Are you having problems with your backhand? Sometimes work with your tennis coach just gets a little bit predictable and you have to add or change certain elements of your technique work. If you live in the Killara area then Tennis World Chatswood offer great tennis coaching lessons that will definitely help you to work on your backhand.
In this blog we look at some backhand drills that you may or may not already do in your coaching lessons. If not introduce a couple to vary your training and to get you out of your comfort zone.
Is One Hand or Two Hands Better for a Backhand
The two handed backhand shot has been the more common shot in the pro game for many years now. But is it better than the one handed shot and why do pro’s prefer to play it?
There are few serve and volley players around these days that means the game is mainly played behind the baseline with heavy topspin. Playing the backhand shot two handed makes it easier to deal with higher bouncing balls and this is the reason players prefer to use it.
However, the one handed backhand has its own advantages, it allows for more reach and it is much easier to hit heavy topspin with this shot. Also players that use the one handed shot have a better sliced backhand.
Playing the shot using two hands is also easier for kids that are first learning to play the game, very few of them change their technique when they get older.
Backhand Inside-Out Drill
A good drill to incorporate in your backhand practice is to hit inside-out backhands. So every groundstroke should follow an inside-out swing-pattern.
Hitting inside-out backhands will help you improve all your backhands. To practice this shot hit a number of backhands inside-out from the forehand corner. Somebody can feed you balls as in training or just rally with your partner in practice, with your playing partner hitting forehand cross-court.
Hit From Inside The Service Line Drill
For this drill, stand on the service line with somebody feeding you backhands, try to hit the ball as deep as you can on your backhand.
This will generate the body and the arms working together as one unit. A great many players rely just on their arms for this shot and forget that using the body will give necessary height to create topspin.
Also get close to the net and try to hit backhands, this will force you to utilise your body more to get the height so the ball goes over. Once mastered, slowly work your way backwards perfecting the shot.
One of the best exponents today of the two-handed backhand is Rafael Nadal. Watch his technique closely, he uses his whole body to generate immense power in his backhand and he can hit this shot really aggressively in nearly any situation, especially against high-bouncing balls.
Residents of the Gordon area of Sydney can book tennis courts at Tennis World Chatswood to practice these drills, and improve their play.
