As someone who started tennis in their late 30s and was guided to a one-handed backhand, this makes me happy to see. He hits it better at 9 than I ever will. The tips were super helpful, and I'll give them a go later. Thanks for the lesson!
Ashley as a parent, I truly want to commend you on your language and approach you had with Noah. So many subtleties I can tell youve been doing this a long time and taken great care in your method of teaching. Kudos and keep it up, and well done Noah!
I also moved to a one hander and i just love it! Yes, it has its cons but to each folk its own stroke. I am 2m tall and 2 hander just feels super unnatural to me though it is more stable compared to my one hander. But the one hander gives me better reach, better spin and much more power. In addition to that, it brings smile on my face :)
Talented kid. But uncoiling/ bringing around the right shoulder as fast as with a 2h backhand usually doesn‘t work too well, at least if you want consistently clean hits, especially when returning fast balls. Got to stay longer sideways in comparison. Muscle memory can be tricky regarding this little detail when switching between both backhands.
Yes, you’re right. I actually think that he is over rotating to find power. Although he’s a strong boy for his age, he’s only just turned 9 so lacks the strength that maybe you and I have. I find this a lot with the size of junior’s backswings, they often go big as they don’t have the explosive power in their legs yet. As he gets bigger and stronger he’ll find that he doesn’t need that exaggerated rotation to hit big, but in the meantime, to avoid bad habits developing, I’d work on adjusting his perception of what a good shot looks like (from being power to precision).
@ yes, he is very good, also looks strong for a 9yo. Probably a good thing that coaches seem to be not as religious about the shoulder rotation with the 1hander as many used to be back in the day. I still remember this one guy yelling at us when we did that :) we were taught: right shoulder down and above right knee. But that was in the 80s. Tennis has changed in many aspects since then. One thing that still works well for me personally as a control point on the bh - unit turn with my back facing the right net post. Great lesson coach
His dad is a very good coach, you should see the rest of Noah’s game! He only recently moved him onto the one hander so he’s getting using to moving differently.
Maybe tell the kid not to make every backhand shot standing on one leg or else change to ballet class? Half of the consistency comes from balance, which, in turn, takes much more conscious footwork.
Imho actually quite the opposite. His weight shift/ timing is unusually good for his age. Ideally you want to hit on impact both FH and BH almost entirely from your front foot.
@@Biff420NoScope I disagree. He's _lifting_ his foot, not shifting weight for efficiency; otherwise he would "land" in a much more stable (and ready) position with his left foot either in front of the right one or in something like the split step position. I think he has, quite correctly, been taught to move his left arm backwards for balance, and then the foot just follows suit because his limbs haven't developed a sufficient level of independency yet given the amount of information (instructions on how to do something that's new to him and quite hard) his brain has to process. Actually the "moving the other arm backwards" seems to be a bit too much information for him as well, because he's obviously conscious of it (i.e. it takes processing capacity from other things) to the level that he moves the arm in very weird ways when he, for example, gets high balls - the arm moves upwards, which doesn't increase balance but suggests that he's rather doing it for the sake of doing it, like it's something obligatory, which of course takes processing capacity from concentrating on the shot.
As someone who started tennis in their late 30s and was guided to a one-handed backhand, this makes me happy to see. He hits it better at 9 than I ever will. The tips were super helpful, and I'll give them a go later. Thanks for the lesson!
I’m glad you found them helpful in theory, I hope they work well in practice for you!
Ashley as a parent, I truly want to commend you on your language and approach you had with Noah. So many subtleties I can tell youve been doing this a long time and taken great care in your method of teaching. Kudos and keep it up, and well done Noah!
☺️ thank you. That actually means a lot more to me than feedback on the coaching points themselves. As coaches we have an important role with kids! 🙏
I also moved to a one hander and i just love it! Yes, it has its cons but to each folk its own stroke. I am 2m tall and 2 hander just feels super unnatural to me though it is more stable compared to my one hander. But the one hander gives me better reach, better spin and much more power. In addition to that, it brings smile on my face :)
You have the perfect attitude towards your tennis! 👌😊
Excellent coaching tips again
A fantastic lesson, thanks! The boy has a talent!
Great advise Ashley every one hander has theses problems and this must help 👍
Great lesson. When I saw his backhand I thought you'd focus on the swing path and offhand adjustments. Smart move to work on his footwork first.
Talented kid. But uncoiling/ bringing around the right shoulder as fast as with a 2h backhand usually doesn‘t work too well, at least if you want consistently clean hits, especially when returning fast balls. Got to stay longer sideways in comparison. Muscle memory can be tricky regarding this little detail when switching between both backhands.
Yes, you’re right. I actually think that he is over rotating to find power.
Although he’s a strong boy for his age, he’s only just turned 9 so lacks the strength that maybe you and I have. I find this a lot with the size of junior’s backswings, they often go big as they don’t have the explosive power in their legs yet.
As he gets bigger and stronger he’ll find that he doesn’t need that exaggerated rotation to hit big, but in the meantime, to avoid bad habits developing, I’d work on adjusting his perception of what a good shot looks like (from being power to precision).
@ yes, he is very good, also looks strong for a 9yo. Probably a good thing that coaches seem to be not as religious about the shoulder rotation with the 1hander as many used to be back in the day. I still remember this one guy yelling at us when we did that :)
we were taught: right shoulder down and above right knee. But that was in the 80s. Tennis has changed in many aspects since then. One thing that still works well for me personally as a control point on the bh - unit turn with my back facing the right net post.
Great lesson coach
Is this my sign to develop my 1H backhand?
Maybe 😄 do you already use 1H?
Dad did the correct thing bringing the boy to you, but what was he doing all these years haha.
His dad is a very good coach, you should see the rest of Noah’s game! He only recently moved him onto the one hander so he’s getting using to moving differently.
Just needs to dip that racket more
Maybe tell the kid not to make every backhand shot standing on one leg or else change to ballet class? Half of the consistency comes from balance, which, in turn, takes much more conscious footwork.
Imho actually quite the opposite. His weight shift/ timing is unusually good for his age. Ideally you want to hit on impact both FH and BH almost entirely from your front foot.
@@Biff420NoScope I disagree. He's _lifting_ his foot, not shifting weight for efficiency; otherwise he would "land" in a much more stable (and ready) position with his left foot either in front of the right one or in something like the split step position.
I think he has, quite correctly, been taught to move his left arm backwards for balance, and then the foot just follows suit because his limbs haven't developed a sufficient level of independency yet given the amount of information (instructions on how to do something that's new to him and quite hard) his brain has to process.
Actually the "moving the other arm backwards" seems to be a bit too much information for him as well, because he's obviously conscious of it (i.e. it takes processing capacity from other things) to the level that he moves the arm in very weird ways when he, for example, gets high balls - the arm moves upwards, which doesn't increase balance but suggests that he's rather doing it for the sake of doing it, like it's something obligatory, which of course takes processing capacity from concentrating on the shot.