One Hand or Two Handed Backhand in Tennis

The backhand tennis stroke has transformed incredibly since the 1980's and now the majority of men and most of the women players use a two handed backhand. In fact in men's Tennis only Federer of the top players playing the 2010 Australian Open this week, uses a one handed stroke.

The backhand can be used for a variety of shots and there are distinct advantage of a two handed backhand over a one handed backhand in most instances.
Damir Popadic breaks it down shot by shot on the ITF coaching website and suggests which shot is better and why.

• Return of Serve - Two handed is better as it allows the player to use a short back swing and to play the stroke with an open stance (hips facing forward).
• Running backhand - Two handed is better as a single handed stroke requires better positioning. A one handed stroke requires a rotation of the hips and shoulders and a longer back swing making it more difficult to hit on the run.
• Approach shot (to the net) - Two handed shot allows the shot to be hit with an open stance which gives the player more time to approach the net. The player does not need to complete his rotation before approaching the net as he would with a one handed shot.
• Low balls - Two handed shot allows for more stability and it is easier to scoop the ball up with a stable base. The one hand shot will be difficult to control.
• Short low balls - Popadic suggests that neither shot has the edge here, but the one handed shot has the advantage of reach and with a strong wrist a satisfactory shot could be played.
• Very wide balls - here again Popadic gives no advantage either way, but just like the short low ball, the one handed shot has the extra reach and a strong wrist action (such as Federers) could produce a fantastic shot.
• Balls hit at the body - Here the single handed backhand has the definite advantage. With a single handed shot the player is able adjust his racket position enough to block the ball back.
• Slice shot - Now here is a shot that can only be played one handed. This is also an important shot for defense and staying in a rally. It is also a great shot to use to change the pace of a point. There is no good way to play this shot two handed and therefore even a player with a two handed backhand will need to play the slice one handed.

It seems from Damir Popadic's analysis that the two handed stroke must be far superior to the one handed backhand. However we all know the world number 1 tennis player, Roger Federer, uses one hand and seems to have as much power and precision as the other top 10 players using two hands.

Most pundits though believe that Rafael Nadal and Andy Murray's two handed backhand is better than Federer's one handed version. But lets take a look at two down the line drives, one from Federer and the other from Andy Murray. Although I believe Nadal has the best backhand in tennis today, it is more difficult to make a comparison because he is a left hander.

Although both these videos show a backhand drive down the line, you will notice that they are not filmed from the ideal position and Federer's shot is from a waist high ball, while Murray is hitting a ball around chest high.





It is interesting to note that with a backhand drive both players need to setup correctly, turning their hips and shoulders 90 degrees to the direction in which they are going to hit the ball and taking big backswings. It looks as if Federer's backswing is bigger than Murray's, but with the different camera angles it is not possible to be definitive here. So the two handed advantage of a more balanced, open stance does not apply when comparing these two backhands as both players use a closed stance.

Watching the shot itself, we see Federer rotate his hips and shoulder further away from the court to create potential energy (wind up) just before the shot. He then swings through the ball using both his hips and shoulders to create power, hitting the ball almost in line with his body to ensure that it goes straight down the line and not cross court.

Murray on the other hand rotates 90 degrees to the court in preparation for the shot but then does not rotate further away to increase his potential energy. This is a result of the two handed grip he uses and possibly also because the ball is bouncing high. You will see that although he does rotate his shoulders toward the ball, it is not nearly as much as Federer's rotation. Instead he create power by using both arms to hit the shot. He too meets the ball with the racket in line with his body.

The follow through of both players is also of interest. Federer follows through all the way opening up his shoulders and finishing with his racket above his head. Murray's follow through is almost as big but he does not take the racket high above his head because both hands are on the racket.

So which backhand is better?
Federer is using his whole body, with a big back swing and follow through and lots of rotation to create power. He needs, and does have a strong wrist and forearm and is able to control the ball with that strength.
Murray uses his two hands to control the shot, but also needs to take a big back swing and follow through and to rotate his shoulders in order to create power. He supplements that rotation power by using both hands.

Both backhands are powerful and precise. When Federer's backhand goes wrong though it can go horribly wrong, but if he gets it right with timing and position he is often hitting a winner. Murray is less likely to hit a wild backhand shot.

Federer though seems to have a much wider variety of backhand shots than Murray or even Nadal for that matter. Nadal and Murray may hit heavier backhand topspin shots, but Federer seems to be able to flick and block and change his shot whenever he pleases.

As the two handed backhand seems to be more efficient and better for players with less racket control and wrist strength (everyone other than Federer), it is likely that we will see less players using a one handed backhand. For now we can enjoy watching Federer's backhand mastery and compare it to the awesome power and control of Nadal's and Murray's.

Have a great week.

Mastering the Drop Shot in Tennis

As the 2009 US Open continues, the top 4 ranked players, Roger Federer, Andy Murray, Rafael Nadal and Novack Djokovic are all still in with a chance of winning. To win against the likes of these Tennis greats, the players have to have a complete play list of different shots. One of the most lethal is the drop shot. Federer in particular loves the drop shot as a major attacking weapon.

The drop shot can be used to win a point outright, but it can also be used to draw your opponent to the net and set yourself up for a passing shot or to simply get your opponent winded by making them run up to net in an attempt to recover the point. Playing a good drop shot requires not only executing the shot itself but also determining the best time to execute the shot.

Here is some video of Federer with some sublime drop shots. As you watch the video take note of Roger's court position, how he swings the racket and the court position of his opponent in each case.



We can pick out a few tips from analyzing this video.

1. Federer usually plays his drop shot when he is just on the baseline or somewhere between the service line and the base line. It is much more difficult to play the shot when you are way behind the baseline. This is because the ball will need to travel further and it will also give your opponent more time to get to the net to hit a return shot.
2. His opponent in each point is usually way behind the baseline when the drop shot is played. His opponents therefore need to cover much more ground if they want to catch up to the shot.
3. Points 1 and 2 above actually work in combination, because as one player begins to attack , he moves forward and plays close to the baseline, pushing his opponent further behind the baseline. Therefore a drop shot is seldom played as a defensive shot.
4. In each shot Federer cuts under the ball to create backspin. He angles his racket and slices under the ball as if he is trying to chop the bottom of the ball off. Back spin ensure that the ball dies (does not bounce high or forward) once it lands on the other side of the net. This will further reduce the chances of his opponent reaching the shot. Cutting under the ball will also slow the flight of the ball down allowing it to drop closer to the net.

Roger has a great drop shot but he is successful with it because he knows when to play it. Using video analysis we can learn from Roger and practice incorporating the drop shot into our own games.

Why Tiger Woods has a Perfect Golf Swing

This last weekend, we once again had the pleasure of watching Tiger Woods playing in a Major Golf Tournament, the 2009 Masters. He injured his knee prior to the 2008 US Open, and the last we saw of him was winning that tournament in a lot of pain.

He may not have won this year's Masters tournament, but his swing truly is exceptional and it is always worth taking a look at some video and snapshots of his swing to do some video analysis. So why does Tiger Woods have a perfect golf swing? The answer is TIMING.

Tiger shows an almost perfect example of a concept we discussed in our last post with Andy Murray's serve. Tiger creates club head speed by perfectly sequencing and timing the movement of his knees, hips, shoulders, wrists and club. In golf, this is known as the kinematic sequence. The kinematic sequence in a golf swing is a little different to that of a tennis serve, but in the end the idea for both is to create club head speed or racquet head speed by storing and then transferring energy from hips to shoulders to club or racquet, with perfect timing.

Let's have a look at Tiger Woods' swing in slow motion. We have seen this video before, but it is a really good one. In this video we have a side-on view of Tiger's swing (side-on to the direction he will hit) and we can see the club throughout the swing. This makes it a great video to analyze. The video was also filmed with a high speed camera with a high shutter speed, which is why we can see the club so clearly in each frame, even through ball impact.



OK lets analyse this swing by looking at the way Tiger stores and transfers energy to the ball through the golf club. If you stop the video at 0:33 seconds, you will see that Tiger is now at the top of his back swing. During his back swing he turned his hips and his shoulders away from the direction in which he will be hitting in order to store up energy for his swing.

Play the video from here and we will see how his hips start to move earlier and quicker than his upper body and that his shoulders are left behind. Tiger is starting his kinematic sequence by unwinding his back swing. The timing is important and he leads with his hips in order to create more separation between his hips and shoulders and therefore create more energy to be transferred.

His shoulders then follow and at ball strike we see that Tiger's hips are now facing the target while his shoulders are almost facing directly at the camera. This perfect timing has allowed him to transfer all the energy from his back swing, first to his hips and then from his hips to his shoulders.

Here are two images of Tiger at the top of his back swing and at ball strike, created with some free video analysis software and images of Tiger's swing.

Although these are 2 different swings, we can see how Tiger creates separation between his hips and shoulders in the image on the left and how his hips are turned toward the target at ball strike in the image on the right. The shoulders have rotated quickly as they follow in sequence from the hips, in fact they have caught up with the hips as energy was transferred from hips to shoulders and the hip rotation has slowed while the shoulder rotation has sped up. The angle between the hips and shoulders at ball strike is now much less than at the start of the down swing and we can see this in the images above.

Of course the golf swing does not end with the shoulders and there are still numerous places where the timing can be off and the golfer can lose club head speed. In the video above we can look at time 00:41 seconds and we can see that Tiger's wrists are still cocked. As we play forward from this point we will see the wrists release, transferring the energy from the shoulders and arms to the wrists and on to the club and club head at ball strike.

This last sequence happens very quickly and the golfer's timing has to be perfect. Tiger Woods is the master of this timing and we look forward to seeing more video of his swing now that he is back from injury.

Send us your comments and let us know what you think of our posts. We look forward to hearing from our readers.

Andy Murray's Tennis Serve

Last week, Rafael Nadal won the 2009 BNP Paribas Tennis Tournament at Indian Wells, California, defeating Andy Murray easily in the final.

As we watched the tournament, we heard frequent discussions of Murray's second serve, and that if he could develop a better second serve he would be almost unstoppable. Of course, he was almost unstoppable at Indian Wells, but did lose badly in the final, mostly because of poor serving. In that final match against Nadal, he lost his service games four times and won only 6 of 16 (38%) of his 2nd serve points. Let's take nothing away from Nadal though; he has the best return game in tennis, possibly the best ever.

All tennis players, including beginners, know the importance of the serve. A good serve can result in easy points and puts pressure on an opponent. The first and second serves in tennis usually have different goals. With your first serve, you want to win the point with an ace, service winner, or at least put your opponent in a defensive position for the next shot. The first serve is generally flat and fast, and you can take more risk, knowing you have an attempt at a 2nd serve if you need it. The second serve is your backup safety. Your priority is to get the second serve in and start the point. If you miss the second serve, you will double fault and give your opponent a free point. Most tennis players put a lot more spin on the second serve, but this tends to reduce the speed of the serve.

Because of the slower pace, the second serve often gives the receiver plenty of time to get into position to hit an aggressive return. However, if you can make your second serve look similar to your first serve, at least in terms of the service motion, you can make it difficult for the receiver to predict the speed (and type of spin) of the serve, and you may retain a significant advantage, even as you serve slower and with more control.


We found some video of Andy Murray's first serve and decided to look at it from a biomechanics point of view. This video is set up very well for video analysis. The camera is set up along the baseline, which allows us to get a side-on view of Andy during his serve. We can also see the complete service motion in the video, including the racquet head, and can see the racquet make contact with the ball. It would have been great if we could've seen the complete ball toss (the ball goes out of the top of the screen) and if the camera had been stable and mounted on a tripod; but in general, this is good video sports analysis footage.



The power in the tennis serve, like many throwing or hitting sports (baseball hitting and pitching, football throw, and golf) is created by a chain of events. Each part of the body loads up with energy and transfers its energy to the next link in the chain. The timing of this energy transfer is critical to creating racquet head speed and therefore a good, fast serve.

In Andy's serve, we see how he starts with his knee bend as he throws the ball up. You may also notice that as he bends his knees his hips turn away from the court. He then transfers this energy now stored in his hips by bringing his back foot up to his front foot and rotating his hips into the court. Once again notice that as he rotates his hips back into the court, his shoulders now rotate away. This counter rotation in both hips and then shoulders creates the potential for racket head speed; Andy is coiled up and ready to explode his racket toward the ball.

As he does this, he releases the potential energy, rotates his shoulders back into the court, and throws his racket at the ball. All these energy transfers add up to create the speed with which he will hit his serve. If his timing is off, his speed will not be as high.

The ball toss is, of course, just as important. If you do not throw the ball consistently, it will be very diffcult to perfect the timing of your kinetic chain (described above). Andy's ball toss is high and a falls about a foot inside the court. If you want to hit a good hard serve, the ball needs to be in front of you, so that your body and racquet are moving forward when the ball is struck. If the ball toss is directly above your head, it is much more difficult to get theball moving forward with as much pace.

Ok, so Andy has a great first serve, and we can see that here. It is his second serve that the commentators were discussing. Unfortunately, we were unable to find any good footage of his second serve to compare it to his first serve. We are sure his coach is working hard on improving his kinetic chain sequence and timing to make it more difficult for his opponents to read his second serve.

Please post comments and let us know what you think, or whether you have any questions or suggestions. We would be delighted to hear from you.