TennisOne Lessons

Threading the Needle – the Down the Line Backhand

Jim McLennan

As our wonderful game of tennis evolves, we see much more backcourt play, at both the professional and recreational level. The game is now about topspin crosscourt ground strokes. And whether right or wrong, this backcourt game is on the ascendant, there are fewer and fewer serve and volley artists at any level of play. Much like two boxers parrying, throwing light jabs, bobbing and weaving until they can deliver a combination of punches, the today's pros parry with crosscourt groundies, waiting for an opening to power the ball up the line and into the open court.

The crosscourt is safe, the net is lower, the court is longer, and the recovery simpler, such that these shots become more or less predictable. And just as in boxing, where throwing and missing a big punch immediately exposes that boxer to a punishing counter, playing the ball up the line, when not successful, immediately exposes that player to an often punishing counter play, either a wicked crosscourt into the open court or an attacking drive back down the line. But for me, as a spectator, the down the line stirs the pot, enlivens the point, and generally separates the men from the boys.

And when it comes to the “men” on the down the line backhand, Jimmy Connors and Andre Agassi take center stage. This shot has to be punished; it is not about rallying down the line. This shot has to be deadly accurate; for when hit to an area rather than close to the line, the opponent has too many countering options. And finally this shot has to be played on or inside the baseline, there is just far less percentage when struck from well behind the baseline. And certainly we can visualize Jimbo and Andre prowling on or inside the baseline, calmly rallying crosscourt and then suddenly ripping the backhand up the line into the open court, as often as not for an outright winner.

But there is something about this shot that is very difficult, and equally very rare. For not all the players have this shot, and not all the players trust this shot. And when a player doesn’t own or trust the backhand up the line, the opponent won’t really cover this shot but rather more or less dare them to try it. There was a time when that was the case with Andy Roddick, he didn’t really trust or even try to play the backhand up the line, but thanks to Jimbo, that appears to be changing (at last!).

Run around Forehand, Predictability and Recovery

In both the men’s and women’s game most crosscourt rallies play to the backhand side. More often in the men's game, players often run around their backhands to initiate a pattern of inside out forehands. They keep the ball on this crosscourt diagonal, but depending on the placement of the incoming ball they play forehands whenever they can, and backhands only when forced to do so. During these rallies, neither player fully recovers back to the midline of the opponent’s angle of play, but rather they linger in that corner, waiting for yet another crosscourt reply, and another inside out forehand opportunity.

It is really interesting to observe how often this occurs, and seemingly how out of position they appear. The cross courts continue until finally one or the other gets the opportunity and courage to play the ball up the line. Because neither player particularly guards this option, the down the line can be effective but only when both of the following occur: contact must be made on or inside the baseline, and the ball must be hit darn close to the sideline. Because so much of the professional backcourt play is done well behind the baseline, neither player is positioned for the down the line, so neither player guards that option from the other. As long as they can drive the ball deep and crosscourt there is little chance the opponent can hurt them down the line (unless playing Andre or Jimbo of old).

And a historical footnote. Bjorn Borg brought us the first glimpse of heavy topspin backcourt play, but in his case he hit the forehand and the backhand equally well so he did not expose the court by running around his backhand. Ivan Lendl took the backcourt game to the next level with his huge run around forehand and with it the power game ensued. In fact McEnroe remarked that the problem playing Lendl was that he could not really keep his return of serves away from Ivan’s big forehand. And often in the twilight of Mac’s career, these points were simply Big Serve (Ivan), poor return (Mac), forehand winner (Ivan).

Jim Courier also played to this run around model. In fact, at a high performance coaches clinic in Key Biscayne, 1993, we were shown the nuts and bolts of Courier’s style, and I regret to this day not objecting, for my thought then (and now) was that our greatest champions (Connors and McEnroe) didn’t run around their backhand, so why change that model? And to my mind the run around game, where court position is sacrificed for big forehands, doesn’t work on grass. And for better or worse the practitioners of this particular game have continually been frustrated on Wimbledon’s fast courts.

Essentials of recovery footwork.

At the simplest level, winning is about two things – when the ball is on your side of the net, keep the ball in play, and when the ball is on the other side of the net, always be ready to move. The first side of this coin, consistency, is addressed by how we stroke the ball, where we aim it, and how much spin and power we choose to use. Keep the ball in play, allow your opponent to make the errors, simple to understand, not always so easy to do.

The flip side of this coin is a little more difficult, and to my mind far less readily understood. Whenever the opponent makes contact, you must be perfectly poised and ready to move, generally performed with a split step. But equally important, whenever possible you must be poised on the midline of the opponent’s angle of play (or so we have been told). The angle of play expresses the entire range of shots the opponent either could or would hit, and as long as any of the shots are equally likely, then it makes sense to position yourself as closely as possible to the middle of this angle.

An alternative recovery strategy is to consider which of the shots are more likely (in this case crosscourt) and which shots are less likely (down the line) and shade the recovery closer to the more likely pattern. From the recreational point of view, one can do this by purposely not guarding the less likely side of this angle (down the line), and in effect dare the opponent to try this shot.

As regards the two tenets of winning tennis, this dare can often cause the opponent to miss, where you don’t really cause an error but rather you “induce” a decision that leads to an error.

Recovery Patterns when Changing the Angle of Play

In crosscourt rallies, either backhand to backhand or inside out forehand to inside out forehand, the recovery position is off center, somewhere between the near singles sideline and the middle of the baseline. But when choosing the down the line, the subsequent recovery position now moves to the opposite side of the baseline center mark. This can be said again in another way. When rallying crosscourt to crosscourt, the recovery distance is minimized, and this can be seen clearly when watching any televised match.

When changing the angle of play and playing up the line from an incoming crosscourt, the recovery distance is now greater, and in most cases both players start running much more quickly and covering greater distances by this change of angle and subsequent change of recovery position. When mortals play up the line, the rally may often continue, lots or running and misdirection ensue, and in some cases the up the line backhand misfires giving the opponent an easy forehand winner into the open court. Contrast this with the Connors or Agassi backhand (and we will see about Roddick on this one) and the rally as often as not ends with a perfectly threaded winner.

So if you return to the first of the two tenets of winning play, which is to reduce errors get the ball over the net and give your opponent yet another opportunity to err. It follows then that the down the line is a risky shot, prone to error, and how can you beat anyone when repeatedly beating yourself? Well, yes and no. Yes it is risky, but it is also totally worth the effort to learn this shot. In fact, it is often the signature of a player moving up one level in USTA league play when he or she can learn to hit this shot within a singles context, and when they can learn this shot as a return of serve in the ad court. The backhand up the line, requires even amounts of skill and courage. Let’s go there.

From a physical point of view, whether shooting pool, banking a basketball, or redirecting the incoming crosscourt down the line – the angle of incidence will influence the angle of reflection. That is, if a backboard were placed on the baseline, an incoming crosscourt into the backhand corner would reflect well wide of the alley. And this rebound has a similar effect when we try this shot. If not careful, making contact even the slightest bit late causes the shot to veer wide and into if not beyond the alley. On the other hand, overcorrect for this rebound and the shot will not really go down the line and close to the sideline but rather more or less back to the center of the court.

Truly, this shot is difficult. This shot takes practice. You must be willing to experiment until you find the feel for it. But when mastered, your game will move up a notch, for it is a testament to your skill and confidence when you can pull this shot off in big moments. Andre and Jimbo could produce in just such circumstances; Under Jimmy Connor's guidance, will Andy Roddick be able to do the same?

Playing Up-the-Line

There are a number of ways to play the ball up the line, the following two methods are slightly different but play to the same effect, which is to get the ball quickly and accurately into the open court. In both cases, remember, contact must be made on or inside the baseline, and the opponent must be slightly out of position. Both of these shots can be practiced with a partner, or with the ball machine. The ball is ultimately controlled (in all instances) by either the angle of the string, the direction of the string, or the combination of the two.

So in the first instance, this shot can be deflected up the line, not by swinging forcefully, but rather positioning the angle of the string to allow the rebound off the string to accumulate sidespin (which it will) and finessing the backhand into the open court. Connors and McEnroe used this type of spin when approaching, and this shot can land short and bounce low, and side spin carries the bounce away from the opponent. The feel for this shot is more about deflection than power, the swing moves outside in, where the racquet starts outside the baseline and swings in and across the ball., The feel is about the spin and using the deflection.

The other method is about the direction of the swing rather than the angle of the string, and here one drives the ball forcefully up the line. Not sidespin, not finesse, and really not an approach shot, this is a full blooded topspin drive.

In this case, whether Agassi, Connors, or Federer, this shot has true forward spin. Yes it is topspin, but the following example gives you a feel for this shot. If you stand in the corner and roll a ball up the line, note that it spins in the EXACT direction that it rolls. The trick is to drive the ball such that the force of the swing overcomes the incoming rebound, and the resulting shot spins exactly forward. Any trace of sidespin and this ball will either veer wide or hook back towards the center of the opponent’s court. When practicing, simply read the spin of your shot, if it rolls forward (in the air) you are on your way.

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