What a pain! One handed backhand

Curious

G.O.A.T.
I for one have had a OHBH for most of my career having switched around 12 years of age. The reason I posted in the first place is in part that the way you're hitting your OHBH now...seems very much reminiscent of how I was hitting mine early on (actually, in some ways mine was a lot worse - I was swinging across the ball a lot more). And believe me when I say (not that my OHBH is perfect by any means)...but I made some changes in my teens to achieve more of a drop and to create more of an inside out swing path. True, it wasn't easy work at the time. But it has absolutely paid off in spades. Now my BH is far superior to my FH...the rock of my baseline game to be sure. Point is, I'm not some immortal. If I can make these types of changes, no reason why anyone else can't as well - if they desire to do so.
Would love to know how you achieved that.
 

zill

Legend
I think you were traumatised big time by your zero drop ohbh and you can't get over it.

Well that is experience, yes. That's how you learn. I guess you can say I am the expert of the no drop so I can talk and advice on your inadequate drop. Apparently it's a pretty common problem.

7:45


I tried to make a come back to the 1hb again recently but failed again and know better now why. Believe it or not I get more drop and with a longer swing path with my 2hb then 1hb. And as a result can hit it much more powerfully now with my 2hb and with more spin.
 

am1899

Legend
Would love to know how you achieved that.

Had some really good coaches for one. Two of them were top 200ish ATP.

Probably the biggest key for me was breaking the stroke up. Spent a lot of time starting in that racquet drop position - just like the image of Johnny Mac in the all whites - coach hand fed, and I swing. Or, start in that position and I feed to myself and then swing.

Only after I had solidified the feel of that racquet drop position…could I then incorporate a higher take back, and a more elongated finish.
 

Curious

G.O.A.T.
Well that is experience, yes. That's how you learn. I guess you can say I am the expert of the no drop so I can talk and advice on your inadequate drop. Apparently it's a pretty common problem.

7:45


I tried to make a come back to the 1hb again recently but failed again and know better now why. Believe it or not I get more drop and with a longer swing path with my 2hb then 1hb. And as a result can hit it much more powerfully now with my 2hb and with more spin.
That you couldn't do it doesn't necessarily mean I can't do it either.
 

AnyPUG

Hall of Fame
Yeah, but I'm sure even if everyone else says I'm finally getting enough topspin, you'll keep saying I don't have proper racket drop.

This is a good test for topspin -

Hand feed near the service line and hit a ball making it bounce within the baseline. How many bounces before it hits the back fence?
Try with 5 balls on each wing. Count the total number of bounces.

5 bounces - you get an A
7 bounces - B
9 bounces - C
10 bounces - D.
11 bounces - F
 

Curious

G.O.A.T.
This is a good test for topspin -

Hand feed near the service line and hit a ball making it bounce within the baseline. How many bounces before it hits the back fence?
Try with 5 balls on each wing. Count the total number of bounces.

5 bounces - you get an A
7 bounces - B
9 bounces - C
10 bounces - D.
11 bounces - F
Cross court or down the line? Should make a difference.
 

Shroud

Talk Tennis Guru
This is a good test for topspin -

Hand feed near the service line and hit a ball making it bounce within the baseline. How many bounces before it hits the back fence?
Try with 5 balls on each wing. Count the total number of bounces.

5 bounces - you get an A
7 bounces - B
9 bounces - C
10 bounces - D.
11 bounces - F
Dude wont listen.
 

Shroud

Talk Tennis Guru
This is a good test for topspin -

Hand feed near the service line and hit a ball making it bounce within the baseline. How many bounces before it hits the back fence?
Try with 5 balls on each wing. Count the total number of bounces.

5 bounces - you get an A
7 bounces - B
9 bounces - C
10 bounces - D.
11 bounces - F
Or bunting
 

Fintft

G.O.A.T.
Listening doesn’t mean adopting everything suggested. Do you do that?
You are goofing too much with too many threads. The fact that you don't follow @Dragy suggestions boggles my mind, after watching your vid!
Trust me, I am trying to be help you, here...
PS
Not to mention that you claim to have a coach, yet I see little evidence of that.
 

Curious

G.O.A.T.
You are goofing too much with too many threads. The fact that you don't follow @Dragy suggestions boggles my mind, after watching your vid!
Trust me, I am trying to be help you, here...
PS
Not to mention that you claim to have a coach, yet I see little evidence of that.
Ok. Zill also says he’s trying to help me…
 

Fintft

G.O.A.T.
Once he feels something like this, maybe he'll get it:
If you give your body a moment to start before arm launch, it is much more fluid and clean. It might feel as if you do nothing, don’t swing initially, but it’s just the feel: hitting arm still starts down and around with torso and uncoil, to take off in a moment, swing out and rip across the ball.
 

mental midget

Hall of Fame
The main issue I see is the swing path and what to do with the ball. The TS shot should not be approaching the ball horizontally and slapping it. Instead, should come under it and brush up.
The yellow line connects the handle to the tip - the future multi-slam winner in the last picture has the racket aligned horizontally in the slot position than the previous slam winners on the left :)
Since you swing slower than pro players I would think your angle of attack should be steeper than them. imo, the blue line should be your angle of attack to brush up the back of the ball. The path should be more golf like swing than a horizontal slap. The racket face appears a lot more open than others (grip or supination/pronation/esr fine tuning)
It's the exact same issue with your forehand as well.


ohbh-slot_w8bfjc.png

small point, from the pic it looks like you're a touch too upright...you should have a slight feel of leaning into the ball, moving forward, as you hit. fwiw it looks like you've got a pretty 'weak' grip as they say...have you ever experimented with shifting the the knuckles back just a bit, get a touch more of your hand behind the handle?
 

movdqa

Talk Tennis Guru
A great illustration of 3 basic components of the shot starting at 0:41 - "inside out" swing path, squaring up of the racket and brushing up the back of the ball.


A couple of things about that video: he probably has a pretty heavy and high swingweight racquet hitting that and he looks overweight - and advantage when you are accelerating your weight into the ball.

His backhand is pretty simple here. I'm more used to seeing those of Federer, Gasquet, Dimitrov, Shapovalov and Wawrinka - I guess the modern backhand.
 

Jonesy

Legend
small point, from the pic it looks like you're a touch too upright...you should have a slight feel of leaning into the ball, moving forward, as you hit. fwiw it looks like you've got a pretty 'weak' grip as they say...have you ever experimented with shifting the the knuckles back just a bit, get a touch more of your hand behind the handle?
How much do you shift on your backhand?
 

Bambooman

Legend
Expecting a guy who has a torso so stiff that it looks like he's had spinal fusion to suddenly loosen up like supple pro just because it seems so simple to do so is a bit foolish.

Baby steps.
 

Bambooman

Legend
This is a good test for topspin -

Hand feed near the service line and hit a ball making it bounce within the baseline. How many bounces before it hits the back fence?
Try with 5 balls on each wing. Count the total number of bounces.

5 bounces - you get an A
7 bounces - B
9 bounces - C
10 bounces - D.
11 bounces - F
Can you show a video demonstrating this?
 

Fintft

G.O.A.T.
Expecting a guy who has a torso so stiff that it looks like he's had spinal fusion to suddenly loosen up like supple pro just because it seems so simple to do so is a bit foolish.

Baby steps.
Like bend your knee and "start the movement with the body for a moment and only afterwards with the arm" (to paraphrase @Dragy )?
 

Bambooman

Legend
Like bend your knee and "start the movement with the body for a moment and only afterwards with the arm" (to paraphrase @Dragy )?
Yes. His knees bend but reluctantly straighten and his torso and core is very rigid.

It's hard to do all the little movements when the body rejects the idea.

Some yoga may be in order.
 

Shroud

Talk Tennis Guru
Despite all the adversity and prejudices here I want to thank @Shroud for his comments above and obviously @Curious for creating this thread. I am now inspired to give the 1hb another go.
Glad to help. But you have a great 2 hander so why mess with the 1hbh again? Its like ghostbusters: don’t cross the streams
 

ey039524

Hall of Fame
I'm relearning my ohbh, after picking up a 2 for over a year w TE. I love the feel of a 1, otherwise I'd stay w the 2.

A 1 feels so free and loose. It's my favorite shot to rip a passing shot down the line w a 1.

The other day, it was flying a bit during a drill w someone volleying at the net. The coach told me to keep my head down after I made contact. It helped immediately. Just another tip I'd like to pass on.


Keep w it if you like hitting it. Don't get discouraged. We play bc we enjoy it. If it brings you joy, keep going.
 

AnyPUG

Hall of Fame
Not sure that shows what the post implies. Those were one bounce to the back fence

Bamboo asked for a video of hitting the back fence from around the service line. Did it answer Bamboo's query or not?

What I claim is that if you are able to hit the fence on ONE bounce from the service line, you know how to hit good top spin shots. If you are unable, either you resort to slice, bunt or some other undefined stroke.
 

ppma

Professional
Bamboo asked for a video of hitting the back fence from around the service line. Did it answer Bamboo's query or not?

What I claim is that if you are able to hit the fence on ONE bounce from the service line, you know how to hit good top spin shots. If you are unable, either you resort to slice, bunt or some other undefined stroke.

The statement that being able to hit the fence with 0 extra bounces with a stroke over the serve line is relative.
From a smash being an extreme example, to a flat shot at shoulder height directed to the base line, those will hit the fence with 0 needed topspin. Another story is hitting slightly over the net; then it becomes a matter of controlling power with spin, in which case I agree with your statement.
 

Shroud

Talk Tennis Guru
Bamboo asked for a video of hitting the back fence from around the service line. Did it answer Bamboo's query or not?

What I claim is that if you are able to hit the fence on ONE bounce from the service line, you know how to hit good top spin shots. If you are unable, either you resort to slice, bunt or some other undefined stroke.
It was the 5 attempts that I missed. 1 times 5= 5. I thought it was one attpt and 5 bounces was an A. Since others asked it probably wasnt just me
 

zill

Legend
Glad to help. But you have a great 2 hander so why mess with the 1hbh again? Its like ghostbusters: don’t cross the streams

Have discovered some problems with my 2hb. It may not be a natural shot for me after all. Surely there must be a good reason to why I used a 1hb for over 15 years without ever used a 2hb until the last 1.5 years?
 

mental midget

Hall of Fame
How much do you shift on your backhand?

well there's no one right answer--lendl, edberg hit with eastern, almost creeping towards contintental...but ive found moving the knuckles more to the top bevel just gives a little more stability, helps you muscle balls closer to the body if you get a little jammed, and certainly makes higher contact point easier.
 

Shroud

Talk Tennis Guru
Have discovered some problems with my 2hb. It may not be a natural shot for me after all. Surely there must be a good reason to why I used a 1hb for over 15 years without ever used a 2hb until the last 1.5 years?
For me 2hander is harder on the body, especially the back…
 

Slicerman

Professional
I don't know how to break it to you guys.. :rolleyes:

.. the least effective shot in tennis is the one-handed topspin backhand :-D

 
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zill

Legend
I don't know how to break it to you guys.. :rolleyes:

.. the least effective shot in tennis is the one-handed topspin backhand :-D


Agreed actually. I felt ‘giving up on a lot of the court’ when going back to the 1hb. But there is slightly more reach with it. Overall it’s still not as effective as the 2hb. But you have to choose the shot you are better at in the end.
 
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