Doug Eng: The Modern Two-Handed Backhand: Two Paths to Power

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What are the two paths to two-handed power?

In the first article in this series on the modern two-hander, we looked at the grips and how top players positioned the hands in a wide range of combinations. (Click Here.) Now let’s look at the technical factors in the two-handed swings, including the positioning of the elbows and the wrists, and the shape of the backswing.

As with the grips, the range of options is wider than usually imagined. There are also interesting and important differences between the men and women. When we look closely at the backhands of the top players, we can identify two different paths to backhand power.

We’ll also see that there are what I call “associations” between certain technical elements. This means that some techniques tend to work well together in high quality motions and others don’t.

As we saw with the serve, (Click Here) many problems, even at the tour level, can be traced to players combining techniques that do not function effectively together. The implications are significant for both…