How to Master Your Tennis Backhand Technique
When playing tennis, a backhand is a stroke in which the player’s body is crossed and the ball is struck with the palm facing the opponent’s chest and the back of the hand travelling towards them. A backhand in tennis can be executed with one or both hands. Each has advantages over the others. Ensuring you have a well drilled tennis backhand technique can be a major factor in winning and losing your matches.
Tennis beginners can improve their backhand to be just as effective as their forehand with consistent practice. This can be in the form of your own private tennis lessons or hiring a court to work on your game with others.
So let’s look at some tennis backhand techniques to help you hit a better backhand and start winning more tennis matches!
How to Perform a Backhand in Tennis
The foundation of the modern tennis game is hitting consistent groundstrokes from the baseline. The ability to attack rather than just defend against your opponents on the court is made achievable by having a dependable, consistent backhand that won’t break down.
Decide on Single or a Double-Handed Backhand
Choosing between a single-handed and a double-handed backhand is the first choice to make while learning how to hit a backhand in tennis. Both approaches have advantages and disadvantages, but it’s important to remember that a double-handed backhand is simpler to master and typically more reliable than a single-handed backhand.
However, compared to a double-handed backhand, a single-handed backhand typically possesses greater diversity. If you’re still beginning, it’s best to start with a double-handed as it’s a physically stronger way to hit the backhand, provides greater ability to absorb power, and offers options to create more spin, more angle.
Use Your Body to Perfect the Turn
Next, in order to generate more force during the backhand stroke, it’s crucial to learn how to use your body efficiently. When you notice that your opponent has played a shot to your backhand, you must immediately turn your entire body so you are facing the ball.
By arriving early, you’ll have plenty of time to get set up, lower your racket below the height of the ball, and swing through with force and control.
Creating a Fluid Backswing
The next thing to work on is lowering your racket below the height of the approaching ball. You can generate more topspin and lift the ball higher over the net and into the court by lowering your racket below the height of the net. Bending the knees more, also helps with this process, and will create much more momentum in your backswing, which will also help to generate more power.
Your backhand stroke will become more fluid, and your consistency and timing will improve, if you have a forceful, fluid backswing.
Finish on Your Opposite Shoulder
Finishing over the shoulder is a simple technical adjustment that greatly improves the backhand stroke. Starting your backhand stroke on your left side and ending it over your right shoulder, if you are a right-hander, will motivate you to finish the swing rather than just stab the ball.
Your backhand stroke will become more fluid as a result, and your rhythm and consistency will also improve.
Perfect Your Backhand with Private Lessons
Are you a young person learning the fundamentals of your tennis backhand technique? Or maybe a parent motivating your child to develop their abilities. Our Lake Macquarie and Newcastle private tennis lessons from Cagney Tennis Academy can help you improve your technical, tactical, movement, and match play skills as well as your mental approach to the sport, maximising your learning opportunity.
Every private tennis lesson is tailored to the needs of the individual student and is entirely dedicated to promoting the highest level of engagement and playing experience. Private lessons are the best and quickest way to enhance your learning and tennis playing progress. Along with our private lessons, we offer adult and junior tennis coaching in Newcastle and surrounding areas.
Cagney Tennis Academy specialises in coaching players of all skill levels, from three-year-old novices to professional adult athletes.
Click the button below to contact the team today or learn more about our junior and adult tennis coaching.