Myth of the Wrist: The Backhand

How entrenched is the myth of the wrist? Recently I was speaking at a twilight tennis dinner at a Northern California tennis club. I showed the members some of the Advanced Tennis Research high speed footage of Andre Agassi’s forehand (advancedtennis.com), demonstrating how his wrist remained laid back until long after the ball had gone from the strings (Myth of the Wrist: Forehand).

The footage really opened their eyes, and the talk was a big success. Sitting at the bar afterwards, however, I was approached by one of the club’s most avid players, a guy in his 40’s who had been playing for about four years. He told me that I “might” have convinced him on the forehand, but he was still certain the wrists played a critical role in his two-handed backhand.

My new friend was far from alone, of course, in his view of role of the wrists on the two-handed backhand. There are even some coaches who argue that wrist action is important in hitting with one hand.

For example, a well-known tennis writer who also teaches tennis has been adamant for years that to hit topspin with the one-hander the player must “roll the racquet head…