses, certainly puts the bottom hand in a more useful position if he's primarily driving the stroke with his right arm. Hitting a 1h backhand with a bent arm is not a strong position for power. Nadal on the other hand, probably has a more even use of the two arms and he likes the straight-straight contact, too.

 

[thomasferrett]

A majority of the men hit with the left arm straight at contact and that could mean more right arm (seems like it has to honestly - you can't push through the stroke with a straight arm).

Well, technically, you can push/drive through a stroke with a straight arm otherwise Verdasco, Nadal and Federer would have such powerful forehands.

 

[rkelley]

Well, technically, you can push/drive through a stroke with a straight arm otherwise Verdasco, Nadal and Federer would have such powerful forehands.

Those players aren't pushing through their fhs with their straight arm. The only way to push at all with a straight arm is to shrug at the shoulder, which is good for about 4 inches of motion.

As an aside, they're also not getting a substantial amount of power from pulling across with their shoulder near contact because a human's shoulder is pretty weak when the arm is totally straight.

 

[morandi]

I've tried every variation of two handed backhand under the sun. All with success. To me the best and easiest at generating power was when I started approaching the stroke as a hand transfer. Meaning pulling the racket back with the left hand and pulling the racket forward to the stroke with the right hand. Ala Safin, Nalbandian etc.... You can get crazy power with even a minimal backswing. What this does is allow you to relax the left hand through the forward motion of the stoke, and allows the racket to drop without even thinking about it. Through the stroke the left hand is controlling the trajectory of the racket. It almost like slinging a sack of potatoes over your shoulder.

 

[mightyrick]

I'm probably 50/50. But regardless, I'd say most of my power comes from rotation of the torso and arm swing.

 

[rkelley]

I've tried every variation of two handed backhand under the sun. All with success. To me the best and easiest at generating power was when I started approaching the stroke as a hand transfer. Meaning pulling the racket back with the left hand and pulling the racket forward to the stroke with the right hand. Ala Safin, Nalbandian etc.... You can get crazy power with even a minimal backswing. What this does is allow you to relax the left hand through the forward motion of the stoke, and allows the racket to drop without even thinking about it. Through the stroke the left hand is controlling the trajectory of the racket. It almost like slinging a sack of potatoes over your shoulder.

This sounds correct to me. It's a pretty good description of what I try to do.