Around The Bend July 2018

AROUND THE BEND

JULY 2018

PAGE 13

H B C C T E N N I S N E W S

TIPOF THE MONTH

3. Drop the racket head and accelerate through contact Now that we have prepared and moved into position it is time to hit the ball. To generate pace and also help us control the ball, we need to “drop the racket head” under the ball and accelerate from under the ball. The fastest part of our swing should be on contact. 4. Finish/Follow through The control for our stroke comes from the follow through. The ball will tend to “fly” when we stop the racket head on contact or shortly after contact. To improve your control try to allow the racket head to follow through and continue in its path towards the target. Try to incorporate some of these tips on your backhand next time you step on court and turn that weakness into something your opponents will become scared of facing.

By Luke Burden, Director of Athletics

Why is my backhand weak?

Often players tend to lack confidence in their backhand which really limits them to what they are able to do on the court.

Have a read through these tips to improve your backhand and have more fun competing on court.

The most important stage in any stoke is the preparation and this is no different with the backhand.

1. Prepare the racket head This is the most important step and needs to be done before anything else. As you can see in the picture, the racket head is up and is prepared by turning the hips and shoulders.Often players think of “taking the racket back”. Often this confuses players as it is most natural to take the racket back without turning. If you are having trouble generating pace or control on the backhand, think about turning the hips and shoulders instead of taking the racket back. 2. Move to the ball This may sound obvious, however there is a correct way to move to the ball. We often hear we need to side step across to the ball, however to enable us to prepare the racquet head and turn the hips and shoulders we must “turn” and “run” to the ball. We sidestepping we won’t be turned, resulting in a weak backhand that will often fall short. As you can see in the photo sequence, Novak Djokovic turns and runs before hitting the ball.