I really like your style of executing the 1hbh. It looks much easier and so uncomplicated to do than the way some best known one handers in the world do the shot, e.g., Henin, Gasquet, Thiem, Dimitrov, even Federer. Everything appears unforced and it is elegant. Congrats!! From now on, I'll pattern my 1hb after yours. Thanks for the video.
@@MeikeBabelTennis Thanks so much. I don't mean this pretentiously -- let's please keep the 1HBH alive as a technique :-). It looks like it is a dying art.
Perfect, great job. What l like is at impact your wrist is stable not flicking all over the place. Like l wrote earlier you're 1 of about 5 or 6 You Tube instructors who does a great job. The rest are reinforcing things that are only going to cause players to struggle.
Nothing better then a women hitting a beautiful 1 handed backhand. I like your note in using the outside leg/step to help gauge the spacial awareness for the soon to be contact point.
Great backhand! You are a gifted teacher. I agree with the weight transfer to forward leg. If you will watch yourself from the side view you will notice that you push back off your front foot as contact is made. All the great one ganders share the same weight transfer process
Wow. What a great backhand! 03:00 "Racket head above the wrist". Racket is above head level. I need to work on this. I have a habit of taking it back to about thigh level. But this is not my fault as this was how it was taught by many, if not most USTA certified coaches in the 1980s and 90s. At one point I think the lower take back was the official instruction... For some reason, the instruction changed (during the 1980s?) and a high take back was advised.
You get more racket drop with a higher racket head and can get more acceleration that way. And yes, teaching fundamentals has changed in really big ways. One of my mentors, coach Macdonald at Vanderbilt, told me that if I still teach the same way I taught 5 years ago I should stop teaching. So I keep learning
Thank you for the great lesson, Coach Meike! I love your contents as they are really straightforward and easy to understand while staying relatively brief in their lengths. Now I have one question about a grip. You covered the grip already and I understand the location of my palm and fingers. My question is specifically about supporting point of the hand in the moment of the contact. When I hit forehands I feel my knuckles of the indexing and middle finger being the point upholding the weight of the contact. It feels natural as they are behind the handle while it is pushed back. Now when I try to to the same with the OHBH, what's behind the handle is palm of flesh between knuckles of the thumb and the indexing finger, and it doesn't feel as solid as the forehand side. As an alternative I'm trying to clutch the handle with knuckles and fingers, with making less contact and thus getting less support from the palm. So far it looks like working better than the first method imitating the forehand side. Is this the right way? Looking forward to your advice and thanks in advance!!!
That is down to the nitty gritty of it. Yes, the palm rests a bit more on top of the grip. One way to get a little bit more support is to spread the index finger away from the other fingers to have a bit more spread between index and middle finger.
Coach - This is very fascinating. I now have all my tennis "slubs" tune into your channel because this is what we do well; argue about 1-handed backhand vs. 2-handed backhands. Having said that, I don't know if you crossed path with Gabriel Sabatini on the tour but I ran across her in Miami several years ago. I'd like to take your input on this matter; why do you think coaches are reluctant to teach the one-handed backhand? You appear to be very strong in your convictions and clearly backed it up! Give away, Gabriel said she would teach any kids the one handed because "it free up so many movements and you can hide the slice as well."
You have an earlier contact point, yes, you can have more variations and you can hide the slice better. However, it's a really tough shot to learn for kids because you do need some strengths. The majority of kids are way more successful quicker when learning a two hander. I actually had a tow hander and then switched later when I was 11 or 12. The other major disadvantage is that bigger serves really hurt a one hander, something I experienced at the end of my career when players would routinely hit 110+ mph serves. There's pros and cons for both but for sure the easier one to learn is the two-hander.
Thanks look nice especially for my situation playing match on the weekend but hard finding someone to practice during the weekdays now will try using ball machine hope works.
@@MeikeBabelTennis Thanks for confirming that tennis is an expensive sport tournament from USTA or UTR starts with $80 and up I heard many player only played one match after losing first round however I still trying to win my national championship in my age group.
Thank you, Coach Meike. Is there any wrist used in accentuating the brush up when hitting the ball, and may I release my wrist on the follow through? Thanks again!
Hey Meike, do you think you could do a video on the 1 handed backhand approach shot?? Not really sure what to do with those balls just past the service line when I wanna approach and close with a volley.. Slice approach is an option, but how do I go about topspin drive with the 1 hander on these?
@@MeikeBabelTennis Right!!! I do like a slice approach on Low balls. But learning the drive approach shot will make me feel much better about the 1 hander!!! I’m already ripping screamers!!! I hit a down the line winner on a guy that came to the net yesterday and he would’ve probably needed CPR had he stepped in front of it 🤣🤣. Consistency next.
I was searching for Justine Henin’s backhands and am so glad your channel popped up! It’s amazing! 💓💗💖 I also noticed that the landscape seemed an awful lot like Denver, and it is! I hope to sign up for some lessons with you soon to help with everything especially my um very un Justine-like backhand. 😄
I recently got some advice on getting a consistent forehand contact point by using the left hand as a target (i.e. putting the left hand where it could catch the ball while preparing to hit). Is there a similar ball-spacing trick for the one handed backhand?
Great video!!! Livestream w/ Acing Tennis brought me here!!! Hope to be pounding 1 handers down the line soon!!! I did quite a few times today, but can't necessarily say they were on purpose 🤣
Thanks for being on the live stream. Just play it off when you hit the down the line winner you mistimed! "Yeah, meant to do that". But a bit more hip and shoulder turn will help with the down the line!
@@MeikeBabelTennis Haha oh you totally heard me getting excited on camera when I hit them lol. At this point, if it lands in between then lines I’m happy!! Will keep using my 2 hander in matches for now, but I’ll be working behind the scenes to master the 1 hander!!
I'm still trying to get my outside leg (for me left leg since I'm a righthander) behind the ball so I can load off it and stride into the ball with my right leg.
Great video! Thank you coach Meike! I think using left leg gauge connect point is abstract. If the angle of the ball is very large, how can I use it to measure it? Is this a feeling right?
Ideally, you wouldn't want to let the angle get too big because then you're forced to step across as opposed to getting behind the ball. It is as you say a bit more of a feeling thing.
Thanks for advice great technique Just a question on the non dominant hand on the forward part of the swing Yours stays with the racket until the last moment then goes back can u explain a little ad a lot of coaches keep saying to counterbalance the arm earlier
I was taught to keep the hand on the racket until you are in "pocket range". Imagine you have pockets on your shorts and that's where the hands separate. The way my coach always explained was that while the left hand is only really active on the take-back and then goes back for counter balance it's not doing anything on the racket drop phase other than provide a consistent direction. Does that make sense.
For me, I have to take note of my front leg, sometimes I stand on my toes and I lean backwards, I have to stand on the outer rim of the feet so I can lean forward.
Happens to me as well when I let the ball get over my shoulder. That's when I know I either have to hit it one the rise to keep it between shoulder and hip or I need to move back on higher balls to let the ball drop back down into my strike zone. That gives me the chance to get my weight into the shot. Thank you for watching my video!
@@MeikeBabelTennis I trained myself to tiptoe on high balls so instead of backing off I stand higher and stretch myself. Not easy but I felt I can get more balls on the rise and feel awesome. Thanks for making useful videos.
Great lesson, love the clear and direct teaching style. That’s one beauty of a backhand, and something I can model. I see your racquet tip tilts back, versus the more vertical takeback many coaches teach. Do you find it simplifies your timing?
Thank you so much! That's exactly what I want to accomplish with my videos: teaching something that's replicable! I do think it helps me with timing because I don't have to worry too much about having to bring my racket head under the ball. Feel free to subscribe to my channel if you haven't done so yet and recommend it to your friends.
I really like your style of executing the 1hbh. It looks much easier and so uncomplicated to do than the way some best known one handers in the world do the shot, e.g., Henin, Gasquet, Thiem, Dimitrov, even Federer. Everything appears unforced and it is elegant. Congrats!! From now on, I'll pattern my 1hb after yours. Thanks for the video.
Very happy to see you teach one hander. Please keep posting more 1H backhand videos for the rec. players.
More to come for sure! Thanks for your feedback
@@MeikeBabelTennis Thanks so much. I don't mean this pretentiously -- let's please keep the 1HBH alive as a technique :-). It looks like it is a dying art.
Perfect, great job. What l like is at impact your wrist is stable not flicking all over the place. Like l wrote earlier you're 1 of about 5 or 6 You Tube instructors who does a great job. The rest are reinforcing things that are only going to cause players to struggle.
Thanks for the compliment
Beautiful backhand! Well explained.
Thank you so much 😀
Nice simple lesson but extremely valuable. Thx.
Glad you liked it! That's what I'm aiming for.
Great lesson thank you!
My pleasure!
Beautiful one handed backhand, thank you very much for explaining it.
Nice backhand and instruction.
Thank you!
Nothing better then a women hitting a beautiful 1 handed backhand. I like your note in using the outside leg/step to help gauge the spacial awareness for the soon to be contact point.
Thank you! Definitely a tip that helped me!
very good... thank you
Great backhand! You are a gifted teacher. I agree with the weight transfer to forward leg. If you will watch yourself from the side view you will notice that you push back off your front foot as contact is made. All the great one ganders share the same weight transfer process
Very good 👍😊!
Wow. What a great backhand!
03:00 "Racket head above the wrist". Racket is above head level.
I need to work on this. I have a habit of taking it back to about thigh level.
But this is not my fault as this was how it was taught by many, if not most USTA certified coaches in the 1980s and 90s. At one point I think the lower take back was the official instruction... For some reason, the instruction changed (during the 1980s?) and a high take back was advised.
You get more racket drop with a higher racket head and can get more acceleration that way. And yes, teaching fundamentals has changed in really big ways. One of my mentors, coach Macdonald at Vanderbilt, told me that if I still teach the same way I taught 5 years ago I should stop teaching. So I keep learning
Used some of your tips. Made a huge improvement!
Awesome! That's what I love to hear!
Wow Meike great incite and videos, thanks for doing these. You are a great coach/teacher 😊
So happy that you like my content! Please subscribe and feel free to share my channel with friends!
Appreciate your tip.
Thank you for the great lesson, Coach Meike! I love your contents as they are really straightforward and easy to understand while staying relatively brief in their lengths.
Now I have one question about a grip. You covered the grip already and I understand the location of my palm and fingers. My question is specifically about supporting point of the hand in the moment of the contact. When I hit forehands I feel my knuckles of the indexing and middle finger being the point upholding the weight of the contact. It feels natural as they are behind the handle while it is pushed back. Now when I try to to the same with the OHBH, what's behind the handle is palm of flesh between knuckles of the thumb and the indexing finger, and it doesn't feel as solid as the forehand side. As an alternative I'm trying to clutch the handle with knuckles and fingers, with making less contact and thus getting less support from the palm. So far it looks like working better than the first method imitating the forehand side. Is this the right way? Looking forward to your advice and thanks in advance!!!
That is down to the nitty gritty of it. Yes, the palm rests a bit more on top of the grip. One way to get a little bit more support is to spread the index finger away from the other fingers to have a bit more spread between index and middle finger.
@@MeikeBabelTennis Thank you so much for your answer, Coach!😍 Looking forward to more of your great OHBH lessons!
Coach - This is very fascinating. I now have all my tennis "slubs" tune into your channel because this is what we do well; argue about 1-handed backhand vs. 2-handed backhands. Having said that, I don't know if you crossed path with Gabriel Sabatini on the tour but I ran across her in Miami several years ago. I'd like to take your input on this matter; why do you think coaches are reluctant to teach the one-handed backhand? You appear to be very strong in your convictions and clearly backed it up! Give away, Gabriel said she would teach any kids the one handed because "it free up so many movements and you can hide the slice as well."
You have an earlier contact point, yes, you can have more variations and you can hide the slice better.
However, it's a really tough shot to learn for kids because you do need some strengths. The majority of kids are way more successful quicker when learning a two hander. I actually had a tow hander and then switched later when I was 11 or 12. The other major disadvantage is that bigger serves really hurt a one hander, something I experienced at the end of my career when players would routinely hit 110+ mph serves. There's pros and cons for both but for sure the easier one to learn is the two-hander.
Thanks look nice especially for my situation playing match on the weekend but hard finding someone to practice during the weekdays now will try using ball machine hope works.
The ball machine is a great training tool!
@@MeikeBabelTennis Thanks for confirming that tennis is an expensive sport tournament from USTA or UTR starts with $80 and up I heard many player only played one match after losing first round however I still trying to win my national championship in my age group.
Very nice
Thank you, Coach Meike. Is there any wrist used in accentuating the brush up when hitting the ball, and may I release my wrist on the follow through? Thanks again!
It's more coming from the forearm actually. If you don't force your wrist it will naturally release.
Hey Meike, do you think you could do a video on the 1 handed backhand approach shot?? Not really sure what to do with those balls just past the service line when I wanna approach and close with a volley.. Slice approach is an option, but how do I go about topspin drive with the 1 hander on these?
Absolutely! I'll put it on my list to do for next week. Personally, I do prefer a slice BUT you have to be able to both so I'll get on that!
@@MeikeBabelTennis Right!!! I do like a slice approach on Low balls. But learning the drive approach shot will make me feel much better about the 1 hander!!! I’m already ripping screamers!!! I hit a down the line winner on a guy that came to the net yesterday and he would’ve probably needed CPR had he stepped in front of it 🤣🤣. Consistency next.
@@Sleepymoto1 :-)))) Yes, consistency is needed as well!
@@MeikeBabelTennis Yes!!! Time for tons of reps on the ball machine!!
Well done.. I was taught- always finish high.i love gugas the best.
Wasn't his backhand amazing!?
@@MeikeBabelTennis for sure!! His preparation was great, then the clean rotation through the ball. Certainly helped me improve my backhand!
Solid
I was searching for Justine Henin’s backhands and am so glad your channel popped up! It’s amazing! 💓💗💖 I also noticed that the landscape seemed an awful lot like Denver, and it is! I hope to sign up for some lessons with you soon to help with everything especially my um very un Justine-like backhand. 😄
Yes, it's Denver. I'm at Gates Tennis Center!
I recently got some advice on getting a consistent forehand contact point by using the left hand as a target (i.e. putting the left hand where it could catch the ball while preparing to hit). Is there a similar ball-spacing trick for the one handed backhand?
Not that I know of :(
@@MeikeBabelTennis Well, my OHBH has been behaving better regardless since your master class--thank you!
Great video!!! Livestream w/ Acing Tennis brought me here!!! Hope to be pounding 1 handers down the line soon!!! I did quite a few times today, but can't necessarily say they were on purpose 🤣
Thanks for being on the live stream. Just play it off when you hit the down the line winner you mistimed! "Yeah, meant to do that". But a bit more hip and shoulder turn will help with the down the line!
@@MeikeBabelTennis Haha oh you totally heard me getting excited on camera when I hit them lol. At this point, if it lands in between then lines I’m happy!! Will keep using my 2 hander in matches for now, but I’ll be working behind the scenes to master the 1 hander!!
Great video coach. Just a quick question. Is the wrist entirely neutral on contact with the ball or slightly flexed?
Since you were showing hitting in neutral stance, what do you use as a guide/cue in terms of left/right spacing?
I'm still trying to get my outside leg (for me left leg since I'm a righthander) behind the ball so I can load off it and stride into the ball with my right leg.
Great video! Thank you coach Meike! I think using left leg gauge connect point is abstract. If the angle of the ball is very large, how can I use it to measure it? Is this a feeling right?
Ideally, you wouldn't want to let the angle get too big because then you're forced to step across as opposed to getting behind the ball. It is as you say a bit more of a feeling thing.
@@MeikeBabelTennis Oh yeah! Thanks for your answer! So atack is very necessary for one-handed backhand players.
Thanks for advice great technique
Just a question on the non dominant hand on the forward part of the swing
Yours stays with the racket until the last moment then goes back can u explain a little ad a lot of coaches keep saying to counterbalance the arm earlier
I was taught to keep the hand on the racket until you are in "pocket range". Imagine you have pockets on your shorts and that's where the hands separate. The way my coach always explained was that while the left hand is only really active on the take-back and then goes back for counter balance it's not doing anything on the racket drop phase other than provide a consistent direction. Does that make sense.
Beautiful swing. Do you use the gravity pro or MP ?
I use the pro w my 1 hand backhand. Ty
I actually switched to the Yonex ezone
Your backhand looks nicer than Justin Henin’s 👍🎾
Thank you:-)
For me, I have to take note of my front leg, sometimes I stand on my toes and I lean backwards, I have to stand on the outer rim of the feet so I can lean forward.
Happens to me as well when I let the ball get over my shoulder. That's when I know I either have to hit it one the rise to keep it between shoulder and hip or I need to move back on higher balls to let the ball drop back down into my strike zone. That gives me the chance to get my weight into the shot. Thank you for watching my video!
@@MeikeBabelTennis I trained myself to tiptoe on high balls so instead of backing off I stand higher and stretch myself. Not easy but I felt I can get more balls on the rise and feel awesome. Thanks for making useful videos.
LOVELY
Thank you
Great lesson, love the clear and direct teaching style. That’s one beauty of a backhand, and something I can model. I see your racquet tip tilts back, versus the more vertical takeback many coaches teach. Do you find it simplifies your timing?
Thank you so much! That's exactly what I want to accomplish with my videos: teaching something that's replicable! I do think it helps me with timing because I don't have to worry too much about having to bring my racket head under the ball. Feel free to subscribe to my channel if you haven't done so yet and recommend it to your friends.
I love hitting with my 1hbh!!! I think that the 1hbh produces much more power than a 2hbh.
If you got good loading and weight transfer it certainly can!
Your arm in take back is straighter than most...any comments on that? Thanks.
I think it's just how I developed it. I can't remember being taught that.
I would love to be able to copy your form for one-handed form.
Lots of practice. You'll develop your own style. As long as you have the fundamentals you'll develop a great backhand.
Thanks. How much I owe you?
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