One Handed Back Hand Drive - A Snapshot
Without question, it is the most aesthetically pleasing stroke in the game and undeniably the toughest to master. It is sought by most but executed by few. It is compact in form and cunning with its disguise. The one handed back hand drive in all its glory is some club player’s reason for being.
The stroke simply has more moving parts than its antonym on the other side. It requires some imagination and body awareness to sequentially unwind the body parts required for unleashing the racquet head perfectly for impact. Golf and tennis are so similar in this way. In fact, there is no compromising on the fundamentals of both swings. You either have it or you don’t.
Unfortunately, the basic breakdown for beginners starts before the ball even arrives. Club players can be notoriously slow for getting positioned to hitting the ball. Now, I realize that club players arrive at the scene with frailties of all descriptions. However; it is critical to get the body aligned with the racquet back and knees flexed with the ball arriving between knee and waist height over the front foot. At this point, you have just dramatically increased your probability for success. The grip will need some experimentation but generally speaking a continental grip (hand shaking) plus a 1/8th clockwise turn (right-hander) will work nicely. Yes, this is not the heavy grip rotation that you may be using on the forehand side. Most of the top players in the world now use the western grip on the forehand but good luck trying to go this far over on the backhand.
The next most common mistake among beginners is a tendency to drop the racquet head below the wrist upon initiating from the back swing. All chances for success are now lost because the wrist gets ahead of the head and the order of events has failed. It is helpful to bring the racquet back with the other hand to maintain the stability of the racquet before delivering the forward momentum. This other hand can also moderate the slight flexion in the wrist during the backs swing. Take a look at some old footage of Bjorn Borg. He had a kind of a hitch in his back swing. Basically, he had a two handed backs wing and a beautiful one handed delivery. Next, the front shoulder will drop and align with the front knee. Naturally, the elbow will be tucked. Your legs, shoulder, forearm, and wrist will uncoil rhythmically delivering a square racquet head to the ball. Your head will stay down through the stroke and your racquet will finish high rolling through the ball. Whoosh!
November 4th, 2006
Blair Sveinson
President
DMX Ecom Station
mentorme.biz
Tags: back hand, Backhand, drive, tennis, topspin