Technical Flaws in Pro
Two Handers: John Isner

John Yandell

If you watch John Isner play live or on TV you cannot help but see the difference in the shot quality between his forehand and his backhand. Occasionally he hits a two-hander that looks ok and seems solid or even effective but you frequently see him make horrendous errors, or see the stroke just disintegrate.

The high speed video makes it clear why. The reason is the most fundamental component of every stroke--grip. In Isner's case, the problem is his grip with his bottom, right hand.

Although Isner does shift his bottom hand upward from his forehand grip, he never makes it to even a mild backhand grip. Not even as far as his grip when he hits a one-handed slice.

The index knuckle appears to be on bevel 2 and the heel pad is about the same—not reaching bevel 1 or the top bevel, which would be the minimum positioning for a mild backhand grip. (For more on determining backhand grips by the bevel system, Click Here.)

Not that you can't hit a two-hander with that grip. Just not with the other fundamental components in Isner's backhand.

There are some top players that make that grip work on the women's side. Serena and Venus Williams for example.

There is a big technical difference, however, compared to Isner. Both Serena and Venus are using far more top or left arm, hitting with a bent elbow.

This is both to initiate and drive the stroke. That hitting arm configuration requires less use of the bottom arm. That version is mainly driven from the left side.

But Isner has a straight top arm, like most men pros. Virtually every men's tour player I have filmed who hits with a straight top arm has some version of a backhand grip with the bottom hand.

The shift to some version of a backhand grip is essential because the straight arm configuration requires a major pull from the bottom arm to start the stroke. You cannot pull sufficiently outward and forward toward the ball with the bottom hand without at least a mild backhand grip.

This happens in a fraction of a second that is even hard to see in high speed video, much less with the naked eye. Of course the bottom arm keeps moving and eventually goes across the body but in the initial forward swing the pull is virtually straight forward.

If there isn't enough pull, the racket tip starts to come around too soon and then veers too quickly across and in front of the body. It's like trying to hit a one-handed backhand with a forehand grip.

The problem is even worse for John because he hits many or most of his backhands with a straight or nearly straight front arm as well. That requires even more initial front arm pull. (For a detailed discussion of the various hitting arm configurations and how they work, Click Here.)

Having both hitting arms straight at contact is the least common hitting arm configuration. But some great two handers use it. Andre Agassi and Rafael Nadal for example. Both have backhand grips with the bottom hands and a strong bottom hand pull.

The point is the same whether the top arm or both arms are straight. Without a backhand grip, the bottom hand alters the shape of the swing.

All forward swings on groundstrokes, including the two-hander, move on a three-dimensional curve. Initially outward and upward and from the inside of the body to the outside. Then back across the body to the outside as the outward and upward components continue.

You can see the difference the grip makes by following the swing path of the hand and the racket tip. It's the shape of the curve that matters.

Without a strong pull with the bottom hand, the rotation of the racket tip around is much more extreme and happens much sooner in the swing. For Isner the tip is all the way around and pointing at the net much sooner than Djokovic or Nadal, sometimes when Isner's hands are only a little above waist level.

The grip and the lack of bottom arm pull also effects the angles of the arms and the spacing between the hands and the body at contact. Look at the angle of John's top arm. It's pointing much more directly down at the court compared to Nadal's which is at a much steeper angle.

Look how close Isner's bottom arm is to his torso. Nadal has much more spacing.

How does this affect the curve of the swing?

It means that Isner's racket slides across the shot line much more radically. Both players are swinging in three dimensions and yes the hands and the racket move across the body. But Isner's is way too much, way too soon.

One of the keys in any good ground stroke is the keep the forward component in the swing moving close to the shot line. Although technically everything is moving on a curve, this is often called “hitting through the ball.”

Djokovic and Nadal have perfected this. But Isner hasn't, and the point is he can't without the correct use of his bottom hand. His grip makes this difficult or more likely impossible.

What's the practical solution for John? You can tell from the animations that he has tried various backswings—lower and more to the outside, higher and tighter to the body.

Those don't address the problems. Is it possible a player in the top ten could make a grip shift? Or maybe the real question is would he?

Isner appears to shift his bottom hand a little further when he hits slice. Probably he reaches the bare minimum for some version of a backhand grip.

If I had the chance to work with him, I'd have him hit some slices. Then I would ask him to just experiment and try to hit some flat one handers with the slice grip.

If that worked I'd ask him to try his two-hander with that same grip. I'd film that and see if it influenced the shape of the swing. If there was a significant increment of change, I'd do some speed measurements with a pocket radar gun that could demonstrate any improvements. (Click Here for how that can determine quantitative improvements.)

I've filmed John a few times. I've shown this analysis to a few people close to him, but never given him any direct input myself. You never know maybe someday I will get the chance.

But the more fundamental issue has to do with player development. Although the analysis and the high speed film have been around for years, how many developmental coaches understand the relationships between grip, hitting arms and swing shape? You wonder if any other talented young players are being trained right now with fundamental flaws that will ultimately limit their success.