Content Centre | Coaching Tips | Videos | Audio | Articles

 

Your non-playing  arm and hand play a big role in keeping your balance when striking the ball on both the forehand side and the backhand side.

Here we are going to look at how it can help us on the backhand side.

Let’s look at how the backhand swing works, in order for us to understand why the non-playing arm is important.

When you prepare for a backhand shot, the racket goes back, and your body will “wind- up”.

The uncoiling of the wind-up, is a powerful explosive movement, and is where a lot of the power in the shot is generated. If we are not  careful this can cause us to overbalance, lose control of the shot and not allow us to recover the T as effectively as we might.

This is where the non-playing arm comes in.

It can be used as a counter balance to this destabilising uncoiling action.

By tucking your non-playing arm underneath your playing arm, and then subtley moving it away from your body, it will help stop the momentum of your swing pulling you off balance.

You will be stronger and more balanced through your swing, which is of course vital for hitting a good controlled shot. On top of this, it will leave you in a great position to recover to the T quickly for the next shot.

When focusing on this in practice, you might find that your shot quality drops at first as you are no longer focusing on the strike of the ball. Persevere! When it becomes second nature to you, this is when you will see the improvements.

Points to take to the court.

1.       Tuck your non-playing arm in underneath your playing arm.

2.       Use a subtle motion away from your body.