re: Tennis Summer Hardcourt Swing 2023 -- An Unofficial Thread

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What's the benefit of the 1-handed backhand? Seems like it's a handicap more often than a weapon.

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You don’t need 2 arms

I posted my thoughts on this before but can’t seem to find my old stuff anymore these days. Wonder if they are cleaning up the site.

The biggest benefit is probably more reach. You can handle more balls out of the strike zone just by not having to bring the other hand with you for every shot.

Next is probably a tie between more power and the ability to switch to a slice grip quicker/easier. But both are very negligible advantages imo. You can swing 1 arm a lot faster than 2, which is why someone like Stan can hit with pace that 2-handers never can.

I guess another minor benefit is that by hitting more shots with 1 hand you probably naturally get more comfortable hitting backhand volleys, although its generally a different grip and swing motion.

Personally I think it’s garbage and wouldn’t even teach it these days. It’s an error waiting to happen and you don’t get enough stability on returns. It requires too much hip turn and backswing to be done correctly so you need more time. It’s also terrible for high balls, which is why players have to resort to the slice for anything above the shoulders.