Tennis Backhand Tips for Beginners and Advanced Players

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Tennis backhand tips can make a big difference to your backhand shot. Backhand shot is very commonly regarded as a more difficult shot than forehand and many people have a lot of trouble with it. Like the forehand, the backhand stroke has also evolved considerably with the modern technology of lighter and far more powerful tennis rackets.

There are a couple of main reasons for people not being comfortable with backhand. We will talk about right-handers but the same point stands for left-handers too. When a right-hander does something like pick up keys, open the door, clean up the table with a cloth or something like that, he usually does that on his right side of the body.

We unconsciously move our body in such a position that it's comfortable for our right hand. And that is usually slightly on the right side. And since we have been doing that for years we develop very good eye-hand coordination on the right side. We can judge distances much better slightly on the right side than on the left where we rarely do any actions with our right arm.

Backhand shot is on the left side and we don't have such a good feeling for that side. Not only with our arm and hand but also judging distances and coordinating our arm. That's why we need to take some time and get used to doing things on our left side with the right arm.

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1. Watch the ball all the way to the strings (watch impact).

2. Maintain firm wrist(s) through the entire stroke; backswing, hit, and follow-through.

3. Turn TM2 to the proper o'clock position (turn sideways).

4. Use full strokes; follow-through completely (complete strokes).

5. React quickly; get your racket back and wait (early preparation using a two-step stroke).

6. Hit the ball with an awareness of racket pitch at impact (open racket face at impact).

7. Use the wrist(s) to point the racket low on the backswing.

8. Recover quickly back to the ready position.

9. Check the grip after each and every shot.

10. Use low to high strokes (let the ball fall into your strings).

11. Special non-dominant hand awareness (two-handers only).

1. Tennis Backhand Tips: Offensive Backhands... 1,2,3

* 1. Watch the ball all the way to the strings.

* 2. Maintain a firm wrist through the entire stroke.

* 3. Turn TM2 to the proper o'clock position.

2. Tennis Backhand Tips: Neutral Backhands... 10,4,1

* 10. Use low to high strokes.

* 4. Use full strokes; follow-through completely.

* 1. Watch the ball all the way to the strings.

3. Tennis Backhand Tips: Defensive Backhands... 1,6,2

* 1. Watch the ball all the way to the strings.

* 6. Hit the ball with an awareness of racket pitch at impact.

* 2. Maintain a firm wrist through the entire stroke.

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1. Tennis Backhand Tips: Offensive Backhands... 1,11,2,3,4

* 1. Watch the ball all the way to the strings.

* 11. Special non-dominant hand awareness.

* 2. Maintain firm wrists through the entire stroke.

* 3. Turn TM2 to the proper o'clock position.

* 4. Use full strokes; follow-through completely.

2. Tennis Backhand Tips: Neutral Backhands... 11,3,4,1

* 11. Special non-dominant hand awareness.

* 3. Turn TM2 to the proper o'clock position.

* 4. Use full strokes; follow-through completely.

* 1. Watch the ball all the way to the strings.

3. Tennis Backhand Tips: Defensive Backhands... 1,11,6,2

* 1. Watch the ball all the way to the strings.

* 11. Special non-dominant hand awareness.

* 6. Hit the ball with an awareness of racket pitch at impact.

* 2. Maintain firm wrists through the entire stroke.

If you are stuck to choose between single handed and double handed backhand, just leave it to your coach. Just follow the tips provided below.

For instance, Pete Sampras switched from a double hander to a single handed backhand when he was fourteen. In the picture above, he is demonstrating his former backhand. Few would argue that this was a poor choice. However, it doesn't follow that all 14 year olds should switch from a two handed to a one handed backhand. That depends entirely on you and how you and your coach project your tennis future.

Tennis Backhand Tips: Tip # 1

Take time on the short court with 5 minutes of mini tennis every time you play. Play many backhands and be aware whether you hit the ball in the middle of the racquet or not. Be aware whether you set your self up for the shot in the correct distance from the ball or not. Just awareness of that will improve your judgment and coordination on your left side of the body.

Another common issue regardless whether one-handed or two-handed tennis backhand shot is that the body turn that we make before the shot turns our head too. And we often end up watching the ball with mostly one eye. And as you probably know we need to see with both eyes to correctly determine speed and distance (3D vision) of and objects.

The head and eyes need to be pointed straight to the incoming ball. As soon as we look at the ball a little sideways we cannot judge the speed and flight path of the ball. That quickly results in errors in a sport like tennis. And we usually think that something is wrong with our backhand shot.

Become aware of your head position and how your eyes are aligned to the ball. If you tilt your head or watch the ball with one eye more than the other it's very likely that you'll mishit that backhand shot.

Observe the pro's how they look at the ball, how their head is level and pointed straight at the ball. Even though they make extreme body turns in preparation for the hit they still manage to keep their head pointed straight to the ball. It takes great flexibility to do that.

No.1 reason why tennis backhand shot is usually weaker than the forehand – we hit it less times! As soon as you started to play tennis you might have felt that your backhand shot is a little weaker than your forehand and you tried to play as many shot as possible with your forehand. You might have hit 3 times more forehands in your tennis career than backhand shots.

Repetition is the mother of skill. It's not the backhand shot that is weak, it just hasn't received the same amount of training as the forehand shot.

Tennis Backhand Tips: Tip # 3

Another reason why your backhand shot isn't working is because you have developed a certain attitude towards it. May we say that it is negative? Yes, I think you'll agree.

When you play that fewer backhand shots you quickly fall behind your forehand feel and control. You start losing trust in your backhand and eventually you treat it like some bad part of your tennis game.

This affects your backhand shot even before you hit the ball. Even when the ball is approaching you already feel uncomfortable and think that you'll probably miss or hit a poor shot. And how does that affect your backhand shot when you actually hit the ball? Very negatively.

To help you with your backhand tennis instruction, below is a list of backhand fundamentals:

Stance

For single handed players, a closed stance with the right leg stepping across and forwards toward the ball is the traditional stance. More and more, though, pro players are adopting more of a neutral stance, with, in some cases, the toe of the front right foot pointing directly down the court towards the net.

For double handers, closed and neutral stances are the preferred options. However, a semi-open stance, particularly on wide balls, is becoming increasingly popular. This stance allows you to save time when recovering from out wide.

Grip

For one handers, the most common grip - for topspin - is for the back of the hand and the knuckles to be facing straight up when gripping the racket. The further the hand is turned in a counter-clockwise direction, the easier it becomes to hit topspin . . . but if you go too far towards an extreme backhand grip, handling low balls and pace will be a major problem.

If you want to develop a slice backhand, use a Continental grip, which hopefully is the same grip you use for your backhand volley.

For double handers, the options are far greater. Generally speaking, if you want a flatter shot, grip the racket with your right hand as if you're using an Eastern or semi-Western forehand grip. The left, more dominant hand, grips the racket as if for a left-handed forehand. Ideally, the two hands should be close together as this definitely provides greater co-ordination between the arms.

If you're looking for a heavier topspin shot, turn your right hand counter-clockwise, tending towards a traditional right handers grip for a single handed backhand. The more you turn your right hand counter-clockwise, the greater the role the right hand will play in your stroke.

The Swing

If you're a one-hander, you want your set up position to allow you to make contact with the ball with your arm in a comfortably bent (at the elbow) position. That is, on contact with the ball, you don't want your arm to be too bent at the elbow, or too straight.

You should start the backswing with the elbow bent as you take the racket back. When you begin the forward motion of the swing, the elbow is still bent, and a comfortable distance from the side of your body.

As you swing towards contact, the arm "unfolds" from the elbow towards the ball. Then, after contact, the arm continues the unfolding motion, tending towards a near or fully straight arm at the end of the follow through.

For double handers, the right elbow generally remains more bent than for a one handed shot. At all costs, try to avoid hitting the shot with a straight front arm.

For advanced players, the wrist also has a role to play. It can be used the same way as it's used for a forehand, except in reverse with the wrist folded back a little and the propelled forward with a frisbee like motion that requires excellent timing.