Tennis Tip For Two Handed Backhands. Improve The Strength Of Your Top Hand On The Stroke!!

Hello tennis aficionado's! This week I have a special tip for those of you who have two handed backhands and are looking to generate more topspin and control on the shot. Often times I see two handed backhands that are hit too flat with not enough topspin to bring the ball down into the court and one of the prime reasons for this is that the top hand on the shot is not strong enough to impart a little extra topspin at the end of the shot. Many players are basically lower hand dominant on the stroke, and don't really utilize the top hand to provide a little extra topspin when hitting the shot. So what often results with this player is a flat or slightly under spin backhand that has very little height or clearance over the net. And thus they have very little margin for error over the net due to this lack of strength and guidance with their top hand.

I recommend one drill that I use with my players and which is also used by top pros out on the tour like Andre Agassi. Try removing your bottom hand on the two handed backhand and practice hitting one handed forehands with your top hand(keeping the same grip and placement of your top hand like you do when hitting two handed backhand). Try slightly pronating the wrist back and keeping this wrist back as you practice hitting one handed forehands with this hand. When hitting the shot keep working on extending out and staying long in the hitting zone, and emphasize pulling the racket to your shoulder aggressively, following through on your opposite shoulder. Initially one may not have the strength to do this for more than a few shots, but as you repeat this action over the course of a few weeks and months you should develop some pretty good strength with this hand. As your strength develops with the opposite hand or top hand then you will be able to hit your two handed backhand more aggressively, and with more control and topspin. Please keep in mind that there are different degrees of topspin, and that hitting more topspin also sometimes means that you should drop the racket head lower beneath the incoming ball, and pull the racket to your shoulder more abruptly and aggressively with a more extreme low to high swing. Generally, this will result in more height and clearance over the net with the ball torquing down into the court due to the excessive spin imparted on the ball.

One way I groove the two handed backhand doing this drill mentioned above is to have my student hit these one handed forehands with their top hand that they use on the two handed backhand. Do this for ten to twenty shots, or until they start to fatigue...then as they finish one set then have them place their other hand back on the racket and start hitting two handed shots for ten to twenty shots. Repeat this process mixing in hitting sets(10-20 balls) of two handed backhands with one handed forehand sets(10-20 balls), and you will most likely see an improvement with their topspin and control on the shot...especially as they gain strength with their top hand.

One final note: This drill is most effective when one has a fairly good command of the backhand technique already! Please check with your pro so that they can set you up with the correct grips on both hands for the two handed backhand. I hope this helps!