Nadal's forehand creates amazing topspin the game has ever seen. Why doesn't he use a 1 handed backhand to create the same kind of amazing topspin. His 2 handed backhand is rather flat. His 1 handed backhand slice is good. I believe if he masters a 1 Handed Back Hand, he can beat anyone anytime. Federer can't handle his massive topspins on clay.
Why doesn't Nadal Use a 1 Handed Back Hand?
- Thread starter Pancho
- Start date
a 2 hander will use a one handed backhand to break the pace and set up a shot if they can even hold the racket with one hand and mastering a one hander is tough if you're used to playing 2 hands
it's like asking Sharapova to slice like you see Henin and Mauresmo do all the time;it ends up in the net or out :lol:
I bet you Mauresmo and Henin can't play with 2 hands to save their lives if the occasion presented :lol: :lol:
it's like asking Sharapova to slice like you see Henin and Mauresmo do all the time;it ends up in the net or out :lol:
I bet you Mauresmo and Henin can't play with 2 hands to save their lives if the occasion presented :lol: :lol:
It's the way he's been brought up I suppose. Plus, I think it's too late for Nadal to change from 2 to 1 handed BH and be as successful.
The Gorilla
Banned
he does in the warm up
onkystomper
Hall of Fame
hmmm i think he is doing pretty well with his 2 hander
Nadal may not have the coordination or strength with his left arm to execute a 1H in game situation. Yeah, I know, strength of all things -- but the 1 hander uses different kinetic chain in the arm than the forehand. Given that he grew up on a clay game where everybody's shots are heavy, you can see why he prefers the stability of a 2H shot for his non-dominant side.
Nadal's 2 hander is a kind of 2 handed FH, really. He does things with his mechanics that would be ill-advised with a proper 2H BH. But because he's driving with his dominant hand, those tweaks lets him lead his shots and reach around for angles. Also, it gives him contrast in his game. Topspin on the FH side, flat shots on the BH side. His BH side rarely go awry as it were.
Nadal's 2 hander is a kind of 2 handed FH, really. He does things with his mechanics that would be ill-advised with a proper 2H BH. But because he's driving with his dominant hand, those tweaks lets him lead his shots and reach around for angles. Also, it gives him contrast in his game. Topspin on the FH side, flat shots on the BH side. His BH side rarely go awry as it were.
Aykhan Mammadov
Hall of Fame
He was teached 1 HB, it is late to change anything.
NerdSweater
New User
Weird thing is, you'd think that, but it's really not. When you look at all the guys who grew up learning the game on clay, it's pretty amazing that out of that huge pool of players, of the ones who've actually made it to the tour level, i.e. the best of the best of the clay courters; it's amazing that so many of them have one-handed backhands.
Corretja and Guga and Costa, for all three of them, their one-handed backhands were their best shot, and clearly they were GREAT on clay. Muster's forehand and backhand were pretty equal I thought, and obviously he was great on clay too. Pioline and Arazi were very good on clay, and for Arazi that was in fact his best surface, they both had miraculous one-handers as well, like Corretja, Guga, and Costa; it was their best attribute.
Fernando Melligeni, who was a little thin taurapin twirp of a guy, had an excellent one-handed backhand, and yet he actually STARTED OUT ON TOUR using a two-handed backhan! I mean how crazy is that? And yet the guy ended up making the French Open semis late in his career, and while never quite an elite clay courter, he was always just under that top tier of clay courters.
And basically, the list just goes on and an on with guys like Gaudio and Almagro carrying on the tradition of elite clay courters whose best attribute is their one-handed backhand.
What I've discovered as someone who grew up two-handed, then switched to a one-hander, and can hit both well enough now to hang with very high level players?
I've discovered that on the rare occasion I've hit on clay, I find it MUCH easier to hit my one-handed backhand. I just feel almost ten times more confident in going for my shots and swinging freely. Yeah, the ball bounces higher; but BY FAR more than compensating for that, is that I feel like I have so much more time to get a full swing in.
I mean so many of these great one-handed clay backhands, have these huge, majestic, sweeping swings, and that's why people love to watch them...yet it ends up being much easier for them to get away with that on a clay court.
That's why a guy like Pioline who the rest of his game was basically made for grass/hard/indoors traditional style tennis, his beautiful, elongated, swashbuckling one-handed backhand motion felt so at home on clay. The rest of his strokes were much more compact, with the exception of his backhand. Give him more time on that side, and watch him get into a rhythm with the shot, and it could really be a thing of beauty.
Nadal_Freak
Banned
Ferrero, Coria, Nadal, and many other great clay courters all had 2 hand backhands. I see no reason that Nadal should change it.
Andres
G.O.A.T.
That wouldn't help at all, Yut.
Playing table tennis would be a better help than squash, and yet, it wouldn't be any helpful.
If you're already a pro, you CAN'T just switch strokes. Your muscle memory works one way, and it would take years to re-gain that same muscle memory, and confidence on a new stroke.
And only for some EXTRA spin? Why don't u advice him to swing a little more low-to-high? that would do..
Playing table tennis would be a better help than squash, and yet, it wouldn't be any helpful.
If you're already a pro, you CAN'T just switch strokes. Your muscle memory works one way, and it would take years to re-gain that same muscle memory, and confidence on a new stroke.
And only for some EXTRA spin? Why don't u advice him to swing a little more low-to-high? that would do..
vllockhart
Rookie
Because he uses a two-handed backhand.
z-money
Semi-Pro
If it isnt broken dont fix it. He is #2 in the world and the way he is rolling through maybe some day in the not too distant future he can be #1. he doesnt need a change he gets all he will ever need out of it.
Hot Sauce
Hall of Fame
He has an amazing cross court 2h bh, and he can already dominate Fed on clay.
KingOfTennis
Professional
why swap now? Its his playing style that got him to 2nd place in ATP
The insanity of his coaches is that they took a righthander and turned him into a lefthander and didn't have him continue to hit a right handed forehand to compliment his left handed forehand. Really, really stupid. Can you imagine two forehands of the calibre of his lefty? He would have Federer wearin a skirt. Which I suspect Roger does anyways on his holidays.
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