Speaker 1: What's the correct wrist lag and snap technique on the two-handed backhand?
Should your wrist be passive through the whole stroke or is there a whole nother dynamic
way to force this racket flip down and up?
In this video in the HEB backend series, you're going to learn exactly how to execute the
optimal backhand lag and snap technique in just three steps based on the footage of top
pros and what the science says.
Let's go.
Speaker 1: Now just like the ATP forehand, the basic movements in the backhand lag and
snap technique are flexion, extension, radial deviation, and ulnar deviation, along with
pronation and supination in the forearm.
Except this time we've got two risks to look after instead of one.
Also, I think it's important to note that the wrist action in the racquet flip are affected
by exactly how your other parts of your body are used, such as your trunk and your shoulder
rotation.
The correct wrist and arm action on your two-hander starts with your prep.
Speaker 1: In our two-hand and backhand backswing video, which you can check out in the description
below, but here are three key checkpoints to keep in mind right now.
First, after your split step, whether you decide to use the compact loop or the direct
take-back, your hands should stay on the hitting arm side of your body during your take-back.
So to make sure that this happens, try to keep your top elbow slightly bent and slightly
raised about 35 or to 30 degrees away from your torso.
Now number two, your hands should be stretched far enough back on your right shoulder if
you're a righty.
And your core, you'll feel like your body is being coiled like a rubber band.
And with your racquet away from your body, you'll have a lot more space to accelerate
forward.
Speaker 1: Now lastly, keep your racquet head above your hands during your take-back.
If you want to start swinging forward with your racquet head already down, you're just
going to end up losing a lot of space to generate that racquet head speed and well, there's
really no racquet flip to talk about.
And plus, you'll feel more relaxed because gaining that extra racquet head speed is going
to be a lot easier.
To execute the racquet flip, we're going to break this down into two distinct movements
driven by your top and your bottom arm.
And if you want us to continue this series on the wrist snap, be sure to leave us one
of these.
Speaker 1: On the ATP style backhand, your racquet flip and your acceleration should
be initiated by your right arm for righties, pulling forward.
Many players make this mistake by starting by swinging, pushing forward with the left
arm.
And this mistake does happen a lot if you just oversimplify the two-hander into just
thinking of it as a left-handed forehand.
You see the problem is while you might initially feel a little bit more control with this technique,
you'll start tensing up and having a much shallower racquet flip.
And ultimately end up with less pace and less control.
So if you want a high level backhand, it's really important that you start synchronizing
both your top and your bottom arm to execute the two-hander properly and then start initiating
the racquet flip by pulling forward with your right arm.
Speaker 1: Now as we covered in the forehand risk lag video, the racquet flip on the forehand
is pretty straightforward.
Keep the hitting arm relaxed and just let the racquet flip down and back naturally.
But you see the backhand side has a slight twist.
Now it's commonly believed that by simply accelerating forward from your hitting arm,
the top arm, completely passive, you can execute the racquet flip correctly.
And while this is true, other coaches and biomechanics such as Dr. Brian Gordon, have
found that by actively pushing down on the racquet head by actively straightening your
top arm can actually create a more dynamic and a more powerful acceleration, utilizing
what he's identified as the couple effect in mechanics.
Speaker 1: Now I know what you're thinking and yes, this does add a little bit of complexity
because depending on how you use your top arm ,you can change the timing and the depth
of your stroke and your racquet drop.
Now to understand this, we need to look no further than the highest levels of tennis.
Nishikori is known for his especially deep flip and he'll start using this racquet drop
before he begins to accelerate forward from the bottom arm.
And Nadal, he'll go through his backswing and even drop his racquet lower than other
pros due to his style of play, which involves a lot of heavy topspin shots with high neck
clearance.
On the other hand, we've got players like Berdych who will accelerate forward with the
racquet flipping down and back relatively at the same time.
His racquet drop is typically more shallow and he's known for hitting flatter shots.
Speaker 1: Ultimately, both methods have worked, so I recommend that you go out and try to
experiment to see what works best for you.
Now another thing to note is that this racquet flipping action can really only happen if
your bottom hand and your wrist is relaxed.
And depending on the depth of your racquet flip and your grip, you'll probably notice
yourself having more or less flexion in the bottom wrist at the end of your racquet drop.
Just make sure not to do this too actively, otherwise you'll injure your wrist just trying
to manufacture this wrist position mechanically.
From this position, you might think that the racquet flip on the backhand looks a little
bit excessive, but let me tell you, this rotation element is actually just like the modern forehand.
Speaker 1: The difference is that because the grips tend to be milder on the backhand
side, your racquet is going to flip down and back in less of a left to right path, but
instead travel on edge or straight down.
Now what stops most players from getting this wrist slag action and consequently topspin
on the backhand, is tightness.
But really quick, here's a great drill progression that'll get you feeling this loose racquet
flip right away.
Start off with a few light shadows swings and the key here is to pull forward from your
right hand and then subsequently push down with your top hand.
Now a pro tip here, you can use a ball and put it in the throat of the racquet just to
feel a little bit more weight and start feeling that fluid wrist lag action.
Speaker 1: So from here you're going to start drop feeding yourself, still with three fingers
on the racquet, just like this.
Right?
And you're going to make sure that your pinky and your ring finger is off the racquet on
both hands and now you can start drop feeding yourself.
Speaker 2: Feels good.
Speaker 1: So note here that you want to think about keeping your arms loose with less fingers
on the racquet.
And only after your full racquet drop, when your racquet is fully down and push straight
down, are you going to start to come back up and accelerate forward.
So as you drop feed, repeat to yourself, pull, push, pull, push.
Now after you've gotten comfortable here, we'll start adding a little bit more racquet
head speed with our next progression.
Now this drill is similar to Tomasa's forehand risk drill over at Field Tennis.
So once you're in the proper back swing, I want you to focus on keeping your arms loose
while you start swinging forward by pulling from your bottom arm.
You'll probably notice that your racquet naturally travels back up and forward like a spring.
Speaker 1: And finally, try to achieve this same loose racquet flip action by pulling
from the arm and subsequently pushing from the top with the ball.
As for the final racquet flip position of your top arm, as your ATP style backhand unfolds,
you want to make sure that the inside of your elbow right here is inverted upward, almost
completely towards the sky and still close and slightly in front of your body.
On the two-hander, Rick Macy teaches this arm action by having players focus on lifting
the left elbow while pulling forward with the right arm as shown in this video.
Speaker 3: Right arm straight, left elbow bent, racquet head above.
Same concept.
The leg drive and the hip is going to activate the pull.
Speaker 1: And this position creates tons of stored elastic energy in your top shoulder
through external shoulder rotation.
And as we'll cover in the next video of this series, the hitting arm will have nowhere
to go but up, resulting in a high octane, powerful backhand shot.
Speaker 1: So to recap, number one, as your torso rotates at the beginning of the forward
swing, your arms are going to lag slightly.
And this is going to store elastic energy like a stretched rubber band.
Step number two, accelerate your racquet forward from the pulling motion of your bottom arm.
Step three, experiment to see what timing and amount of top arm action works best for
you.
Remember, here's what you can do.
A, push your racquet head down before you accelerate forward.
B, push your racquet head down simultaneously as you pull with your bottom arm.
And C, keep your top arm passive and let the racquet flip naturally from the force of your
bottom arm pulling forward.
Speaker 1: And most importantly, number four, if you want to take all of this out onto the
court and make it real, make sure to download our completely free backhand lag and snap
checklist right now by clicking the first link in the description below.
So athletes, I hope you found this video super helpful.
And if you liked the video, watch our full series on the ATP two-handed backhand right
here.
Our newest videos right here, and remember to subscribe and click the bell so that you
don't miss any new videos coming soon.
Thank you all for watching.
And until next time, go out and train hard.
See you in the next video.