US TENNIS
February 1998
You can have a backhand for every situation
By Pete Sampras, Playing Editor
with Alexander McNab

How to vary your stroke for rallying, passing and approaching

When I first turned pro and switched to the one-handed backhand, it was much weaker than my old two-handed stroke (see TENNIS, August 1995). Now it's solid. I return pretty well, and I'm confident that I can hit whatever shot I need from wherever I am on the court. In this article, I'll focus on several types of backhands: the rally backhand, the passing shot and the approach shot.

Ever since I started hitting the one-hander, I've always tried to put topspin on it. Topspin gives me safety, because I can hit the ball higher over the net. It's a more aggressive shot. It's more powerful. And the topspin backhand kicks off the court, making it more difficult for my opponent to return.

Unless I specifically want to change the pace, or chip and charge, I'll slice only if I have to, such as when I'm in a vulnerable position and need to get back in the court. I'll chip some on the return, too, but mostly I'm trying to hit the topspin and be more aggressive. Twenty or 30 years ago the slice was very common, but today it is kind of a lost shot. Mark Woodforde has a really good slice. My slice is 0.K. (photo, left); it's not great.

There is so much power in today's game that if you don't hit a really good slice, your opponent can hit a winner off it from anywhere on the court. You can't get away with only a chip unless you can hit it like Ken Rosewall, and his slice was the best ever.

The most difficult backhand is when the ball gets up high. It's a hard shot, one I struggle with sometimes, especially on a high-bouncing kick serve. It just takes years of practice and pretty good strength to be able to hit that shot. Boris Becker, I think, handles the high backhand better than anyone, because he's so strong.


There are three keys to any good backhand:

1) The grip.
I turn my hand way over from my forehand grip on all backhands except the slice. Note how much of my hand is behind the handle at impact in the close-up photo on the opposite page. The full backhand grip enables you to make a stable, strong hit.

2) The shoulders.
On any backhand, you must turn the shoulders sideways to the net immediately, and keep them turned through contact. When I'm returning well, my shoulders turn -- boom! -- right away.

3) The follow-through.
A good backhand ends with a full follow-through. It's an indication that you've made an aggressive, flowing swing. The more abruptly you come up on the follow-through, the more spin you'll get.

The follow-throughs of such players as Becker and Stefan Edberg are more straight ahead and finish at about shoulder height, because they hit flatter topspin backhands. My follow-through is up higher, more like Ivan Lendl's, because I hit with a lot more heavy topspin.

Keep it deep with the rally backhand

During a rally, your first goal on the backhand should be to play for safety, to keep the ball deep crosscourt (to a right-handed opponent's backhand) until you get a short ball.

My crosscourt shot has enough topspin to allow me to hit high over the net for safety and depth (photo, right), and remain confident that the ball's going to stay in the court. My hope is to get a short ball that I can either hit with a forehand or chip or hit with a backhand, and come in to the net.

In order for me to stay on top, I need to add things to my game, and one shot I use more and more often is the backhand up the line. Against a player who likes to camp out on his own backhand side at the baseline and hit big forehands, such as Andre Agassi, Michael Chang and Jim Courier, you can't just hit the ball to one place. You need to use the whole court.

The backhand up the line opens the court for you to do some other things. Maybe you'll get a forehand on the next shot, or maybe you'll be able to come in on the next shot. The backhand up the line is a shot you should try to hit a little bit flatter than the crosscourt rally backhand, so you need to really step forward into the shot and follow through farther ahead and not as high.

Think down the line on approach shots

When your opponent's shot to your backhand lands short, you should take advantage of it by hitting an approach shot and going in to the net. Your options are the traditional slice approach shot and a harder flat or topspin shot. Which one you hit may depend on many different variables.

For example, if you're playing someone who's pretty fast, you might want to hit it flat down the line, because it's a more aggressive play and reduces his time to get to the ball. If I'm playing someone who doesn't like low balls -- say, a tall guy like Mark Rosset -- maybe I'll slice it crosscourt to keep it low to his backhand.

Yet while I might hit the slice crosscourt in some instances, I've always felt a good approach shot should go up the line. While the crosscourt is an easier slice approach shot to hit because the net is lower, it puts you in a bad position for volleying. You have more area to cover on your opponent's passing shot. Down the line, you're in the right position in the court.

I hit the hard backhand approach shot up the line with a little bit of topspin, but much less than I use on my rally backhand. In fact, I think of that shot as a possible winner as much as an approach shot. To get your body in position and be in balance to take a pretty good crack at the ball, make sure you put the brakes on. Unlike the slice approach, where the proper footwork allows you to hit while slightly on the move, you can't run through the hard approach shot.

The slice approach (above) enables you to keep the ball low and keep moving.... while the more aggressive flat or topspin shot (left and below) requires you to stop to stay in balance.

Stay low on passing shots

On crosscourt rally backhands, you're trying to hit for depth. On crosscourt backhand passing shots, you're trying to hit the ball low and wide, and on all passes, basically you're trying to go for the lines more.

It is crucial to stay down on the passing shot. You must be low to get your racquet below the ball as you prepare (bottom photo). Then you explode up with the racquet to put spin on the ball, which will dip the shot low. The racquet does more of the upward exploding than the body (middle). And I end up in a high follow-through (right). The more upward explosion, the more you'll get that spin and be able to hit a good shot.

Choosing between passing crosscourt and down the line just depends on how I'm feeling, what shot I'm hitting better that day. The crosscourt is an easier shot, because the net is a little bit lower. The down-the-line shot is one you should hit a little bit flatter. Sometimes I get into ruts where I go crosscourt too much. Once you've got your technique down, the key thing on passing shots is to mix it up.

Get low (far left) and stay low (center) on the passing shot, but finish with the racquet high (above).