An easy way to position your hand correctly for the single-handed backhand grip is as follows;
- hold your racket at the throat in your opposite hand (left for right handers), and have the handle pointing at your body
- place your racket hand on the grip in an old style shake hands position
- Whilst continuing to hold the throat with your opposite hand, rotate the thumb of your racket hand downwards a quarter of a turn and grip the handle
You should now find your your hand is more behind the handle ready for the all important support for the backhand shot. Rotating the thumb slightly further round the handle will help with topspin. When you begin learning the slice you’ll discover that the grip doesn’t need to be as far round as for the drive/topspin.
If you are having problems finding your new grip when changing from a forehand to backhand grip, just hold your backhand grip and practice only backhands until it becomes second nature. It will then be easier to find the new grip position when changing shots.