Photo Lesson: The Basic One-Handed Backhand

A one-handed backhand hit with either Eastern backhand grip should meet the ball well in front of your body. With a Continental grip, you can meet the ball a little farther back, but a Continental grip is much better suited to hitting slice than topspin. The rarely used Western backhand grip requires a point of contact even farther forward than the Eastern grips do. Try to have the long axis of the racquet roughly parallel to the ground, your body sideways, and your eyes locked onto the point of contact.