Post Backhand Clinic Thoughts

I‘ve been drilling a lot with 2 handed backhands, so I was able to clear most of the basic drills with ease.

I’m still unable to control it as well as I’d like, especially in terms of dinking towards the middle. I seem to favor the tighter angles on the cross court backhand dink.

Decided to experiment with the 1-handed backhand drive to try something different. It came rather quickly surprisingly though I would say I’d be comfortable using it in a serious game.

That said, I also got to refine my backhand slice more. It’s much more about the pushing motion and less rising. It seems I’m lifting a lot with my arms (like arcing up in my follow through) which causes the ball to pop up.

Kevin said I needed to slice so the ball goes down in order to make the opponents hit up. If I slice high then they can hit down. 💡

Still need to keep my movements more compact though. There was insight on how crossing the body on dinks was too much, but I question when that applies, though it seems solid guidance for basics. Maybe not for the shovel bending shot?

We did a few backhand flicks too. The key is to get ready early and keep it compact. This way they can’t tell which direction you’re going to hit it. The big wind up commits you in a specific direction.

Another note is to not do a clinic without open play after. It’s tortuous to not be able to practice what you just learned immediately. 🥲