Tennis
Ultimate Guide to Hitting a Powerful Backhand in Tennis
A backhand stroke is one of the techniques used in hitting a ball in tennis. The likes of Ken Rosewall are known to be one of the greats in that regard. Our guide explores how to hit a powerful backhand.
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Tennis’ little yellow ball can either be struck using a backhand or forehand strike. In this article, we focus on powerfully striking the ball using the backhand.
A backhand is hit leading with the back of the hand around your body, facing forward. Sounds like gymnastics, doesn’t it? We can imagine you trying to make sense of it right now.
But it isn’t that complicated. Just pick any object and pretend as if it were a tennis racquet and strike it with your hand facing forward. See, it’s something you’ve probably done before. In this ultimate guide, we will simplify it further.
What is a Backhand Stroke?
A backhand stroke, as is commonly referred to in tennis, is one of the techniques employed in a tennis match by players to outwit their opponents.
Like we already mentioned above, the tennis ball is struck with the back of your hand facing forward across the body.
A right-handed player’s backhand starts with the racquet on the left-side of the body, proceeding across it until contact is made with the ball, and ends on the right-side of the body. The inverse is true for the left-hand.
It is generally assumed that the backhand is more difficult to master because the player’s dominant hand pulls into the shot, therefore, lacking the power of the forehand.
A double-handed backhand was the preferred option in the 20th century because of its stability and power.
However, the one-handed backhand’s popularity has resurged in recent years having been utilised greatly, earlier on in tennis’ history. We explore both and see which works best.
One-Handed Backhand
Historically, the one-handed backhand has been the preferred option for tennis players across all levels of the game.
The one-handed backhand gives players greater reach and variation of shot styles. It is much easier to topspin a shot or slice it, using the backhand.
One-handed backhands also permit more power in hitting the ball as compared to a double-handed backhand.
It’s therefore no surprise that the one-handed stroke is resurged in popularity, having been slightly over-shadowed by its counterpart at the arrival of the Open Era.
The one-handed backhand was the primary choice of tennis players at all levels in its first 100 years.
Double-Handed Backhand
At one point, the 1970’s in particular, tennis’ most popular players employed the double-handed backhand.
One of the reasons for its popularity can be attributed to its accuracy, because of a better grip from using two hands.
The double-handed backhand provides more stability as compared to the one-hand backhand technique.
Double-handed backhand strokes also have more variations in terms of the stance a player uses when striking the ball. A very important factor at pro-level tennis.
For the purposes of this guide, we believe the use of a one-handed stroke to be more powerful and effective.
We explore the different techniques of this option and give you our recommendations towards the end.
One-handed Backhand Techniques
There are three techniques of using the one-handed backhand, all very effective. A player can use either one or a combination of all three in a tennis match. It all depends on mastering them.
The Slice One-Handed Backhand
The slice was popularised by many classic players, some of which are Ken Rosewall and Steffi Graff. It is more simple and easier to learn, although mastering it can be somewhat difficult.
Slicing the ball closer to the bottom results in a higher and slower ball, resembling a lob, while slicing it closer to the side of the ball results in a faster and lower ball.
Either of those slice variations require some mastering but work very well when perfected.
One-handed Top Spin Backhand
A top spin’s backhand advantages include its ability to cope well with high balls, placement and consistency. It is performed well with the Semi-Western or Western Grip and is probably the hardest to learn.
It is executed by swinging the ball across the body, lower than the ball, hitting it toward the bottom or middle, swinging upwards.
This technique has been employed by players such as Richard Gasquet, Nicolas Almagro and Grigor Dimitrov.
Flat One-handed Backhand
Popularised by the likes of Rod Laver, Lew Hoad and Roy Emerson, the flat style one-handed backhand is advantageous because of its speed, angles and depth.
It is executed with an Eastern or Semi-Western Grip with the racquet pulled across the player’s body.
Tennis Players Known for Being Great at the One-Handed Backhand
Don Budge has long been known for having the best backhand of all time, having had a powerful one-handed stroke in the 1930s and 40s that integrated the topspin into its arsenal. Budge used an Eastern Grip.
Ken Rosewall is another tennis player known to being great at the backhand, using the one-handed technique with a deadly slice and a continental grip. Let’s explore other players.
Players Known for Either One-Handed or Double-Handed Stroke
| One-handed Backhand | Double-handed Backhand | ||
| 1 | Stefanos Tsitsipas | 1 | Jimmy Connors |
| 2 | Richard Gasquet | 2 | Bjorn Borg |
| 3 | Roger Federer | 3 | Andre Agassi |
| 4 | Steffi Graff | 4 | Monica Seles |
| 5 | Martina Navratilova | 5 | Serena Williams |
| 6 | Suzanne Lenglen | 6 | Venus Williams |
| 7 | Lew Hoad | 7 | Maria Sharapova |
| 8 | Ken Rosewall | 8 | Mike Belkin |
| 9 | Roy Emerson | 9 | John Bromwich |
| 10 | Amelie Mauresmo | 10 | Chris Evert |
Our Recommendation on Executing a Powerful Backhand
Three characteristics standout in executing the powerful backhand in our assessment.
The type of backhand, technique and grip. The three go hand in hand and when mastered, one might possibly stand toe to toe with the Ken Rosewall’s of this world.
Our Reasons
The one-handed backhand stroke as compared to the double-handed backhand allows for more speed and agility. We believe speed to be key in a game of tennis and using one hand allows that.
Although two hands are said to be more precise and accurate, catching your opponent out with the precision of speed is second to none.
The slice technique is the oldest and easiest to use of the three techniques. A very great incentive for us because keeping it simple sometimes works wonders.
To wrap it up, we choose either a Continental or Eastern grip because both have commonly been used for the backhand, and the greats of the game have achieved wonders using either of the two.
Jimmy is based in Johannesburg, South Africa and has a Diploma in Journalism and Media Studies. He’s a sports fanatic of several sporting disciplines which he is well versed with.