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During a game in 2021 I was match point down. I'm determined to stay in this. Then, inevitably, he plays it to my backhand...
I’d got away with it all match - occasionally hitting a solid backhand, running around it, or relying on slice to survive. But when it mattered most, under pressure, my backhand inevitably let me down: hit the tape, sailed long or I framed it.
I'd had enough. My confidence in my backhand was shot, and I desperately needed a reliable stroke. For years, I'd confidently told others, “Buy a TopspinPro and transform your tennis.” Yet, I knew firsthand it was easier said than done. To genuinely understand what our customers experienced, I decided it was time to walk the walk. I needed to focus on this one aspect of my game to improve significantly and make lasting change.
When it worked, it packed decent power and plenty of spin, but my backhand had never been dependable. Without a loop, my racket’s stop-start movements lacked the smoothness of Zverev and Djokovic. And the effortless acceleration that their higher takebacks generated. I’d tried before, without success. This time would be different.
The Science of Lasting Change: A Systematic Approach
I took ideas from Archie Dan Smith’s book “Muscle Memory and Imagery: Better Tennis (which later inspired a deeper dive into "accelerated learning in tennis")
- Daily Repetitions – Consistent daily practice builds muscle memory faster.
- Focusing On One Thing – Isolating a single skill significantly accelerates learning.
- Embracing Errors – Mistakes are essential feedback loops, helping refine technique.
From years of conversations with our customers, I've seen that the best transformations happen with daily, deliberate practice. So, focusing exclusively on my backhand for 21 consecutive days felt like the right amount of time to create lasting improvements through sufficient repetition.
I also only wanted to allow myself a maximum of 10 to 20 minutes a day - I wanted to make my approach to this realistic. In other words, something people with full-time jobs and limited spare time could implement.
James Clear of Atomic Habits fame recommends finding ways to reduce friction when building habits. So my equivalent of “putting your gym kit by the door the night before” was leaving the TopspinPro permanently set up in the hallway so every time I walked past it I might spend a minute or two training. (Charlotte was thrilled 😊).
My Basic Backhand Training Plan:
- First - Build the correct technique with static-ball drills using the TopspinPro, repeating until the stroke felt natural (sensation-based feedback)
- Second - Graduate to live-ball drills using the Slinger ball machine, ensuring realistic practice conditions (outcome-based feedback)
To hold myself accountable, I announced my 21-day backhand transformation on Instagram...
I had a clear roadmap. But then…
Enter Ryan Reidy, of 2minutetennis.net…
Ryan spotted my post and offered to do a video analysis of my existing technique with recommendations on how to improve it. All of a sudden, my little idea turned into a bigger project with some proper public pressure!
Ryan asked me to send him video footage of my backhand from behind and from the side. These are the videos I sent him:
It wasn’t long before he got back in touch. While I was thrilled to have my style of play compared to an elite tennis God, when Ryan put me side-by-side with Novak Djokovic that’s not really what he had in mind. He was highlighting the differences. And there was significant work to be done!!
With Ryan’s laundry list of advice, I was going to need to follow a more immersive approach to learning than I originally planned. His input established where I was now and where I wanted to get to. I needed a bigger plan.
Chunking Your Way To A Full Shot
I first read about “chunking” in Matthew Syed’s fantastic book Bounce. I needed to break down my backhand stroke into smaller components - or ‘chunks’:
Only after getting one chunk feeling reasonably comfortable could I add the next chunk. I would follow these clear progressions using the TopspinPro. Once I connected all the chunks, I’d have a complete stroke.
Next I would shift to working with the Slinger ball machine. With the number of new elements I was changing on my stroke, I would need to progress through a series of increasingly challenging settings. Starting on its simplest setting allowed me to mimic a coach’s hand feed. Shifting the machine to the net and ultimately the baseline while ramping up the speed would provide true test.
The first thing I had to change was actually MY MIND.
I have always proclaimed the backhand to be a windshield-wiper stroke. My logic was: this is how we hit the forehand - why shouldn’t we use a similar arc around the body for the backhand? I felt a right-hander's two-handed backhand should feel a left-handed forehand. And you do often hear coaches say this. But in reality, no one does this. Ryan Reidy helped me see things differently. Djokovic's two-hander is not, in fact, a left-handed forehand at all. Yes, the left hand is dominant, but it has none of the ‘release’ his forehand has as it wraps around the right side of his body. There is 50% less wrist action in his and all the other great two-handed backhands.
Getting To Grips With Change
Once I accepted that the backhand was different, my journey began. It wasn’t without difficulty, though. Changing one's grip is a big deal. My lead hand had a one-hander grip. I had to switch this to continental. That change amounts to a 45-degree change in the racket face angle! We all know that even the slightest change in racket face can send the ball flying into the back fence. This is where the TopspinPro really helped. By not being on court, it was impossible to focus on the results. So often the downfall of learning attempts is the inclination to connect outcome with success. It’s the reason a coach will often force you to hit into the netting while tweaking your serve. So no “in-out” judgement clouds your progress. You can trust the process.
Could I Do It With My Eyes Closed?
Another trick I found really useful was testing my perception by do some things with my eyes closed. One chunk I worked on was the move from the ready position to the backhand take-back. This required a grip change from the forehand to my new backhand grip. But the new grip felt foreign in my hand. I closed my eyes to avoid watching to see if I was doing correctly. I then guessed what angle the racket face was before I opened them. I repeated this until I got it right.
Mirror Mirror On The Wall
The mirror in the hallway was essential when I was working on my take-back. From the side I could check I had the arm and racket 'V'-shape. From behind I could check my arm and the racket were in a straight line with the racket on edge.
Selfie Time!
I found videoing myself periodically extremely helpful. I thought I was doing things correctly but noticed my racket head on the take-back wasn't high enough. It was also useful to re-watch Ryan's analysis. The second time around, I noticed how much Novak turns his shoulders on the take-back. Copying that probably added a lot more power.
I won't go on - everyone will have personal changes they want to make - I explain more about the process and my changes here:
I Had Still Not Set Foot on Court!
Two weeks into the challenge all the technical changes to my swing that I wanted to make were starting to feel quite natural. Yet I still had not set foot on court! All my work was using the stationary ball on the TopspinPro in the comfort of my hallway. I purposely planned this project between league seasons so I didn’t have games that might derail my changes by tempting me to revert to my old stroke. It was exciting to finally be shifting the learning environment to the tennis court and hitting a live ball.
Here’s my first session on court:
D-Day
Publicly committing to you that I would make a significant change to my backhand added the accountability that we now know for successful habit change - it has to matter! Giving myself 21 days to do it added the pressure needed to make sure I worked on it every single day. Another thing often talked about by learning specialists (and covered in depth in my article Learn Tennis Faster) is little and often. I used the TopspinPro an average of 3 times a day for a maximum of about 10-15 minutes a day. I wanted to make sure what I was doing busy people could also do.
Was I successful? You be the judge:
What I can say with certainty is that my progress would not have been possible without these three things:
- An expert tennis coach (Ryan Reidy!) to tell me what to focus on - I see too many people spending hours reinforcing the wrong habits. Ryan’s input established where I was and set my targets.
- A still-ball training aid (I used a TopspinPro) for working on technique daily progressions without the distraction of outcome. Shadow swings are simply not good enough. The lack of a contact point means there is no feedback loop.
- A ball machine (I used Slinger) to deliver around 100 balls a day, initially to the same spot slowly and then ultimately to a variety of spots at speed.
I suppose the ultimate test, to see if learning has actually taken place is whether or not the new shot gets used in match conditions. I admit that took a while to be comfortable. But years later I have noticed two things about my ‘new’ backhand:
- More powerful - It's bio-mechanically more efficient - I get more penetration, with less effort.
- More consistent - The swing flows far more down a channel relative to my previous wiper-backhand so I am a lot more accurate and have fewer miss-hits.
Parting Shot
One of my favourite marketers, Seth Godin, says "make new decisions based on new data … disproven hypotheses should be abandoned as soon as the truth is made clear". The results of this experiment - power and consistency - have meant that I've not just changed my backhand. I've had to change my mind. And that is always healthy!
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2 comments
I am in the middle of your 1bh course. I am an experienced intermediate (3.5) but wanted more consistency. I am enjoying the course and am seeing improvement on the court.
Hal! Fantastic news! So glad you’re seeing decent progress. Shout if you need any help. Given my original BH grip am wondering if I should have switched to single. Jealous of you owning one of the most satisfying strokes in our sport 🙂