Why Students Should Learn the One-Handed Backhand First

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With the revolutionary introduction of size and skill appropriate low compression balls, racquets, and court sizes, young players can now learn professional level skills from the start of their playing careers. As a long time advocate of utilizing this equipment I’ve found myself asking the same question lately, “Why don’t I see more one-handed backhands in our 10 and under players?”

Now I’m not trying to ignite a debate on whether a one-handed backhand is better than a two-handed backhand. Rather, I’m questioning the standard methodology of teaching the two handed backhand before the one-handed backhand. I believe that the reverse approach may best benefit our youngest students on the 36-foot red court. I feel that learning a one-handed backhand before the two-handed backhand can lead to a more accelerated skill acquisition and better tactical sense.

Why Two-Hands First?

Why do we currently teach two-handed backhands first? Certainly this wasn’t the case during the age of wood racquets. However, racquet technology evolved and famous champions such as Evert, Borg, and Connors made technical adaptations by developing incredible two-handers that helped to popularize this shot.

This trend continued into the modern era of tennis where two-handers became the norm when young players who strived to play the game earlier discovered more stability and power when reacting to the increased ball speeds and spins they were receiving. The result was a huge decrease in one-handers as young players weren’t able to compete with this shot while using the more cumbersome adult-sized racquets in coordination with their smaller frames.

Times change and now we live in an era of kid-sized equipment, low-compression balls, and smaller courts. The balls move slower, stay lower in the strike zone, and allow players more time to effectively position themselves to produce quality swings with the modified equipment. As the challenges that faced past coaches and students have been significantly reduced perhaps we no longer need to just teach two-handed backhands to our students.

However, what would be the advantages of teaching a one-hander to a beginning student? Perhaps the answer is in the simplicity of instruction.

Simplicity of Instruction

Anyone who has worked with young children understands that they have incredibly adaptive developing minds, but also have shorter attention spans. Explaining different grips, swing paths, spins and tactics to young students can be extremely confusing. In order to be successful as a coach you have to keep your instructions simple, memorable and effective.

Teaching the one-handed backhand actually promotes simplicity of instruction. By teaching your beginning players to use one-handed backhands the ready position will always be the same, as the non-dominant hand will always be supporting the neck of the racquet, and the player won’t have to slide down the handle to change grips on groundstrokes or volleys. In fact, when instructing a beginner you can even initially teach just one grip (continental), which will allow the student to play every shot on court (groundstrokes, volleys, overheads, and serves).

Remember, on a 36-foot red court the primary goal is control not speed. The red court/ball doesn’t require or react to big topspin, so you don’t need to complicate things by hitting a full eastern on the one-handed backhand, or an eastern to semi-western forehand at this point. These will be progressions you use after a student has successfully demonstrated these initial controls. It doesn’t get more simplified than teaching one-grip and one-hand for all shots.

Tactical Advantages

Tactically, since a one-handed backhand allows for greater manipulation of the racquet head, this can lead to a deeper understanding of how to create different spins and shapes (slice, flat, topspin). A more sensitive ball control results in a more complete knowledge of how to use time and space to your advantage, and improves one’s ability to flow between offense and defense. A better backhand volley is another result of learning the one-hander, which leads to more tactical exploration in the front of the court.

Furthermore, as I explored in my past article The Contrarian Tennis Player, developing a one-handed backhand is a way to significantly differentiate yourself from the vast majority of your competitive peers in both a smart and effective way. The edges in this sport are increasingly slim, so if you can find a way to build your game around skills and tactics that are underused by the majority of the competitive playing public then you have discovered tennis gold.

Ultimately, no matter the type of backhand the player decides to utilize in the long-term, the time spent first developing one-handed skills will encourage the development of an all-court style playing style that is extremely adaptable to different opponents, surfaces, and situations.

Final Thought

Roger Federer, Pete Sampras, Gustavo Kuerten, Ivan Lendl, John McEnroe, Boris Becker, Billie Jean King, Martina Navratilova, Steffi Graf and Justine Henin are just a few world number one ranked players who competed with one-handed backhands. However, this approach still can allow for flexibility and the development of a two-hander at a later date. For example, former world number one Novak Djokovic started with a one-hander and later switched going on to develop one of the best two-handers the world has ever seen.

Continue the Conversation

One-hand or two it’s all up to you. However, if you try to teach the one-hander first you might be surprised by the improved technical and tactical skill acquisition of your students.

For an example of this idea in action here is link to the Volley Training Progression that I used with my 10 year old private student Zoya the other day. I started working with Zoya on one-handed skills at age 6 and, even though she uses a two-hander from the baseline, I’ve made a point of practicing one-handed skills with her at every practice we conduct together.

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I appreciate the time that you are taking to read this, and I hope this will be useful as you help your competitive tennis players on their journeys to tennis improvement! All the best!