Should YOU Have A One Handed Backhand? | Shankcast Tennis Podcast Ep. 25

Comments · 507

• AL

  @aleluya357 · 5 years ago

  I remember when I told my coach that I wanted to switch to a one hander, he answered: “well it can’t be any worse”

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• SA

  @samsmlee · 5 years ago

  What's the point of playing tennis, if you're not trying to look like Federer. :D

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• ED

  @EdgeriPlaysTennis · 5 years ago (edited)

  I think part of the aesthetic appeal of the one handed backhanded is the elongation of the arm in an almost wing like motion. The prettiest backhands look like they are flying/ spreading their wings. Has a very elegant look. Loving the podcasts!

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• JA

  @jason6344 · 5 years ago

  caveman at the net because of 2 hand backhand? could never be me

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• JE

  @jeffreid5998 · 5 years ago (edited)

  Fun topic, and a nice discussion. <br><br>My 2 cents as a one-hander who spent a couple of junior years as a two-hander. I feel that the one hander requires better preparation to be a passable shot, obviously at high-levels both styles require great mechanics. Yet, I found that the preparation requirement of the one-hander actually helped my game in the end, because I could no longer slack as much setting up on the backhand side.<br><br>In a similar vein, I also believe that a one-hander&apos;s easier access to the slice is a double edged sword for developing and non-elite players. The slice is a great shot, but it my experience overuse of the slice hinders development of a versatile topspin shot. I would advise all one-handers interested in improving their topspin shot to try what I did: Completely abstain from hitting slices for a couple of months, no matter how awkward the shot. In the short-term you will play a bit worse, but without the slice crutch you&apos;ll find relatively quickly that you&apos;ll be able to adapt your swing to more balls that aren&apos;t perfectly in your strike zone and will be able to better control those that are. By all means add the slice back in once you&apos;re comfortable with where your topspin is at, but I guarantee you&apos;ll see a marked improvement in your one-hander and will be way less tempted to slice when you&apos;re tight.

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• JA

  @JamesDavisakaRemguy · 5 years ago (edited)

  In wheelchair tennis, we hit a very odd, one-handed stroke called the <b>Reverse Backhand</b> &nbsp;Because our hands are busy pushing the chair, plus holding a racket, they can&apos;t do anything else, like change grips or take the racket back. &nbsp;When we arrive at the ball, we&apos;re almost out of time so we have to shorten the take-back and we eliminate the grip change. &nbsp;That means we hit everything (except the serve) with the same semi-western forehand grip. <br><br>If you take the racket at the point of contact for a semi-western forehand and rotate it counterclockwise 180°- 270° (that&apos;s ½ - ¾ of a circle to the left) you have the Reverse Backhand contact point and grip. &nbsp;Yup, you&apos;re holding the racket upsidedown, your elbow is pointing at the ceiling, and you&apos;re hitting the ball with the same side of the strings as your forehand. &nbsp;Pretty weird, eh?<br><br>So if you&apos;ve figured out the contact point and the grip correctly, you&apos;re probably wondering how (the hell) we generate any power. &nbsp;&apos;Well, it starts with the take-back - an equally strange motion that looks <i>just like</i> putting a sword back in its scabbard (holder) on your left hip. &nbsp;There is inward rotation of the shoulder as your racket hand goes from upper right to lower left in front of you. &nbsp;You&apos;re facing the left sideline because you either chased the ball that way or you&apos;re turning to the left as you&apos;re putting your racket-sword away. &nbsp;<br><br>Just as you finish this motion, there&apos;s a little &quot;dipsy-doodle&quot; where the head of the racket pops back up briefly as your elbow drops and your shoulder rotates back outward. It&apos;s as if you&apos;re giving a &quot;thumbs up&quot; to someone standing off to your left. &nbsp;This is the loading phase, the first half of the <b>stretch-shortening cycle</b> &nbsp;Now we &quot;pull the trigger&quot; by turning the upper body back to the right, the arm lags at first, then uncoils with considerable force and comes whipping back down into the upsidedown position at contact. &nbsp;<br><br>You can get some surprising pop on the ball, and tons of topspin, as evidenced by those at the top of the professional wheelchair game. &nbsp;(Oh yeah, you heard it right. &nbsp;There&apos;s a professional wheelchair tennis tour!) &nbsp;The best example of this type of backhand is evidenced by the British duo currently in the top ten. &nbsp;Here you can see them warming up at the U.S. Open in 2018, pay attention to their backhands and you&apos;ll see all the things I tried to explain above. &nbsp;It&apos;s just a practice session so you won&apos;t see them really ripping any BH winners, but there are plenty of their matches on YT where you can. &nbsp;Enjoy: &nbsp;<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d0ky8bU7UdA&amp;t=150">https://youtu.be/d0ky8bU7UdA?t=150</a>

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• AL

  @alexfowler9785 · 5 years ago

  For about a year and a half I had the struggle of deciding which BH I wanted at 20 yrs old. To the hosts credit I like the one hander, it&apos;s just not the most successful for me personally as a short guy, especially on the shoulder high ball. I didn&apos;t want to be restricted to slicing every shoulder height ball just bc I couldn&apos;t flatten it out. Two hander came more naturally as a normal groundstroke execution wise and in consistency. Also a Djokovic/Murray fan. Sometimes you have to try both before you make a decision. They are both great shots though.

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• GP

  @gpshouse45 · 4 years ago

  Guy Forget!! Utter elegance!!

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• WI

  @Will-888 · 5 years ago

  Dominic Thiem, &nbsp;Gabby Sabatini.. stunning one handed backhands

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• AL

  @alexandr4200 · 5 years ago

  I&apos;d say Fognini also has pretty smooth backhander

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• JS

  @JSteezy · 5 years ago

  Getting to a 4.5 level is quite hard. 5.0 as well, very hard. 4.0 is kind of where the casual but talented player might peak but many tennis enthusiasts sit around the 3-3.5 area and never develop a real weapon in their game. 4.5 develops quite a few, probably has a pretty nasty serve and is relatively consistent and versatile even when things get really challenging. 5.0 just takes that up a notch but it&apos;s a small yet very difficult gap to close. It&apos;s not so much that their best is better than a 4.5 but that they are more often closer to it. A little more polished and perhaps a better mentality overall. <br><br>Tennis is such a cool game. Things get really fun and thrilling once you play around the 4.5-5.0 level. You are now using all of your capable strength on your best shots and doing very challenging things when you need or want to.<br><br>I will miss my youth. Enjoy it while you have it. I hope to have about 10 or more years of this kind of fun.

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• FA

  @faiz31887 · 5 years ago

  Another advantage of a one handed backhand - you can get a sick watch sponsor and wear a watch on your off hand during matches.

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