An opponent who never needs to worry about a drop shot being played against them is an opponent who never needs to worry about covering that possibility. If every time you shape up to hit a ball you never play a drop shot, your opponent is secure in that knowledge and just needs to cover the other possibilities. This will also reduce your ability to throw your opponent off balance.

What about the fitness aspect? By incorporating the drop shot into your repetoire you have the weaponry to make your opponent cover much more court. It is obviously extremely useful against a slow-moving player.

Go on - give it a go, you know you want to!

Try to adopt the mentality that every ball must be hit with a purpose.

Even if the markers are not present, visualise the diamond and register when your shots fail the test.

Quality practice

How efficiently you use your tennis practice time will have a direct bearing on how quickly you will improve your shots. Going through the motion in practice, without any real thought process, can have a detrimental effect on your game, as you may well be encouraging bad habits.

Always leave the practice courts feeling that you have gained something from the session. You may have worked at your footwork, tried to improve your length, practised your topspin lift or grooved your sliced trajectory etc. Your session should consist of a mixture of general hitting, drills and point play. Whatever you are practising, quality repetition is what eventually perfects the shot. As a result of the hard work put in on the practice court, the shot will become second nature and therefore much more reliable in your match play.

It’s not only the matches that count!

You would be amazed at how often I have heard people state that they are “not too bothered about how hard they work practice, as it’s the matches that count”. BIG
MISTAKE! Your matches will mirror your practice sessions and the mental approach you have in them.

So how do you think you’ve played then?

It’s also very important to have a clear picture of what is happening in your practice session and for that matter, your matches too. You would be amazed how many
people, when asked after playing/practising, have an unrealistic view of how they’ve played. Sometimes completely oblivious to the fact that their length had been appalling or that they looked like they were falling over on every shot. By being aware of what is really going on, you are giving yourself a chance to work at it and improve it.

Boy, did Thomas Muster know how to practise!

Some years back, at an ATP Tournament in Prague, myself and a British Davis Cup player I was coaching, had to share a practice court with Thomas Muster and his partner. I was absolutely bowled over by the intensity of Muster and the way that he worked incredibly
hard in the available half court. He went on to obliterate every one in the field to take the title and deservedly so. The French Open title soon followed.

John Key

Like hitting a golf shot and kicking a ball in soccer, the backhand requires you to keep your head still when striking the ball, avoiding the temptation to follow the ball with your eyes as soon as it leaves your racquet. Lifting your head too soon on the backhand will result in the top half of your body leaning back, causing you to lose control of the shot.

NB. Don’t be afraid to exagerate this a touch - fixing your head in the ball contact position a bit longer than you think is necessary.

As the image below of Roger Federer shows, his head is still fixed in the contact position long after the ball has gone. As the racquet extends over his right shoulder he will then look towards the opponent’s end of the court. But not before!

Stronger foundations for the backhand with a still head!

There is no comparison between the foundations and balance of a correctly struck ball with a still head, and one in which the head looks up too soon. The correctly struck shot will have a strong core running through it compared to the flimsy, head flipping option. The incorrect version will also encourage the chest to fully open and face the net too soon, which is wrong!

Trust the result of your shot!

The secret to keeping your head still on contact (assuming your ball position is correct) is to trust the result of your shot. So often the reason for looking for the result too soon is a lack of belief in the result and a doubt as to whether it will land in the court. This lack of belief and the resulting head lift is so often the reason the shot goes wrong - a kind of self fulfilling prophecy!

Summary

Whether you are double or single-handed, a still head on contact will result in a stronger, safer and more accurate shot.

John Key

What is the correct ball position for the single-handed topspin backhand?

The first thing to be aware of, is what is considered the correct ball position. Whilst the height of the ball will vary depending on court surface etc., we still want to keep the ball comfortably in front and to the side of the body on contact. The image below of me striking an average height ball (and the examples of different contact zones) will help you visualise this, but to simplify things think of the following - an ideal ball position at contact will allow you to make your follow-through in a comfortable, smooth, uninterupted manor. You will be totally in control of the ball, not the ball (therefore your opponent) in control of you. Too close to you and you will be jammed therefore having to re-shape your follow-through to make it work, too far away and you will over-reach. If this rule is followed you will be able to execute the type of spin and direction that you choose.

N.B. Notice in the image of me below (and the pros further down the page), that the correct contact point away from the body, allows the hitting arm to be fully straight on impact!

Of course the ball will not just magically end up in this perfect position, you will need to address the points in the following checklist to make this happen:

1. Always be alert and ready for what your opponent might do to the ball. The speed, the spin and the height of the ball, will all need to be addressed. A sharp mind also helps sharp feet!

2. Keep up the high energy - sluggish footwork will have a bad effect on your ball positioning, great footwork will help bundles!

3. Good shot selection is of paramount importance. Trying to squeeze in a full drive when a block or abreviated drive was called for will be asking for trouble.

4. Prepare and follow-through in good time. If this part of the shot is out of sync the ball will tie you up in knots.

5. Really watch the ball, don’t just kid yourself that you are. This will give you that split second advantage and help anticipation.

6. Take note of the wind and the court surface as they will have a huge impact on the ball’s behaviour.

Remember - The more often you allow your opponent to make you strike the ball uncomfortably, the more often you will either make an error or leave the ball short for your opponent to kill!

Another thing to consider is this: why do the top pros look so comfortable and consistent when striking the ball compared to the average club player? The answer is that they address the points in the list above and on the whole strike the ball in the optimum position. Of course if they don’t quite get it right, they are great at improvising to get themselves out of trouble.

The Pros

Here’s Federer, Vilas and Robredo showing us how to do it. (Notice how Robredo still keeps the ball out in front even though the ball is higher!)

Good luck,

John Key

Andy Murray, like Miloslav Mecir before him, has that uncanny ability of lulling his opponent into a false sense of security with the kind of slow backhands that club players might feel they could handle, only to crunch the next shot with incredible pace and placement.

Why vary the pace of your backhand?

By hitting at a constant pace you are allowing your opponent to more easily find a rhythm. Your opponent’s technique will be far more comfortable and solid, safe in the knowledge that there are no surprises coming from you. Their anticipation will also benefit from your evenly paced balls. This certainly would not be the case if you are mixing aggresive topspin drives with slower sliced and looped topsin shots.

Another important factor to consider is that some players actually prefer receiving harder balls, therefore any slower paced balls will be out of their comfort zone.

Arthur Ashe v Jimmy Connors - 1975 Wimbledon final

In my opinion one of the greatest examples of the success of mixing pace was when against the odds, Arthur Ashe defeated Jimmy Connors in the 1975 Wimbledon final. Ashe refused to give Connors any rhythm to play against and not only constantly mixed the pace of his shots but the spin too. As a result of this tactical success, many players when playing Connors would try to emulate the way Ashe played, not always with the same result. Connors learnt from this and worked hard at repairing his ‘Achilles heel’.

Mixing spins is as important as mixing the pace and we’ll take a look at this a bit later.
John Key

I have utilised a media player with frame by frame analysis of the Djokovic backhand drive. Let’s first take a more general look at this awesome shot.

The Novak Djokovic backhand is simple but lethal!

The Djokovic backhand is beautifully uncomplicated and timed to perfection. He has the uncanny ability to sit up the court and totally dominate his opponents whilst making it look easy. The effectiveness of his backhand can be put down to the combination of some all important elements:

• Great movement
• Excellent timing
• Uncomplicated technique
• Fantastic racquet head speed and control
• Superb use of the court
• A great tactical brain
• Great passing shots
• Excellent service return
• Colossal confidence

A great slice backhand

No backhand is complete without the ability to hit a great slice shot and Novak can certainly do that. His ability to hit this shot well, allows him to tactically mix the spins and also utilise the slice on his approach shots when required. Good slice is also essential for successful use of the drop shot and for good defensive play. Once again Novak’s technique is uncomplicated yet extremely effective.

Like all good two-handers, Novak plays his slice shot single-handed, allowing him to reach further and also hit a more natural shot.

A serious contender for the Federer crown!

Novak Djokovic is one of the few players who is a serious contender for the Federer crown. Of course this is not solely due to his great backhand as he is excellent in all departments, but his backhand plays an all important role in his challenge for the world number 1 spot. (See: Novak Djokovic - Montreal win is great news for tennis!)

The backhand drive analysis

Use the jump frames button to view the analysis of each stage of the Novak Djokovic backhand drive.


John Key


NB. As the film shows Novak in a pre-match warm-up situation, his racquet work is clearly demonstrated. However, he generally would utilise more knee bend and sharper feet during a match.

The more familiar forehand swing

The motion of swinging on the forehand side of the body can be related to many other sports and activities such as:

• throwing a ball under-arm
• rolling a hoop in gym class
• bowls and 10 pin bowling
• golf swing
• cricket
• rounders

etc.

If there was an empty drinks can on a table and you decided (in your wisdom) to knock it off the table, instinctively you would swing your arm forehand style using your hand as an imaginary racquet. You would not swing your arm like a backhand and use the back of your hand to knock off the drinks can. In other words, from an early age, the backhand motion is more unnatural and less instinctive.

Frisbee throwing is one activity that utilises the backhand motion, but there aren’t many others.

As a result of this lack of familiarity with the backhand swing, there is generally a confidence hurdle to address, along with the learning of the action.

The backhand swing can become more natural than the forehand

What many people begin to realise when progressing with their backhand tuition is that the backhand technique can begin to feel easier than the forehand, due to the natural shoulder turn and simple racquet path. Many players also have a problem feeling comfortable with their non-racquet hand when hitting a forehand, whereas on the backhand, the non-racquet hand takes on a more obvious counter-balance role (see Backhand balance and that other arm!).

Good coaching and plenty of practise in the early days of learning can soon overcome the lack of familiarity with the backhand swing. The backhand is not a ‘black art’ and before you know it, you could well become one of those many players who actually prefer the shot!

Of course the block and chip are good options but here we are talking about the cut-down version of either a one or two-handed drive.

The Shot

When hitting an abbreviated return, there are no set rules as to how far you should take the racket back and how far you should follow-through. The pros have numerous variations on the theme in their repetoire, utilising the amount of abbreviation that they deem necessary at that moment. It might mean a totally shortened version or only a slighty shorter shot. What is important, is that ideally the ball will be met in front of you with a firm grip and the weight going forwards.

Ultimately by selecting a more achievable option you are keeping the shot’s framework in good shape. Select a full drive when you shouldn’t and you’re likely to be tied in knots with a really late contact.

The modern composite rackets of today make the abbreviated shot much easier than the old wooden rackets did. The new rackets don’t need much encouragement to generate power.

Drill

As coach I used to do a simple drill to encourage shot shortening.

Firstly I would get my pupil to stand in the service return position. I would then serve into the correct service box from a forward position around my service line. I would make sure that the serves were pretty hard and towards the body of the returner/pupil. It’s amazing how quickly they would start to abbreviate the shot to avoid being handcuffed by the ball.

We all have our good days!

We’ve all been there - those days when we are seeing the ball so well it looks as big as a football. On those special days you may find that you don’t need to abbreviate quite as much. Nevertheless, unless you are Andre Agassi, some form of shortening will be required when your opponent cranks down a serve at you.

There is a two-handed and a one-handed example in the film below. Notice how the normally exagerated backhand swing of Richard Gasquet, is nicely compact and tidy - also see how Alejandro Falla moves forwards to ensure that his weight is transferring into the shot.

John Key

The shot that had the spectators literally gasping was his single-handed topspin backhand - so lets take a look.

The Shot
The Richard Gasquet topspin backhand is typical of the way the modern day single-handed shot is evolving. Very high preparation at full backswing, looping round and down before contact. This is more prevalent in todays game - though his shot is still extreme.

The high take-back has evolved as a result of some players trying to squeeze a little more power out of their shot. We used to see it on balls bouncing around head height - but more and more we see it on general backhands too. I was really interested to see at this year’s French Open, how high some of the South Americans were preparing for the shot. (see ‘Backhand racquet preparation - can your opponent see your racquet tip?‘)

As youngsters we were told not to prepare too high as this would cause problems - and the high take-back technique is not something I would readily recommend to club standard players, as perfecting this involves impeccable timing. The images of the Gasquet backhand above show how far his racket needs to drop from full preparation to the below the ball position. This timing is not for the faint hearted and if not executed perfectly, will lead to a late struck, handcuffed shot.

Gasquet’s bckhand is further complemented with excellent shoulder turn, great knee bend, perfect use of his non-racket arm and a spot on striking position.

Take a look and savour it!