Backhand

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Justine Henin had one of the best one-handed backhands in today's tennis^{[citation needed]}

Tennis shots
	Forehand
	Backhand
	Serve
	Volley
	Half volley
	Lob
	Smash
	Drop shot
	Groundstroke
	See also:
	Ace
	Topspin
	Backspin

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. 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. 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.

1 Grips
2 History
3 Strengths and weaknesses
4 Great backhands
5 See also
6 References
7 External links

Grips

Main article: Grip (tennis)

History

For most of the 20th Century the backhand was hit with one hand, using either an eastern or a continental grip. The first notable players to use two hands were the 1930s Australians Vivian McGrath and John Bromwich. Beginning with Jimmy Connors and Chris Evert in the 1970s, many players began to use a two-handed grip for the backhand. Pete Sampras and Stefan Edberg notably switched from the two-handed to the one-handed backhand late in their development.

Strengths and weaknesses

Often players choose their backhand type based on their handedness -- if the player is somewhat ambidextrous the two-handed backhand might be best.

Two-handed backhands have some important advantages over one-handed backhands:

Two-handed backhands are generally more accurate because by having two hands on the racquet, this makes it easier to inflict topspin on the ball allowing for more control of the shot.

Two-handed backhands are easier to hit for high balls.

Two-handed backhands can be hit with an open stance, whereas one-handers usually have to have a closed stance, which adds further steps (which is a problem at higher levels of play).

But one-handed backhands have some advantages over two-handed:

One-handed backhands allow greater reach.

One-handed backhands are able to hit low balls with much pace and penetration.

One-handed backhands are generally more powerful since there is relatively little upper body rotation, the hitting hand is free to swing into the shot with no hindering elements.

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 to the preferred type of backhand volley (one-handed, for greater reach).

One-handed backhands players are much less likely to develop the habit of playing volleys with two hands.

Many of the greatest players of all time used the one handed backhand.^[1] Such players include Don Budge,^[2] Ken Roswell,^[3] Roger Federer, Pete Sampras, Stefan Edberg, Ivan Lendl, Boris Becker, Rod Laver, Arthur Ashe, Anthony "Tony" Roche, and Patrick "Pat" Rafter.

Great backhands

The player long considered to have had the best backhand of all time, amateur and professional champion Don Budge^[4], had a very powerful one-handed stroke in the 1930s and '40s that imparted topspin onto the ball. He used an Eastern grip, and some pictures show his thumb extended along the side of the racquet for greater support. Ken Rosewall^[5], 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.

In his 1979 autobiography Jack Kramer devotes a page to the best tennis strokes he had ever seen. 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). Just in passing, the strangest competitive stroke was the backhand that belonged to Budge Patty. 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 1980s, 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 Björn 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 Nalbandian. However, the one-handed backhand is still used by many great players, such as Richard Gasquet and Roger Federer.

On the women's pro tour, one of the great rivalries of the 1980s 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 1980s. 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 1990s, such as Martina Hingis or the Williams sisters.

Other professional players noted for their exceptional backhand:^{[citation needed]}

Andy Murray in a backhand stroke.

References

^ "Greatest Shots in Tennis History". Tennis.com (1/2/2008). Retrieved on 2008-10-26.
^ Ray Bowers. "Greatest Shots in Tennis History:Don Budge". TheTennisServer.com. Retrieved on 2008-10-26.
^ "Greatest Shots in Tennis History". Tennis.com (1/2/2008). Retrieved on 2008-10-26.
^ "Budge's Great Pro Year, 1939". The Tennis Server. TennisServer.com. Retrieved on 2008-10-26.
^ "The Backhand:Ken Rosewall". Greatest Shots in Tennis History. Tennis.com (01/02/2008). Retrieved on 2008-10-26.