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The One-Handed Versus the Two-Handed Backhand — Part II

Daryl Fisher

This is the second article on the topic of the one-handed versus the two-handed backhand in tennis.  While it is clear that it is possible to be successful with either a one-handed or two-handed stroke, there might be factors that are specific to your game that make one stroke or the other better for you.  This article will begin exploring some of the implications of the fundamental differences between the two strokes, first in relation to a player's current level of skill, but also in relation to a player's personal attributes such as age, height, speed, and fitness.  Would you benefit long-term from making a switch?

In the first part of this article, I clarified the fundamental differences between one-handed and two-handed ground strokes, both on the forehand and the backhand sides.  The briefest summary that I can make of that part of the article is that two-handed strokes allow players to easily achieve a sense of stability when striking a tennis ball, whereas one-handed strokes allow for more reach (see The One-handed Versus the Two-handed Backhand, Part I). 

Beginners Learning 

Beginning tennis players face an array of challenges, and not least among those challenges is dealing with the nearly constant struggle to keep the racquet relatively stable while striking a ball.  Stability can be achieved with one-handed strokes, but such stability typically requires some instruction related to physical alignment, as well as some practice and patience, especially on the backhand side.  For a one-handed stroke, to achieve stability is one more thing on a long list of things that require attention.

Alternatively, a speedy increase in stability can be achieved with two-handed strokes by… holding a racquet with two hands.  For this reason two-handed strokes can often be learned more quickly. 


"Anyone who promises quicker results is either an optimist, a miracle worker, or a liar." — Bill Tilden

On the topic of teaching a beginner to play tennis, Bill Tilden, in his book How to Play Better Tennis, wrote:

If he is a complete beginner, I tell him frankly it will take him at least twenty lessons before he has enough of a game to start to play.  I also tell him that it will be about six months before he reaches a point where he gets much real fun out of playing, but that is variable and depends largely on his efforts during those first lessons.  I figure that during those first twenty lessons I can teach him to hit a service and forehand into court with regularity, and give him a reasonable start on a backhand.  Anyone who promises quicker results is either an optimist, a miracle worker, or a liar. 

The challenges of teaching tennis that Tilden faced have not changed much in over 50 years, other than that perhaps now people have more distractions and less patience.  You might also notice that Tilden was offering only a "reasonable start on a backhand." 

Tennis, as many of us have noticed, is far from easy.  It is rewarding, but it takes some commitment to get to the point where it is enjoyable.  When you think of all of the possible competing interests that require less of an up-front commitment, you realize that it is amazing that anyone plays tennis at all. 

The answer to why so many beginning players use a two-handed backhand can be summed up, then, by the ease with which a player can achieve some stability, which translates into an ease to learn.  In Tilden's decades of teaching, the two-handed strokes were not options that were taken seriously, but if he had had the two-handed option, perhaps even the great Tilden might have been able to move some beginning players farther along on the backhand side within 20 hours.

The two-handed backhand did not really exist as an option for most instructors, including Tilden, until the 1970s.  For better or for worse, beginning players were simply expected to fight through to learn a one-handed backhand.  In fact, most instruction manuals all the way into the 1970s do not even mention the two-handed backhand, let alone provide any instruction for it.

Whereas long-term success can be had with one-handed or two-handed strokes, two-handed strokes help players, especially beginning players, find sufficient stability.  This, in turn, helps many players learn to enjoy tennis more quickly, which might be what keeps them playing tennis through the rough early stages of learning. 

As a side note, some beginners never feel quite comfortable with two-handed strokes, in which case, for the sake of their enjoyment of the game, they should learn one-handed strokes from the start. 

Intermediate to Advanced Players Learning

By the intermediate and advanced stages for learning, players often have choices to make.  They can keep doing what they are doing, or they can make changes with the hopes of a future payoff.  There are many subtle adjustments that players make as they improve, but it is fair to say that to change the number of hands a player uses to hit a shot is not a subtle adjustment, and that this level of change requires at least a few months of commitment. 

Click photo: Does looking at young, super-fit, super-fast, and tall tennis professionals like Novak Djokovic help you to know what is best for your tennis game?

Many people reach the stage of making a choice between one-handed and two-handed strokes, and reasonably look to see what the top pros do.  The problem with looking to the pro ranks for insights into our own games is that this might leave a few factors out of the equation. 

Most top tennis touring pros are young, really fit and fast, and the average height is going up as well.  Does looking to that pool of people give you sufficient insight as to whether you can forego extra inches of reach and still win matches?  If you are super-fit, fast, young, and tall, then maybe.  If you are not all of those things, you may have to think a bit deeper with regard to how to maximize your long-term potential to enjoy and win tennis matches. 

Switch?

Switching from a two-handed to a one-handed stroke is more common than switching from a one-handed to a two-handed stroke.  The reason is overall potential.  That is, given the fundamental differences of stability and reach between one-handed and two-handed strokes, it is not possible to gain additional reach with two-handed strokes, but it is possible to have both stability and reach with a one-handed stroke. 

Click photo: Stefan Edberg, now Roger Federer's coach, switched from a two-handed to a two-handed backhand.  It was one of his best shots, and one of the best shots in the game.  With it he won the Australian Open twice, Wimbledon twice, and the US Open twice.  He also made it to the finals of the French Open.

In other words, since the one-handed backhand offers the potential for stability and greater reach, there is only a benefit to changing from a one-handed to a two-handed stroke if stability was lacking in the one-handed stroke.  If someone already has stability and reach with a one-handed stroke, there is no benefit to change.  If someone switches from a one-handed to a two-handed and plays better, it is likely that the one-handed stroke had some technical or strength challenge that compromised its stability. 

On the other hand, perhaps many players with two-handed strokes realize that extra reach would be valuable, but achieving that extra reach would come at the price of starting almost all over again with the stroke(s) that would be changed.  For this reason, there is often a serious decision to be made. 

Trade-Offs

The trade-offs that you must balance when choosing one-handed or two-handed strokes are somewhat complicated, but they can start with just two factors: your current skill level and the magnitude of your commitment to the game. 

If you are in the initial stages of learning tennis, and you are concerned about the general difficulty of tennis, then you would likely benefit from using two-handed strokes because they are going to be easier to learn. 

On the other hand, if you are in the initial stages of learning tennis and you are committed to fighting through any tough learning stages, then one-handed strokes would be a good bet for maximizing your potential.  Long-term you will be able to achieve stability and get that extra reach.  Just remember that it is going to take you longer to learn the one-handed strokes in the first place. 

Click photo: Though Murray has one of the best two-handed backhands in the game, he supplements his two-handed stroke with the one-handed underspin backhand.

If you are a more advanced player and are willing and able to regularly cover at least a few more inches of court on every two-handed shot, which likely means that you are young, very fast, very fit, and/or tall, then two-handed strokes might be just fine for you. 

If you are a more advanced player and you think that extra inches of reach might be of value to you, then learning one-handed strokes might be worth the investment.  This could even mean keeping your two-handed strokes but developing the option of one-handed underspin strokes for the sake of occasional additional reach. 

While it is clear that players can be successful at every level of the game with one-handed or two-handed strokes, what might be less obvious is what is best for your game.  There are a number of considerations, some of which I hope I have made more clear above, and some that will be fleshed out in forthcoming articles.