Backhand

Justine Henin had one of the best one-handed backhands in today's tennis

Tennis shots
	Forehand
	Backhand
	Serve
	Volley
	Half volley
	Lob
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	Drop shot
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The backhand in tennis is a stroke hit by swinging the racquet away from one's body in the direction of where the player wants the ball to go. There are eight basic shots in the game of Tennis: the serve, Forehand, Backhand, volley, Half volley (pick-up ball For information on the forehand of a horse see Forehand (horse The forehand in Tennis is a shot made by swinging the racquet across one's body A serve (or more formally a service) in Tennis is a shot to start a point. A volley in Tennis is a shot that is hit before the ball bounces on the ground A half volley in Tennis is a shot that is hit immediately after the ball bounces A lob in Tennis is hitting the ball high and deep into the opponent's court. An overhead smash in Tennis is a shot that is hit above the head with a serve -like motion A drop shot in Tennis is tapping the ball just over the net A good drop shot travels such that the opponent is unable to run fast enough to retrieve it Tennis is a sport played between two players ( singles) or between two teams of two players each ( doubles) For a right-handed player, a backhand begins on the left side of his body, continues across his body as contact is made with the ball, and ends on the right side of his body. It can be either a one-handed or a two-handed stroke.

The backhand is generally considered more difficult to master than the forehand. For information on the forehand of a horse see Forehand (horse The forehand in Tennis is a shot made by swinging the racquet across one's body Because the dominant hand "pulls" into the shot, instead of pushing, the backhand generally lacks the power and consistency of a forehand. Beginner and club-level players often have difficulty hitting a backhand and junior players often have trouble because they are not strong enough to hit it. Even many advanced players have a significantly better forehand than backhand, and there are many strategies based on exploiting this weakness.

Grips

Main article: Grip (tennis)

For most of the 20th Century the backhand was hit with one hand, using either an eastern or a continental grip. In Tennis, a grip is a way of holding the Racquet in order to hit shots during a match The first notable players to use two hands were the 1930s Australians Vivian McGrath and John Bromwich. Vivian Erzerum Bede "Viv" McGrath ( 17 February 1916 &ndash 9 April 1978) was an Australian Tennis champion of John Edward Bromwich (born November 14, 1918 in Sydney NSW &ndash died October 21, 1999 in Beginning with Jimmy Connors and Chris Evert in the 1970s, many players began to use a two-handed grip for the backhand. James Scott "Jimmy" Connors (born September 2 1952 in East St Christine Marie "Chris" Evert (Evert-Lloyd 1979–1987 (born December 21, 1954) is a former World No Pete Sampras and Stefan Edberg notably switched from the two-handed to the one-handed backhand late in their development. Petros “Pete” Sampras (born August 12, 1971) is a former World No Stefan Bengt Edberg (born 19 January 1966 in Västervik, Sweden) is a former World No

With some exceptions, one-handed backhand players move to the net with greater ease than two-handed players because the shot permits greater forward momentum and has greater similarities in muscle memory when hitting backhand volleys and backhand groundstrokes. Muscle memory is a common term for Neuromuscular facilitation which is the process of the neuromuscular system memorizing Motor skills Overview They also do not develop a common two-handed backhand habit of playing volleys with two hands. However, one-handed backhand players with less extreme grips are prone to slicing or chipping returns when shots bounce too high over their strike zones; and skilled opponents often play into that weakness.

A one-handed backhand should be more powerful than a two-handed backhand. ^[1]In practice, however, many tennis players do find more power with a two-handed backhand. That's because players often miss the racket's sweet spot, and two hands give players a stronger grip to stabilize the racket head on off center hits. ^[2]As a result we feel confident to swing harder with two hands than with one. ^[3]Two-handed backhanded players are much more steady from the baseline at lower levels. Two-handed backhands do not offer the same reach that one-handed backhands offer, so two-handed players have to be sharper in their movement when going after hard to reach backhands.

Great backhands

The player long considered to have had the best backhand of all time, amateur and professional champion Don Budge, had a very powerful one-handed stroke in the 1930s and '40s that imparted topspin onto the ball. John Donald ("Don" or "Donnie" Budge ( June 13 1915 &ndash January 26 2000) was an American Tennis He used an Eastern grip, and some pictures show his thumb extended along the side of the racquet for greater support. Ken Rosewall, another amateur and professional champion noted for his one-handed backhand, also used a continental grip to hit a deadly accurate slice backhand with underspin throughout the 1950s and '60s. Kenneth Robert ("Ken" Rosewall AM MBE (born 2 November 1934, in Sydney, Australia) is a former amateur

In his 1979 autobiography Jack Kramer devotes a page to the best tennis strokes he had ever seen. Year 1979 ( MCMLXXIX) was a Common year starting on Monday (link displays the 1979 Gregorian calendar) John Albert Kramer (born August 1, 1921, in Las Vegas, Nevada) was a champion U He writes: "BACKHAND—Budge was best, with Kovacs, Rosewall and Connors in the next rank (although, as I've said, Connors' 'backhand' is really a two-handed forehand). John Donald ("Don" or "Donnie" Budge ( June 13 1915 &ndash January 26 2000) was an American Tennis Frank Kovacs (1919-1990 was an American Tennis player in the mid-century he was known as the "Clown Prince of Tennis" for his on-court antics but was a good enough Kenneth Robert ("Ken" Rosewall AM MBE (born 2 November 1934, in Sydney, Australia) is a former amateur James Scott "Jimmy" Connors (born September 2 1952 in East St Just in passing, the strangest competitive stroke was the backhand that belonged to Budge Patty. John "Budge" Edward Patty (born February 11, 1924) was an American male Tennis player It was a weak shot, a little chip. But suddenly on match point, Patty had a fine, firm backhand. He was a helluva match player. "

On the men's pro tour, dramatic changes have occurred since then. In the 1980's, many great players such as Ivan Lendl and John Mc Enroe were leading the charge with their one handed flat backhand. But a new wave of players, such as Bjorn Borg, Mats Wilander or Andre Agassi, started to show the world that two-handed backhands could also offer major advantages. Players could now increase the speed and control of their two-hander in key defensive shots, such as returns, passing shots and lobs. Since then, many players followed this trend. Among the main ones, we count Andrei Medvedev, Marat Safin and David Nalabandian. However, the one-handed backhand is still used by many great players, such as Richard Gasquet and Roger Federer.

On the girls pro tour, one of the great rivalries of the 1980's was symbolized by two different backhand styles: Martina Navratilova's smooth one-handed sliced backhand versus Chris Evert's perfectly controlled two handed backhand. Many different styles of backhand arose in the late 1980's. Among the best ones, we count Steffi Graf's exceptional sliced backhand, and Monica Seles's two-handed backhand, characterized by its rapidity of execution. This trend was followed by many players in the 1990's, such as Martina Hingis or the Williams sisters.

Other professional players noted for their exceptional backhand:

Andy Murray in a backhand stroke.

External links

Video: Tips for a good backhand

Gustavo Kuerten (born September 10 1976 in Florianópolis, Santa Catarina) is a former World No James Scott "Jimmy" Connors (born September 2 1952 in East St Ivan Lendl (born March 7, 1960) is a former World No 1 professional Tennis player of Czech origin Stefan Bengt Edberg (born 19 January 1966 in Västervik, Sweden) is a former World No Nikolay Vladimirovich Davydenko (Николай Владимирович Давыденко born June 2, 1981 in Severodonetsk, Ukrainian SSR ( Serbian: Новак Ђоковић Novak Đoković, ˈnɔvaːk 'ʥɔːkɔviʨ born May 22 1987 in Belgrade, Serbia (part of Yugoslavia at Rafael Nadal Parera (rafaˈel naˈðal (born June 3 1986 is a Spanish professional Tennis player who has been ranked World No Marcos Baghdatis (Μάρκος Παγδατής ˈmaɾkos paɣðaˈtis born June 17 1985, Limassol is a Cypriot professional Tennis Andre Kirk Agassi (born April 29 1970 is a former World No 1 professional American Tennis player who won eight Grand Slam singles tournaments Yevgeny Aleksandrovich Kafelnikov (born 18 February 1974 Евгений Александрович Кафельников) is a former World No Marat Mikhailovich Safin (Марат Мөбин улы Сафин Marat Möbin ulı Safin Мара́т Миха́йлович (Муби́нович Са́фин /mɑ Christine Marie "Chris" Evert (Evert-Lloyd 1979–1987 (born December 21, 1954) is a former World No Monica Seles (Szeles Mónika Serbian: Моника Селеш Monika Seleš, /sɛlɛʃ/ born December 2 1973 is a former World No Tommy Haas (born April 3, 1978 in Hamburg) is a German Tennis player who plays right-handed Roger Federer (ˈrɒdʒə ˈfɛdərər born August 8 1981 is a Swiss professional Tennis player who is currently ranked World No Lleyton Glynn Hewitt ( IPA: /ˈleɪtʌn ˈhjuːʌt/ (born 24 February 1981 is a former World No David Nalbandian (born January 1 1982 is an Argentine-Armenian professional Tennis player who is ranked 7th in the world as of August 11 2008 Venus Ebony Starr Williams (born June 17 1980 is a former World No Serena Jameka Williams (born September 26 1981 is a professional tennis player who is currently ranked World No Maria Yuryevna Sharapova ( Mariya Yur’evna Sharapova; born April 19 1987 is a Russian professional Tennis player Petros “Pete” Sampras (born August 12, 1971) is a former World No Boris Franz Becker (born 22 November 1967 in Leimen, West Germany) is a former World No John Patrick McEnroe Jr (born February 16 1959 is an American former World No Ivan Ljubičić ( ˈʎubitʃitɕ}} born March 19, 1979) is Croatian Tennis player Gastón Norberto Gaudio (born December 9 1978 in Temperley, Buenos Aires) nicknamed El Gato ( The Cat in Spanish) is John Patrick McEnroe Jr (born February 16 1959 is an American former World No (bjœɳ bɔrj born 6 June 1956) is a former World No 1 Tennis player from Sweden who is widely regarded by observers and tennis players Jelena Janković (Јелена Јанковић pronounced YELL-e-nah YAN-ko-vich (born February 28, 1985) is a Serbian professional female Gabriela Beatriz Sabatini (b May 16 1970, in Buenos Aires, Argentina) is a former professional Tennis player Marcelo Andrés Ríos Mayorga (born December 26, 1975) is a former world number one Tennis player from Chile.

Dictionary

-noun

(tennis) a stroke made across the chest from the off-hand side to the racquet hand side; a stroke during which the back of the hand faces the shot.
Handwriting that leans to the left
(Ultimate Frisbee) the standard throw; a throw during which the disc begins on the off-hand side and travels across the chest to be released from the opposite side.

-verb

to execute a backhand stroke or throw
to slap with the back of ones hand

-adjective

(handwriting) any left slanting handwriting
(of strokes or throws) in the backhand style
(ice hockey) Any play that uses the back side of the hockey stick

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