TennisOne Lessons

Underspin Backhand Drive

I previously described the advantages of taking a high backswing, which gives you the opportunity for a topspin, flat, or underspin shot from the identical high start. Here Nigel O'Rourke is executing an underspin backhand.

Note in the first photo below that Nigel has correctly kept his elbow away from his body,which nicely positions the racquet head for the slice shot. A widely circulated piece of bad advice is to tuck your elbow against your body, or to place your right hand into your left front pocket. The advice is bad because both positions constrict your swing.

In the second photo, you see Nigel coming through the ball. The butt cap on the backhand slice is pointing towards the ball, but a bit more down and away than on the backhand drive shot. Contact is slightly less in front on the backhand slice than the backhand drive, and the raquet motion forward and down. When hitting this shot, you want the ball to stay low and skid to your opponent. When this happens, your opponent often has trouble timing his shot and pops up a weak, short reply. Again, this is the time to look to leave the neutral mode and assume the offensive.