The Vilas and Federer backhands!

Even though they played in a different era, there are without doubt some interesting comparisons to be drawn between the Guillermo Vilas and Roger Federer backhands.

I make no attempt to hide the fact that I am a huge fan of Guillermo Vilas the man and the tennis player. I have already mentioned before how he inspired me at a young age and I firmly believe that the Vilas topspin backhand was years ahead of its time. Yes the players of Vilas’ era didn’t hit the ball as hard as the modern game we see now - but the technique of the Vilas backhand was not a million miles away from the modern shot.

If you look at the other one-handers of Vilas’ era and think back to the way they played their shots, they almost don’t resemble the backhands of today. Stan Smith, Jan Kodes, Athur Ashe, Vitas Gerulaitis etc. all were phenomenal players - but their backhands would now look a little dated. This is not the case with the Vilas backhand - we see elements of his shot in so many of todays great topspin backhands. Federer, Gasquet, Gonzalez and Robredo are classic examples of the evolution of Vilas’ shot. I’m not suggesting that these players go out to consciously emulate Vilas’ shot but the evolution has already taken place over the last thirty years. The grip, the hitting position, the use of the non racket arm, the legs driving up through the shot and the heavy topspin are all there. (see ‘Backhand balance and that other arm!‘)

I am also aware that Rod Laver’s backhand was probably the inspiration behind the Vilas shot - but Vilas took the baton and ran with it.

I would love to have had some footage for the Vilas and Federer backhand film example below of Vilas at his peak but unfortunately this is not the case. Nevertheless the recent footage of Vilas playing in the veterans doubles still proves the point. Yes the backswing of Federer and Co is now a little higher than the Vilas backswing - but the there is no denying the similarities.

It’s easy to forget that it was 30 years ago that Vilas won the US Open and the French Open in the same year. Happy days!

And here’s the film!

Backhand, backhand help, Federer, federer backhand, tennis, topspin, vilas, vilas backhand