The Two-Handed Backhand: The Forward Swing

The forward swing: contact, finish, and wrap–but how are they related? In the previous articles based on the high speed footage developed by Advanced Tennis (Click Here) we’ve looked at the preparation, the backswings, the hitting arm positions, and the stances on the two-handed backhand of the best players in the world. (Click Here.) Now let’s see what happens in the forward swing. Let’s look at the critical moment of the contact point, and the relationship between the contact point, the followthrough, and then the wrap. Let’s also focus on the key relationship between the contact point and the hitting arm positions. Start of the Swing Despite the differences in the grip structures and the backswings, the high speed video shows that at the start of the forward swing, the top players have already established, or very quickly establish, their characteristic hitting arm positions. We’ve seen that there are actually 4 different hitting arm combinations in the pro game. These are with both arms straight, with both arms bent, with both arms flexed, and with the front arm bent and the rear arm straight. The hitting arm positions are independent of the shapes of the backswing. We also saw that…