One Handed Topspin Backhand

If you want a spirited debate, talk to a teaching pro about the relative advantages of the one-handed versus two-handed topspin backhands. I have used both. Each has its advantages, and each will disappoint you. Try to run down a wide ball with the two-hander, and you will often find it beyond your reach. Try to deal with a 100 mph serve and the one hander suffers by comparison. Most kids are taught the two-hander, and most top pros play with it, but there are still plenty of holdouts who hit with one. For those having trouble deciding, I have outlined the pros and cons of each stroke here.

The challenge with the one-handed topspin backhand (1HTSB) when compared to the forehand is that much of the power, control and topspin in the backhand is generated by supination of the wrist rather than pronation. Pronation is the fundamental source of power in most ball sports, and it is both strong and natural. Supination is weak by comparison and remember that power and consistency are closely related. Another issue with the one-hander is the windup. The one-handed topspin is the longest stroke in tennis other than the serve. Preparation is the key to the success of the stroke, and it can't be rushed. If you are in a hurry, hit a slice. That brings up yet another issue - the pose. Most pros who use a one-handed backhand use the same pose for the topspin as the slice. That way they can delay the decision of which way to go, slice or topspin, up to the very last second. No time? Slide into the slice. Otherwise, wind up the topspin and let fly. Reusing the pose between two very different strokes can have disadvantages because of the role of the pose as the trigger for the thalamus is to play back a certain stroke sequence. If the thalamus gets confused you can find that one or both of your backhands is disrupted (see Top Slice Syndrome). Pros do not seem to have as much of a problem with this as us mortals, but the choice of a pose is not to be taken lightly.

Foundations

The Pose

The forgoing discussions notwithstanding, the pros who hit one-handed topspin backhands reuse the slice backhand pose for the topspin. The position is low elbow, high racket head, slightly laid back racket and 60% cocked, dorsiflexed wrist. The left hand is gently clutching the throat of the racket. You get into this position via a quick and violent unit turn that affords just enough time to get the hips and shoulders turned and the feet into a closed stance.

Functions of the 1HBHTS Pose
1. starting point for the lock
2. endpoint for the unit turn
3. triggers the stroke sequence in the thalamus

The Lock

From the pose one enters the lock phase by palmar-flexing the wrist, gently pulling-dropping-guiding the racket head, then the entire racket-arm complex down and back behind the left hip until the racket is parallel to the back fence with the racket head slightly below the wrist. One must relax completely by the end of this phase and should time it such that it ends with the power wave rotating the shoulders and dragging the racket through the load phase into the lag. The lock is yet another somewhat time-consuming process that is nonetheless essential to set the racket up for storing control and spin forces during the load phase and getting the racket far enough behind the body to allow you to generate power during an extended lag phase. If the wrist does not palmer-flex during this phase, the ball will go over the fence. If the arm doesn't relax then, stretch-shortening will not occur during the load, and there will be less spin and no directional control delivered upon contact.

If the racket is not wrapped fully around the player's backside by the end of the lock then power, control, and solid contact are lost. The need to wrap the racket around the body is important to understand because it is this part of the lock that players forget when rushed. Putting the racket straight back with the butt end pointing forward is a grievous error in the 1HTSBH. The behind-the-but racket position allows for enhanced storage of control force during the load phase due to the huge dynamic tension between the racket trying to stay parallel to the back fence opposed by the shoulders trying to pull it "around the corner" into the lag. That puts considerable pressure on the middle of the thumb behind the racket handle and sets up a force that on contact will be forward and slightly up, exactly what we need for depth control. The "behind-the-butt" position also enhances leverage and lengthens the lag phase amplifying the power of the stroke beyond anything that the forehand is capable of producing. Finally, this starting position for the forward swing contributes to addressing the ball since it exactly mirrors the racket position at the moment of contact (MOC). If this seems irrational, remember that from the end of the lock phase the racket will orbit the body and will rotate fully 180 degrees in an orbital path that is more or less parallel to the court surface.

If the racket head does not end up below the wrist at the end of the lock phase there will be less topspin because in that position the load tends to pull the wrist into pronation against the end of the thumb. The opposition to this force by the supinator muscles of the forearm ends up storing, then later delivering, rotational impulse into the ball for topspin. Thus one need only mess up a little bit in the lock to trash the stroke.

Functions of the 1HTSBH lock phase:
1. relax the hitting arm (prepare for stretch-shortening
2. get the racket moving backwards (backswing proper)
3. palmer-flex the wrist to store control force in the load
4. position the wrist in the 'eventual hitting position' for solid contact
5. contribute to leverage for power
6. get racket head below the wrist
7. get the wrist below the ball

The Load

So let's say, for argument, that you are in perfect position at the end of the lock phase and your racket is still moving down and back when the power wave passes your shoulders and begins to crest in your forearm. The wrist suddenly changes direction and starts pulling the racket into orbit around your body. You feel the pressure build up on your thumb, and since you are totally relaxed at this point, the racket pulls your forearm and wrist into more palmer-flexion and supination - just a skoach since your forearm extensor-supinator muscles tightened to resist the subtle counter rotation that threw the racket head back slightly at the end of the lock or backswing proper. This tensing only targets agonist muscles and is called setting the tone of the forearm. Setting the tone adjusts the muscle "springs" and is the first and key step in stretch-shortening the wrist extensors and supinators to store the force that will eventually inject both directional control and spin onto the ball. Cool. The key at this point is to resist the temptation to push the racket head around until the racket is, again, parallel to the back fence (and the net) but pointing the opposite way, i.e., towards the ball. That is a powerful and pernicious impulse that will wreck the stroke altogether. Your goal in the load phase should be to pull the racket around the body 90 degrees until it is perpendicular to the net with the butt end pointing more or less at the point of contact. You should also begin to extend the elbow for leverage. If you can do all of that you can transition seamlessly into the all too brief and violent lag phase.

Functions of the 1HTSBH Load phase:
1. convert power from the shoulders into stretch-shortening stored control and spin forces
2. insert the racket into orbit around the body
3. position the racket (behind the wrist) for acceleration in the lag phase

The Lag

The one-handed backhand is a powerful stroke. Its best feature is its ability to knock the opponent off balance or hit outright winners. You develop the power of the stroke in the legs, hips, and shoulders then delivered into the racket during the lag phase. The functions of the lag phase are as follows.

Functions of the 1HTSBH Lag Phase:
1. to accelerate the racket head to maximal racket head speed
2. to keep the stored control and spin forces bottled up in the forearm and shoulder while that speed is developed
3. to address the ball

It is the third function that we need to meditate on for a bit. In every stroke, addressing the ball is a prerequisite for success. Hitting with the frame is not nearly as satisfying as hitting with the strings, and the closer one can get the ball to the sweet spot of the racket face the happier one will be. So what is the target and what is it that we are trying to guide to the target? According to the video above, racket meeting ball is something of a glancing blow. Not only is the racket going low-to-high relative to the incoming flight path of the ball (for spin), but the wrist, and behind it the racket head, is traveling across the ball's flight path. I will freely admit that I don't know how anyone manages to intercept a 100 mph ball like this, so I don't know why talented people do it so much better. I do know that understanding the geometry of addressing the ball is crucial if only to keep you from trying to push the head of the racket at the ball. That does not work for tennis, baseball, golf, hammering nails or swatting flies. I find picturing my wrist flying by the point of contact weirdly reassuring. I tend to hit the ball more solidly when I concentrate on the relationship between the incoming ball and my fist, not the racket face.

The Explode

In the final moments of the lag phase, milliseconds before the racket makes contact with the ball, it is high time just to let go, i.e., let go of the desire for power, spin, and control. It is too late at that point to do anything affirmative to add to any of those things. To the contrary, the best way to accomplish those ends is to stop accelerating the racket. If you just let the racket head coast into the ball, you will get the full benefit of everything that has (hopefully) occurred heretofore during the stroke. If you can time the power wave coursing through the shoulders to the racket such that it ebbs just before contact, the acceleration of the racket will end. It was the acceleration and the racket's inertia that made the racket 'heavy,' keeping it trapped behind the wrist despite stored forces trying to rotate it up and forward (for control) and roll it over (for topspin). As the acceleration from the shoulders decreases the stored forces become unopposed. Before those forces can accelerate and rotate the racket from the wrist joint, the racket slams into the ball - seating it deeply into the strings. The ball stays there for .05 seconds during which time the stored forces inject linear and rotational impulse into the ball, corralling it into a tight trajectory and wrenching it into topspin. So the explode happens when you remember not to drive through the ball at contact or yank up on it to enhance topspin. I like to think of it as letting the racket do the dirty work.

It would be wonderful if we could generate a perfectly shaped power wave to accomplish all of our ends, but regrettably we can't. During the early load phase we rough out the wave, then make additions and subtractions as needed. The most important subtraction is to push back against the power wave in the last half of the lag. That will slow the shoulders and release the control and spin forces stored in the forearm. Remember that a wave must propagate from its source to its sink, so this push-back must happen well before the moment of contact. This is the reason why we try to remember to "Step into the ball early!" We need to consolidate our weight onto the front foot so we can use it to steal reverse momentum that we can then use to oppose the formidable peak of the power wave.

Functions of the 1HTSBH Explode:
1. release the stored control and spin forces
2. prevent unwanted impulse
3. protect the elbow

The Follow-Through

If properly timed the explode releases the control and spin forces into the racket a handful of milliseconds before the moment of contact (MOC). That means there will be no outward evidence of the existence of those forces, other than a pleasant "ping" sound at the moment of contact, until long after you send the ball on its way. The result is a rather bizarre looking follow through that is important, because it serves as a diagnostic monitor of the storage and release of stored forces in the shoulder and forearm. By the end of the follow-through, the wrist should be fully dorsiflexed, and the forearm and shoulder fully insulated, emblematic of the directional control and spin injected into the ball on contact. If that contortion does not occur, it generally means that either the forces were never stored, often due to tension during the lock phase, or that you never released them due to deficient, late or absent relaxation during the explode phase. "Leakage" of forces during the lag phase is also possible but generally causes more noticeable symptoms; imagine the arm going all kooky during the lag and what effects that would have on the ball. Often it results in the ball making a beeline for the center of the net.

Checklist - One-Handed Topspin Backhand
1. dynamic balance
2. eastern backhand grip
   • or between eastern and continental
3. full backswing
   • racket parallel to back fence at end of lock
   • racket head slightly below wrist
   • grip,arm relaxed!
4. closed stance
   • opponent could read a number on your back
   • push off from back foot
   • lift with the legs for power and topspin
5. pull into ball
   • actually pull across it
   • heel of racket first
   • this is the time to be forceful
6. relax and explode
   • let the hitting arm, racket do the work
   • completely relax
   • non-hitting hand away from body
7. monitor follow-through
   • full supination shoulder and forearm
   • full dorsiflexion of wrist
   • non hitting hand back

Troubleshooting the 1HTSBH
• ball in the net
  • early supination
    • relax in explode phase
    • let racket do the work
  • early explode
  • too much palmer-flexion in load
• long balls
  • control force not "loaded"
    • racket perfectly parallel to back fence at end of lode.
  • no explode
    • relax before MOC
    • don't drive through MOC
  • insufficient topspin
    • drop racket head at end of lock
    • forearm muscle tone too tight or too loose
• Mis-hits
  • bent elbow
  • trying to "guide" racket head
  • too much low-to-high
    • follow through lower
    • trust stored topspin forces
• insufficient power
  • poor leverage
    • racket behind body at end of load
    • wrist `60% cocked at end of load
    • elbow bent at end of load
• feels bad
  • off balance
    • dynamic balance
    • throw left arm out behind
  • no snap
    • relax on load
    • relax on explode
    • forearm muscle tone too tight or too loose