The Classic One-Handed Backhand: Karsten Popp

In this article let’s turn to Karsten’s classic backhand. In the first article in this series about the "traditional” game we looked at the forehand of my friend and practice partner Karsten Popp. (Click Here.) Playing Karsten made me take a new look at classic swing patterns, in the effort to understand his incredibly aggressive and consistent style. Karsten was an elite junior player who had a brief pro career derailed by illness. He had been away from the game for 20 years and stepped on to my court from a tennis time warp. Since I had made the decision to "modernize” my game years ago, the contrast in the ways we played--from grips to stances to swing shapes--was fascinating. As the fantastic Forum discussion showed after the first article (Click Here), Karsten’s forehand is rightly considered classical, but is also built on fundamentals that transcend the differences between so-called traditional and modern styles. Karsten hits a flat variation with minimal topspin. Turning to the Backhand Now in this second article, let’s turn to Karsten’s backhand. Is the conclusion the same or different? Not surprisingly for a player who learned in the 1960’s, Karsten hits his backhand with one hand....