Myth of the Wrist: The Backhand: Page 2

The One-Hander

Although it is less common on the one-handed backhand, the belief still exists that the wrist plays a key role in driving the ball with topspin. In general this can be traced, as on the other strokes, to misperceptions regarding the sequence of motions by top pros. My friend the tennis writer believes the wrist and elbow must move upward independently to generate spin. But in reality high speed video shows this element in the motion occurs after the hit, if at all, and happens far too late to have an impact on the actual shot.

Certain players tend to exaggerate elements in this relaxation and recovery phase more than others. In the case of two top one-handers such as Mark Philippoussis and Tommy Haas, there is often significant motion in the wrist and/or the elbow after the end of the technical swing.

Again, however, these distinctive recovery movements occur many milliseconds after the hit. They are, unfortunately, easier to see than the actual hitting arm at contact and at the critical moments just before and after the hit. As our video shows both players share a common hitting arm position before during and after the hit.

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