Your Strokes: Andy Roddick’s Backhand

A weak grip, and an outside starting position for the forward swing.

Coaches and analysts have put forward many theories about the relative weakness of Andy Roddick’s two-handed backhand and declarations about how he should improve it. “He needs to stand in and take it earlier.” “He needs to choke up on his racket.” “He needs to forget about it and just go for it.” “He needs to hit more one-handed slice since his drive is such a liability.”

But what is really happening technically in the shot? That is something I haven’t heard anyone really explain, and the technical explanation tells the story. The real problem lies in the complex interplay between Andy’s grips, his use of his hitting arms, and the path of his forward swing.

So let’s use our video resources to delve into that, do a structural analysis and suggest a possible solution – even if it’s highly unlikely that we’ll ever see Andy adopt it. (More on that, and why, later.)

Let’s start by saying that Andy could use his current backhand to blow 99.9% plus of all players on the planet off the court. But against the very best players in the world you…