Problem: Often hitting the ball farther right than intended.
Repairs:
- You're probably too close to the ball, which cramps your arm(s) into your body and causes you to pull right as you swing.
- If your swing is at all rotational, hitting early will make you hit too far right. In a classic one-handed backhand, the upper body rotation early in the swing should stop when the torso is parallel to the sideline. One-handers commonly rotate too much, although a new, highly aggressive style is evolving that uses much more rotation than the classic style. Two-handers are supposed to rotate, but you still don't want the racquet swinging around you like a gate.
- Try extending your follow-through out toward your target more.
Repairs:
- You're probably hitting late. When you pull your racquet back, the tip points at the back fence, and the face points to your left. The face turns forward as you swing, but if you're late, it sometimes won't reach that forward-facing direction.
- Two-Handers: Laying your wrists back on your backswing is an appropriate way to enhance power, but if you don't let them snap forward naturally as you swing, and they are still laid back when you strike the ball, you'll hit farther left than intended.
- Try extending your follow-through out toward your target more.
Repairs:
- Loosen up! The ball weighs two ounces, the average racquet ten to eleven ounces. If you get a bunch of big muscles all tensed up to hit the ball, you'll be better prepared to push your car out of a snow bank than to generate the racquet-head speed you need to make a powerful shot. Don't try to muscle the ball. You'll hit harder with a loose, quick motion.
- Use your whole body. Your legs, torso, and body weight should all be contributing to your shot. Don't make your arm do all of the work. It's especially important for one-handers to push up and forward with their legs as they hit. The "retreating" one-handed backhand is both a weak shot and a likely way to injure your arm.
- Two-Handers: Try to snap through and up the back of the ball with a crisp, quick motion. On two-handed backhands, more is almost always more. In other words, hitting more aggressively almost always works best. On many shots, there's a trade-off between power and consistency, but on two-handed backhands, hitting more aggressively will help you get more topspin, which will help your shots go in more often.
- Your backswing might be too short. The longer your backswing, the more time the racquet has to build up speed.
If you have a backhand problem I didn't address here, direct a message to me (abtennis) at our tennis forum. I'll answer you promptly.
