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TennisOne Lessons The One-Handed Versus the Two-Handed Backhand Daryl Fisher Have you ever wondered if you would be a better tennis player if you used a different type of backhand ground stroke? How could you know? Most knowledgeable coaches speak in terms of general pros and cons with regard to the one-handed versus the two-handed strokes, but rarely does anyone make clear what the specific core differences are. What follows are the fundamental differences between the two strokes. Perhaps it will help you make a decision regarding which backhand ground stroke is better for you going forward, or perhaps it will help you feel better about the choice that you have already made.
Before I say what the fundamental differences are, first let me provide some examples of what they are not: First, one-handers tend to hit a greater variety of spins, but I do not care to push this as a "pro" in favor of the one-handed backhand because, in fact, many two-handers vary spins quite effectively. Next, one-handers tend to learn to volley more effectively, but this again is just a tendency, and there are many players with two-handed backhands that volley very nicely. Last, but not least, there is the wide-spread belief that the one-hander is the most beautiful shot in the game, but the value of aesthetics goes far beyond the scope of this article. The Two-Handed Forehand You might find it somewhat strange that I am about to talk about the forehand when my goal is to clarify the fundamental differences between the one and two-handed backhands. I am going to do this because in my experience most people understand the forehand better than they understand the backhand, and so making some comparisons on the forehand side might be useful for understanding the backhand side. Before you read farther, answer to yourself, do you have an opinion with regard to whether the one or two-handed forehand is better? If you base you response on what is popular, you certainly favor the one-handed forehand. The two-hander can be quite effective, however, as Monica Seles proved, and as Marion Bartolli more recently demonstrated. Fabrice Santoro has an amazing two-handed forehand. Even Rafael Nadal reportedly played with a two-handed forehand until he was twelve.
I actually teach the two-handed forehand quite often. Of course I regularly teach young children the two-handed forehand, but I have also taught the stroke to many adults. I also tend to encourage my students to change to a one-handed forehand eventually, but some players stick with the two-handed stroke and achieve success with it. One of my students won a high school state championship and then played all of his college tennis team years with a two-handed forehand. In fact, a number of my students have achieved varsity level status on their high school tennis teams with two-handed forehands. I also regularly teach the two-handed forehand to experienced players. I do this not because I want them to use a two-handed forehand in their regular competition, but because I want them to feel and understand certain differences. A few experienced players have found, in fact, that they prefer the two-handed forehand, and have stuck with it as a permanent change. Two-hander better? Given that I regularly teach the two-handed forehand, do I think that the two-handed forehand is better? It is a fine shot, clearly, but the fact that it can be used successfully at every level does not make it better. In fact, there is a built-in trade-off to the two-handed forehand. A trade-off involves a benefit and a cost, a pro and a con. The benefit to using a two-handed forehand is the additional stability that can be achieved. Stability amounts to the ability to keep the racquet from being jarred or twisted. Shots that hit the strings off-center are less bothersome if a player has greater stability. For this reason, nearly all beginning players benefit from having two hands on the racquet. Beginning players hit the ball near the center of the racquet less frequently than experienced players, and so are more likely to feel their racquets twist, thereby benefiting from two hands on the racquet to limit the twisting. There can be a number of reasons that someone has poor stability, including using a racquet that is too light (see my article Is Your Racquet Too Light?) and improper technique (see my article Stable Alignment), but two hands on the racquet can often compensate somewhat for these limitations. However, before you think that two hands on the racquet is simply the best answer to potential instability, do not forget that there is a trade-off. The trade-off is that if someone uses a two-handed forehand, that person will naturally have sufficient stability, but they certainly lose something as well: the ability to reach farther. Reach versus stability is the fundamental difference between the one-handed forehand and the two-handed forehand. Inches The extent of the reach limitation is possibly as little as a few inches. It could be more than a few inches, however, because of the way the upper body can rotate if left unrestricted by two hands on the racquet. Even just a few inches is worthy of attention though. That amount of additional reach might not sound like a lot, but, if you think of it, when was the last time someone disregarded the difference of a few inches when referring to, say, a basketball player. The difference of a few inches, even for someone that is already extremely tall, is significant. Though many people with a one-handed forehand would benefit by going two-handed for the gain in additional stability, the truth is, if someone can achieve sufficient stability with their one-handed forehand, then they gain additional reach. Again, that is the most fundamental difference between the two strokes. The question becomes, then, whether or not a player can achieve sufficient stability with the one-handed stroke. If so, then the one-hander is better because of the gain in reach. If not, the reach with the two-hander will be less, but this limitation can be compensated for with more running.
Finally, the Backhand While most of us understand that if we achieve sufficient stability with the one-handed forehand, then we gain additional reach, the next step is to translate that understanding to the backhand side. The core difference of stability versus reach is true on the backhand side as well. All of what I said above regarding the trade-offs between the one-handed and the two-handed forehands apply to the backhand side as well. So, repeating what I said above, but replacing the word "forehand" with "backhand" gives us:
There you have it. For some initial guidance regarding how to achieve stability for the one-handed backhand, see another of my Tennis One articles, Stable Alignment II: The One-Handed Topspin Backhand. I will also be discussing some further implications of the one versus the two-handed backhand in a forthcoming article. |
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