[out_grinder]

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?

[ossie]

dont give nadal any ideas

[Marc23]

Tough question...don't know!

[Jimnik]

Indeed, two-hander is very restrictive. Can't spin (at least not much), can't slice.

[TBkeeper]

Davydenko hit it with extreme top spin but mainly (2007-2009 ON CLAY !) and half of the backhands not all of them

[Super Djoker]

Originally Posted by Jimnik

Indeed, two-hander is very restrictive. Can't spin (at least not much), can't slice.

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 !

[leng jai]

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.

[Nixer]

Originally Posted by Super Djoker

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 !

Davydenko, Santoro of the top of my head
Flo Mayer also

[StatRacket]

I was wondering this same thing when I was in Sydney. Fognini had the most topspin on this shot of the players I saw. From yesteryear Bruguera comes to mind.

[pray-for-palestine-and-israel]

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

[latso]

Coria is the one i remember playing more top spin from the BH compared to most.

[green25814]

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

[Clydey]

Originally Posted by Jimnik

Indeed, two-hander is very restrictive. Can't spin (at least not much), can't slice.

You can slice. You just take one hand off the racquet. The two-hander doesn't stop anyone from being able to slice.

[romismak]

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 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...

[Ibracadabra]

I do.