Your Strokes:
Andy Plunkett
One-Handed Backhand

Analyzed by John Yandell

This month we analyze the one-handed backhand of another early Tennisplayer.net subscriber, Andy Plunkett. Andy recently changed from two hands to one hand, and he reports that it feels much more natural to him, and I can see why. There are a lot of great elements here. Let's break them down and compare them to what the top players in the world do.

Unlike the forehand, with so many extreme variations at the pro level, the one-handed backhand elements are fairly consistent from top player to top player. They are also relatively easy for players at all levels to model and incorporate into their own strokes. You may not win Wimbledon or hit startling short angle crosscourt passing shots, but in general, it is possible to like pretty much like Roger Federer.

So many strokes that I see have fundamental flaws right from the beginning of the motion, starting with the preparation. That's not the case with Andy. He actually has a great unit turn. I particularly like the way he turns with very little independent arm motion. His turn is with the feet and shoulders, and this takes the racket along for the ride. Note at the completion of the turn, how his shoulders are perpendicular to the net, with the weight on his rear foot and the knee flexed. I love the way the arm is straight and already set up in the hitting arm position.

So far so good. From this position Andy's ready to step forward into the line of the shot, or to hit open stance. But that's the problem. Neither of these two things happens.

Instead, Andy takes a giant cross step with the front foot. In some cases, some form of a cross step is fine. In fact, it's an advanced option, common in pro tennis. But Andy's cross step doesn't fit the pro model. He steps almost directly sideways, versus top players who step forward at about a 45 degree angle or more. The reality is that the cross step is very difficult to execute unless the stroke mechanics are rock solid. In Andy's case, the cross step appears to be the cause of some significant technical problems in what happens next.

The question of stances on the one-handed backhand (and the two-hander for that matter) is very interesting, and I should also say, very tricky when it comes to coaching. I plan to write about it in detail in the future. On the forehand, you never see players set up in a closed, stationary stance. But it's different on the backhand. Most pro players hit half or more of their backhands with wide, closed stances.

The problem is that the closed stance on the backhand makes it much more difficult to execute the forward swing. In particular, it makes it very tough to stay sideways with the torso, and to hit through the line of the shot as completely as possible.

This is what happens to Andy. From the cross step, he wildly overrotates through the shot. You can see his shoulders opening at the contact. By the time Andy gets to the finish position, his shoulders are almost parallel to the net. This naturally affects the path of the racket. The racket comes around with the shoulders. This means the swing is too much from the player's left to his right and not enough forward through the shot.

This tendency could be related to Andy's old two-hander. With two hands, of course, you want you shoulders to rotate on the forward swing. It's true that most one-handers do have some shoulder rotation, and I've heard it advocated that this is something players should try to conscious generate. But I disagree. I think the model should be the opposite, to try to stay as sideways as possible. Most of the great one-handers open 30 degrees to 45 degrees at most, but I think this naturally happens. If you try to rotate, the motion gets exaggerated and you get tendencies similar to the ones Andy has.

For Andy, the first key is the stance. I love Bob Hansen's description of the set up on the one handed backhand (Click Here.) You have to learn to set up behind the ball on the backfoot, in position to step into the line of the shot, or to hit open. This is what pro players do on most balls near the middle of the court, hitting with a neutral stance. When they are wide, they often hit open stance. These are the first two versions to master: the netural stance and the open stance. The closed stance comes later.

For Andy to make this happen, he needs to get behind the ball with the outside or rear foot. This is opposed to reaching the ball with that big sideways cross step. The best way to work is usually to try to learn the neutral stance first. But sometimes if you are used to that big step, you need to learn open stance, because it forces you to really get behind the ball. If you aren't there, you won't be able to hit! So Andy needs to try to set up behind the ball on his left foot, and then experiment with both the open and neutral stance.

The second key is the back arm. The action of the back arm (or the lack of it) is also related to Andy's over rotation. All the top players oppose the arms to a greater or lesser degree. With Tommy Haas it's somewhat less extreme than with Roger Federer, who seems to almost squeeze his shoulder blades together.

But that's a matter of degree. Learning to move the left arm back is critical for power and consistency--and to help control the rotation. As the racket starts forward and the hands separate, the back arm should move backwards, and at the least end up pointing at the back fence. Sometimes Andy has some backwards movement in his arm, but other times his left arm comes around with the shoulders. The three tendencies go together--over rotation, coming off the shot, and the front arm coming around.

It's this combination--alignment behind the ball and the opposition of the arms--that allows the player to stay sideways and hit through the line of the shot. Check out the Philipoussis animation. He stays almost completely sideways. It doesn't really get much better than that. This has a big impact on the path of the racket--staying sideways allows the racket to travel through the line of the shot longer.

The good news is, in addition to his preparation, Andy maintains a good (straight) hitting arm position through most of the examples I saw. He makes solid contact and has good racket acceleration. These two missing pieces should make a big difference. Andy, let us know, alright?

One more general comment for Andy. It's hard to tell if it's the ball machine or normal for him, but the footwork is sluggish. On the ball machine, you can sometimes walk through the steps, since you know exactly where the ball is going and when it'\'s going to get there. So you have to make you feet animated. This may actually contribute to Andy's cross step problem. Imagine that you don't know what you know and put more energy in the footwork. This applies to all you other guys out there when you send in your footage.