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Who the hell on he tour hits a heavy topspin TWO-HANDED backhand?

9K views 46 replies 33 participants last post by  out_grinder 
#1 ·
The mens 2-hander seems a very linear shot.

Djokovic, Murray, Nadal...etc... all of them have the same look to their backhand - clean and linear. Compare Nadal's forehand to his backhand, one whips all the way over his shoulder and creates viscous topspin, the other is a linear shot just to stay in the rally, and occasionally hit a high-risk flat kill shot.

Imagine a player who could whip up on the ball and get it kicking deadly high off BOTH wings.

Does any player hit a heavy topspin rather than a flat 2-handed backhand?
 
#33 ·
:haha::haha:
 
#6 ·
Can place very well thought! Can use your other arm to make it easier ! Djokovic definetly gets topspin on his backhands, who the hell does slice two handed? Er no,one cus that,s impossible! Everyone volley,s and slices 1 handed! If two handers where so bad how come nine of the last 10 Slam winners have two handed b hands? There,s a difference between any old two handed and a good one , like nadal Murray or djokovic !
 
#5 ·
Davydenko hit it with extreme top spin but mainly (2007-2009 ON CLAY !) and half of the backhands not all of them
 
#7 ·
Both techniques are restrictive in their own way. Theres little doubt the two hander is a better shot for the style of play in this era though.
 
#10 ·
the slower a tennis court the more likely a player is to get to every shot

therefore it would make sense to build a game around outlasting an opponent rather than outhitting them

the 2 handed backhand is a much higher percentage shot than the 1 hander- its easier- less likely to break down

the topspin shot is a much larger percentage shot than the flat shot- it also allows for a defense to be hardwired (so to speak) into every agressive shot- since even a short ball will kick up due to the heavy top spin

an ideal player on a slow court would have heavy topspin- excellent movement and a 2hander for consistensy

why doesnt everyone hit topspin backhands? because....

1. the 2 hander generates less power- a perfect technique on a 1 hander is much stronger than a 2 hander because of your wingspin- the 2 hander effectively kills off a good deal of power for consistency

2. top spin shots are less powerfull than flat shots- even nadal who generally makes up for his top spin shots with his insane physical ability- had to flatten his shot to do well at the us open



notice the serve doesnt even figure into it- the slower the court the weaker the serve becomes

in a different era where the courts were faster all the superiority the baseline defensive top spin generation have would be nullified- in fact it would work against them

muster never got past the 1st round at wimbledon
bruguera didnt even bother entering for most of his career- not that he had much of a chance

every so often you get a player who transcends even the court speeds and is a true all court master

laver and borg were 2 examples
federer... i cant say- his record on carpet isnt goat worthy but i have no doubt his ability would make him up there with the best

sampras and nadal are products of ther generation- they were exceptionally good at what they did, but you throw them into another era and they probably fold. with sampras its because of his thalassemia minor and with nadal its because of the strings required to give his shots any bite
 
#12 ·
The heavy topspin comes from the wrist, and wrist movement is restricted on a two-handed shot

Its the same reason you can't hit a slice two handed

The pay-off is better control obviously
 
#16 ·
How does the top spin from BH come from the wrist? :confused:

You actually have much more freedom in the "wrist movement" when playing 2 handed.

That's why f.e. you can hit a sharp cross passing shot on a full stretch from BH with 2 hands and there is no way you can twist your wrist to achieve the same with one hand.

Top spin comes from the whole swing and the grip on the racquet.

The fact that usually one handers play more top spin from BH than 2 handers is because of the much wider amplitude of the swing with one hand, which is limited when you hold the racquet with two hands.
 
#14 ·
You can add some topspin on 2h BH, but heavy topspin or just make it consistent is not possible, because you hold racquet in 2 hands, it is just unusual to make such move-that will make it heavy topspin, look on rafa´s FH-his racquet end behind his head-shoulders many times, now you can imagine that can happend when you hold BH with both hands? unless you don´thave bones in body it is possible:D BTW i think 1h-BH can make some topspin-consistent, but it could be too much for arms, to have some problems-issues in shoulders and so on, just try to hit that next time you play tennis, 1h BH topspin is funny but very hard to hit consistent in rallies and also diffciult for shoulder-arms. I don´t think any top pro wants to risk something...
 
#15 ·
I do.
 
#17 ·
Gasquets has more topspinn on backhand look at that and you understand. Its in the wrist and in the grip too.
With federer grip you cant top spinn as much as Rafa.
the towel man has more topspinn than fed on forehand
but he has not so much top spinn on bh side.

Rafa has more top spinn on his bh. He is a spinn player for good and worse.
 
#19 ·
Gasquets has more topspinn on backhand look at that and you understand. Its in the wrist and in the grip too.
With federer grip you cant top spinn as much as Rafa.
the towel man has more topspinn than fed on forehand
but he has not so much top spinn on bh side.

Rafa has more top spinn on his bh. He is a spinn player for good and worse.
No.
 
#21 ·
Kent Carlsson and Bruguera used to.



 
#23 ·
Bruguera has such a strange backhand. Looks like he's scooping a lot of balls with an open racket face, and also the range of motion looks very short.

Not sure how he could generate heavy topspin with that stroke.

How does the 'reverse c' vs straight back take-back have an effect on topspin production?

When you do a reverse c, you start from high, then go low, then finish high again. The other take-back is simply low to high. So, theoretically, starting high on the take-back offers no advantages and is just an extra step (the first 'high-to-low' motion) to unnecessarily complicate your stroke?
 
#25 ·
The question was who hits a 2 handed heavy topspin backhand, there are plenty of youtube clips where you can watch it.



 
#26 · (Edited)
How is it impossible to generate great topspin with the two handed backhand? Some of you even play tennis? You drop your racquet until you feel you're underneath the ball so that your left forearm snaps as you make contact with the ball. Relax your right hand and let your left side dictate the natural swing motion so you may get your balance, so essentially you're like hitting your backhand like it's your forehand. Once you find the natural flow and as you're underneath the ball, your left arm as you make contact should be straight while your wrist/forearm snaps around the ball as the follow through will finish up almost on top of your head like you've just hit a reverse forehand. It's just a left handed forehand, simple. Impossible? No. The backhand topspin shot will always be undermined by the dominant forehand, which have the upper hand in creating paste and spin.
 
#29 · (Edited)
How is it impossible to generate great topspin with the two handed backhand? Some of you even play tennis? You drop your racquet until you feel you're underneath the ball so that your left forearm snaps as you make contact with the ball. Relax your right hand and let your left side dictate the natural swing motion so you may get your balance, so essentially you're like hitting your backhand like it's your forehand. Once you find the natural flow and as you're underneath the ball, your left arm follow through will finish up almost on top of your head like you've just hit a reverse forehand. It's just a left handed forehand, simple. Impossible? No. The backhand topspin shot will always be undermined by the dominant forehand, which have the upper hand in creating paste and spin.
good explanation. I play tennis myself and if I hit a topspin forehand using my LEFT arm it would feel very unnatural. So that's why hitting a topspin backhand probably feels very unnatural too. It just comes naturally to hit the backhand flatter because you want to use your right arm a lot even in the 2h backhand to really crank up the power. Playing heavy topspin I would no doubt frame-hit a lot of backhands.

Top players are more coordinated yes but if they never practice on it it's going to be hard for them to. It's just not natural. If you really wanted to play your BH like your topspin forehand it would almost be best to be perfectly double-handed, that is not having one clear dominant hand. Maybe that's why some of the "magicians" like Santoro for example mastered the double-hander fully. Strikes me as a guy who could probably even play with the racket in his other hand and still do alright.
 
#31 ·
Mary Pierce on WTA :eek: :hearts: Heavy topspin shots on both wings. Nole does it some times, Nadull too
 
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