tennis_hack
Banned
Credit must go to PhrygianDominant for noticing this, but I agree with the assessment and felt it deserved a thread.
I believe we could be witnessing an evolution in the technique of the 1hbh. Wawrinka's backhand is far, far removed from that of an Edberg or Sampras.
Federer started to evolve the 1hbh when he began to supinate (the backhand equivalent of pronation) through the shot with his forearm to impart more topspin, and make the racket do a distinctive 'twirl 'manoeuvre.
Almagro sometimes follows this trend, but Gasquet does it most obviously, as shown in most of the backhands hit here;
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-oj4nQqFczE
Although Wawrinka uses a less extreme grip than Gasquet, he also does this supination, and his backhand is mechanically more extreme in other ways, such that I think bears more similarity to a modern forehand than anything else because;
1). He has the ability to hit it from an open stance - which I have seen him do many times on clay and hard. When given time he'll use a neutral stance, however.
2). The torso rotation is extreme, and he opens his chest way up to the net - this is a trait not seen in many other 1hbh's such as Federer's and Gasquet's
3). The racket follows a windshield-wiper swing path to help generate more topspin on a flatter swing path. The racket finishes relatively low on the body, instead of way above the head as is typically taught in a 1hbh.
4). It is hit with a straight arm to allow a longer lever arm and thus more peak power (at the sacrifice of consistency) - like the forehands of Nadal and Federer.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GgNASyLyGAg
In terms of muscle usage - the same core muscles used to hit the 2hbh with are used in Wawrinka's type of 1hbh because of his torso rotation - yet the lever arm is longer because he is not restricted by the 2nd hand.
This probably explains his uncanny power off that wing - when hitting well he's able even at times to bully around the best 2hbh's in the world from opponents physically bigger than him (Djokovic, Murray and Berdych).
Last year at the Australian Open when Wawrinka first pushed Djokovic to 5, commentators were exclaiming 'he's hitting with two forehands right now!'... Looking at how radically different Wawrinka's backhand is to a classical 1hbh - perhaps there's a bit of truth in that.
I believe we could be witnessing an evolution in the technique of the 1hbh. Wawrinka's backhand is far, far removed from that of an Edberg or Sampras.
Federer started to evolve the 1hbh when he began to supinate (the backhand equivalent of pronation) through the shot with his forearm to impart more topspin, and make the racket do a distinctive 'twirl 'manoeuvre.
Almagro sometimes follows this trend, but Gasquet does it most obviously, as shown in most of the backhands hit here;
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-oj4nQqFczE
Although Wawrinka uses a less extreme grip than Gasquet, he also does this supination, and his backhand is mechanically more extreme in other ways, such that I think bears more similarity to a modern forehand than anything else because;
1). He has the ability to hit it from an open stance - which I have seen him do many times on clay and hard. When given time he'll use a neutral stance, however.
2). The torso rotation is extreme, and he opens his chest way up to the net - this is a trait not seen in many other 1hbh's such as Federer's and Gasquet's
3). The racket follows a windshield-wiper swing path to help generate more topspin on a flatter swing path. The racket finishes relatively low on the body, instead of way above the head as is typically taught in a 1hbh.
4). It is hit with a straight arm to allow a longer lever arm and thus more peak power (at the sacrifice of consistency) - like the forehands of Nadal and Federer.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GgNASyLyGAg
In terms of muscle usage - the same core muscles used to hit the 2hbh with are used in Wawrinka's type of 1hbh because of his torso rotation - yet the lever arm is longer because he is not restricted by the 2nd hand.
This probably explains his uncanny power off that wing - when hitting well he's able even at times to bully around the best 2hbh's in the world from opponents physically bigger than him (Djokovic, Murray and Berdych).
Last year at the Australian Open when Wawrinka first pushed Djokovic to 5, commentators were exclaiming 'he's hitting with two forehands right now!'... Looking at how radically different Wawrinka's backhand is to a classical 1hbh - perhaps there's a bit of truth in that.
