Interactive Forum December 2014: Two Handed Backhand--or One?

[John Yandell]

Two Handed Backhand--or One?

When Chris Lewit sent me this video of his student Elizabeth I thought her two-hander looked excellent. A nice swing, shape, very smooth, good extension. Then I saw the one-hander that followed. It's obvious that for this player the one-hander is visibly more explosive, and actually even more fluid than her two. And so the question becomes: how many kids--or adults--have two-handers that may be functional and even good. But might never know what their potential really was as a one-hander. Thoughts?

[John Yandell]

Quicktime version

Two Handed Backhand--or One?

[stotty]

As a coach who teaches mostly two-handed to his students, I have often wondered about this one. The problem is most of the kids at my club start so young that the two hander is just easier to learn and use. Couple this with the fact younger kids will do so much better in tournaments in terms of results using two hands. Now factor in ambitious parents who want results and you start to understand why the world is largely two-handed. There must surely be many coaches like me who work in a similar predicament.

The girl looks she can go either way to me. She could be one handed or two. But I love her follow through on the one hander. I have coached kids who look like they could go either way too.

I know it sounds crude but if I cannot get the two hander to look right, then I get my student to opt for a one hander. Other than that I am guilty of sending them down the two handed route. That said, on balance, I find the two handed the better option if kids (adults too) can do it well enough. It copes better with higher balls...and the boys/men can brace better on returns against the bigger servers.

The big thing with the two hander is not to neglect or delay too long the introduction of the slice backhand. The Brits are quite good like this. Murray has a decent sliced backhand because coaches here are mindful not to neglect the shot. That said, the younger coaches over here are starting to neglect it.

I think Wawrinka, Federer and Dimitrov have done a good job of keeping the one hander alive...for now. Long may it continue.

By the way I think Chris Lewit is amazing....a great coach who shares with others. He is the best guy you've had in the house (Doug too) when it comes to communicating and sharing with us troops on the ground.

[GeoffWilliams]

Her foot work after shot is more dynamic with the one hander.

[John Yandell]

Stotty,

Doesn't sound crude. Sounds right.

[gzhpcu]

I know that the two-handed backhand is "in", I know that it is taught to youngsters who lack strength. I never liked it. Seems cramped. I always preferred the free flowing beautiful swing of the one hander. Wawrinka's is a dream.

Maybe today one is impatient for results and therefore teaches the kids two-handed backhands (just like neglecting the volley game) to achieve quicker results earlier...

[don_budge]

Question...

As a coach who teaches mostly two-handed to his students, I have often wondered about this one. The problem is most of the kids at my club start so young that the two hander is just easier to learn and use. Couple this with the fact younger kids will do so much better in tournaments in terms of results using two hands. Now factor in ambitious parents who want results and you start to understand why the world is largely two-handed. There must surely be many coaches like me who work in a similar predicament.

The girl looks she can go either way to me. She could be one handed or two. But I love her follow through on the one hander. I have coached kids who look like they could go either way too.

I know it sounds crude but if I cannot get the two hander to look right, then I get my student to opt for a one hander. Other than that I am guilty of sending them down the two handed route. That said, on balance, I find the two handed the better option if kids (adults too) can do it well enough. It copes better with higher balls...and the boys/men can brace better on returns against the bigger servers.

The big thing with the two hander is not to neglect or delay too long the introduction of the slice backhand. The Brits are quite good like this. Murray has a decent sliced backhand because coaches here are mindful not to neglect the shot. That said, the younger coaches over here are starting to neglect it.

I think Wawrinka, Federer and Dimitrov have done a good job of keeping the one hander alive...for now. Long may it continue.

By the way I think Chris Lewit is amazing....a great coach who shares with others. He is the best guy you've had in the house (Doug too) when it comes to communicating and sharing with us troops on the ground.

This post #3 of Stotty's says that it was edited by johnyandell at 6:13 am this morning. Stotty…are you really johnyandell in disguise?

[stotty]

This post #3 of Stotty's says that it was edited by johnyandell at 6:13 am this morning. Stotty…are you really johnyandell in disguise?

Cannot explain that one. All I can say is that I am definitely not JY in disguise. Must be a system glitch. My post looks the same as when I first wrote it as far as I can remember.

You are very observant. I never notice such things.

[klacr]

The one handed backhand

To be, or not to be: That is the question.
My good literary pal from England Billy Shakespeare said that.

I let the students at my club experiment with both when they are starting out. Letting them discover for themselves. I never worry about the outcome of their shot in the beginning, I only care about them. I always ask which backhand feels more physically comfortable, telling them don't base it on result of shot, just your own personal comfort and balance. Their answer will say alot.

Many of my adult male players use a one-handed backhand. They are strong enough but also like the feeling of letting it go as opposed to the cramped style many explained when experiemting with a two hander. The males at my club that have continued with a two hander hit it in a forced style that looks uncomfortable and rarely if any of them have the finishing power on the two hander, nor do any of them possess a competent slice backhand or a solid backhand volley. Coincidentally, those are also the players who rarely take lessons and when they do, often complain about not improving or simply hitting their competitive ceiling.

The ladies at my club have two handed backhands. The ones that have strayed from the herd and gone with one-handers developed a sneaky slice and are more comfortable playing the net. Imagine that. They all play on our doubles teams so this is a big advantage.

As for the juniors, they just have fun with it. Let them experiment and use their creativity. We play a game with it. One side of the court can only hit two handers, one side can only hit one handers. Then we do one side only topspin backhands and one side only slice. It gets interesting, and the shots and ideas that are produced by it are amusing, inspirational and mind opening for the player.

As for the young girl in the video, it would be a bit bias for for me to say I like her one-hander since I prefer the one-hander and many of the posters on here also have a soft spot for the one-hander. I would ask her which one she feels comfortable with. If she says one hander, I give myself an internal fist pump . If she says two, I say "great! Let's work on it and make it a great shot. This is going to be fun. Now just imagine how good we'll be with a two hander and if we add on a slice "

Kyle LaCroix USPTA
Boca Raton

[John Yandell]

DB,

No. That's where I went in to make the thread stick.

[hockeyscout]

How old is this student?

Geez, doesn't everyone teach players both (one handed backhand, backhand slice (Graf) and two hander). Why specialize, or pick one thing? Why not spend ten years practicing it all, and then decide. Or, use all of the above and have a ton of variety that throws off the opposition, and generates a ton of angles.

[John Yandell]

No, everyone doesn't. And far from it.

[don_budge]

One Handed or Two Handed Backhand…One, if you are smart…Two, if you are not

Two Handed Backhand--or One?

When Chris Lewit sent me this video of his student Elizabeth I thought her two-hander looked excellent. A nice swing, shape, very smooth, good extension. Then I saw the one-hander that followed. It's obvious that for this player the one-hander is visibly more explosive, and actually even more fluid than her two. And so the question becomes: how many kids--or adults--have two-handers that may be functional and even good. But might never know what their potential really was as a one-hander. Thoughts?

A very misleading video. Due to the nature of the feeding balls it manages to "illustrate" that this young tennis student's one hand backhand is anywhere near as repeatable as her two handed backhand. Notice how slow and how perfectly these balls are being fed into her "wheelhouse"…as 10splayer likes to call it. These are hand feeds from the service line.

The elliptical backswing of her one handed backhand gives the illusion of having all kinds of time to perform this miraculous motion but realistically it will be very difficult to reproduce this under any sort of time constraints such as match play or even hitting forcibly against the wall. The footwork is problematic as well…it looks to me as if she is going to fall on either her face or her backside eventually when she is pulled off balance during the course of any given competitive rally.

On the other hand, the two handed backhand is very much simpler from the backswing to the footwork and therefore more repeatable. It appears to me that even given more difficult time constraints this backhand will hold up better although I further wonder about the elliptical nature of the backswing. Her footwork on the two handed side further gives her a better and sounder foundation from which to swing. There's that word again…balance.

One handed or two handed backhand? That's definitely up to the player. But that being said no student has ever disappointed me when they go to one handed. More than likely it is going to be improved over the long haul. It takes a lot of work. It takes a lot of patience. Initially it creates some complications mainly because the preparation needs to be a quicker and the meeting of the ball is earlier because of the front position of the shoulder which is why the slice is taught at first. But from my experience it is worth the sacrifice that you make in the beginning as it pays dividends down the line. The one handed backhand is the most natural swing in tennis.

Do aesthetics count? The advantage of being able to seamlessly switch between slice and drive is a tactical advantage. Then there is the matter of approach and net game…which are virtually nonexistent in the modern game which may be explained that the game is being played predominately with the two handed backhand today. But it wasn’t always this way.

[waiuku]

waiuku

With smaller racquets and lighter balls I think it is a lot easier to learn the one handed and strength does not come into it. And the smaller handles/ grips do not allow for two hands. Just my exprience

[chrislewit]

How old is this student?

Geez, doesn't everyone teach players both (one handed backhand, backhand slice (Graf) and two hander). Why specialize, or pick one thing? Why not spend ten years practicing it all, and then decide. Or, use all of the above and have a ton of variety that throws off the opposition, and generates a ton of angles.

She is just turned 13 and playing sectional level tournaments only.

If you have any further questions let me know.

Chris