I was just watching the Yang Yang vs. Zhao Jian Hua match I downloaded off eMule, and WOW! Yang Yang has this incredible ability to do crosscourt baseline to basline backhand clears with complete ease! It seems he is using no power whatsoever, and he's able to do like 5 flawless backhand clears consecutively in a rally. How the hell is this possible! It takes enough energy to do a forehand clear, yet Yang Yang is able to do a backhand clear with what seems like just a little flick of his arm. He's also able to do these insane running-backwards backhand drives. He's like a machien. It's mind boggling. I wonder why no one every pulls these moves nowadays.
even more impressive is Erik Hoyer Larsen. he has the most effortless cross court rear->rear backhand clear i have ever seen.
Actually, that's a sign that he is slow or that the opponent is faster (no offense to Yang Yang). Nowadays, current top players try not to use their backhand at all because it's a weaker shot than the forehand. My coach says a good player rarely has to use his backhand because he has the speed/position/intuition to cover it. If you are hitting too many backhands: 1) You are not in position 2) You are not anticipating your opponent's shot correctly 3) The opponent is exposing you through good shot placement 4) The opponent is a superior player and forcing you to hit backhands I actually put it to the test. When I play with players that are lesser in skill level, I almost never have to hit a backhand. When I play with players that are more advanced, I hit more and more backhands. Keep track of this and see for yourself. For the record: today I hit a lot of backhands.
I believe Yang Yang has excellent timing, wrist power and is hitting the shuttle out in front (ideally). I have noticed, sometimes I take a full backhand swing from the baseline and I can barely clear from baseline to baseline. Other times, I only swing 50% and can do the same clear easily. Why? I notice the key is timing (hitting the shuttle on sweetspot) and ideally hitting the shuttle out in front.
I have seen Yang Yang play many times. Funny it never occured to me that his backhand was that outstanding. On the other hand, Eric Hoyer Larsen and Misbun Sidek did register with me as having particularly good backhand.
back hand. For current player, I like Taufik one. Very flexible and dangerous. he can do it as good as his forehand.. Older days, I like his coach Icuk back hand smash. very powerful. rgds
Actually, what i noticed from the last SG open is that the PRC players adhere quite strictly to not using backhands if possible whereas players from other countries do use their backhand quite a bit. In particular i remember Lee Hyun Il using his backhand a lot. Anyway, here's another reason for backhands: 5) You are so much better than your opponent that you treat the match as a training session for your backhand
StorkBill: goood one! On another note: so far, there's only been one case where I played against a person with a better backhand then forehand. This guy had a good jump backhand smash. We'll call him "Mr. B". My first time playing Mr. B, I drove the shuttle deep to his backhand and charged the net; he hit a backhand cross court winner. My partner and I were like "Wow!" Stuff like that does not happen by pure luck. A few points later, I was on the odd side and did an attack clear deep to this Mr. B's backhand again and my partner charged the net. Mr. Backhand did a jump backhand smash right at my partner who was completely caught off guard, blocked the shuttle (self preservation) and hit it into the net. Finally, the third time my partner hit to Mr. B's backhand on a deep clear. Mr. B hit a backhand side smash down the line. After a few more points where Mr. B dropped/cleared/smashed with his backhand, my partner and I both looked at each other and we said in unison, "Hit to his forehand." At least hitting to his forehand, he couldn't hide his shot as well. When we hit to his backhand we couldn't tell if Mr. B was going to smash, drop or clear and whether it was going to be deep, short, angle, flat, cut or any combination. I gotta learn Mr. B's backhand.
Is it really possible that any player's backhand can be better than his or her forehand, especially with the shuttle behind the player? Even Erik Hoyer Larsen, great as his backhand was, would have a better forehand than backhand. More likely, great backhand players have a much smaller difference between their forehand and backhand. Players like Lin Dan have a much greater difference.
I doubt in the pros but Mr. B surely does have a better backhand then forehand. Case and point, people that know how only hit to his forehand. When you hit to his backhand, he can mask his shot. Mr. B even leaves the backhand side open. It's surely a sight to see.
For the current players. I think Taufik has a deadly backhand. He has a backhand smash that usually make his opponents stand still.
Fleming Delfs had the best backhand. His nickname was 'Mr Backhand'. I've never watched him play or seen videos but i've heard lots of stories about this. There is a post by JR about this somewhere on this forum. Incidentally, I saw Fleming's son Martin playing in a tournament at my club today. He lost in 3 sets having been 12-6 up in the 3rd to England no. 1 Nick Kidd.
at beginner/low inter levels, i find that some players have a more "proper" grip and technique for backhand than forehand (u see loads of "interesting" grips) and therefore have a better backhand than forehand, especially come to deception. obviously those who are playing with correct grip and form, should have much better forehands... *in my observations*
I suggest you see how Zhang Ning play her backhands. She combines power from many parts: weight shifs, full arm swing, and wrist. Being woman with inherent weak power, she has to use many muscles into the stroke. I can learn quite a lot from her backhand, as well as other strokes. Men players like Taufik and Yang Yang have seemingly effortless backhand, which to my eyes, involve mainly a snap of wrist. Look so fluid and artistic, but i guess they need very strong muscle to execute.
If you don't mind, here's my take on this.. IMO, in *general*, most people/players do not have a 'natural' backhand power to do a backhand clear baseline to baseline. But the main factors in accomplishing or having an "incredible ability to do crosscourt baseline to baseline backhand clear with complete ease", are: 1. technique(what kind of grip), 2. wrist/hand/fingers power/muscle and 3. timing 4. and to some, what type of rackets/string tension Of couse many pros trained themselves for many yrs and there are a few who are just "naturally gifted". Another thing i noticed is location of where one hold the handle. Most people or players i saw or played with do a backhand, they tend to hold the racket around mid to higher on the handle. Whilst if i pay attention and take a look at how Taufik hold his racket during his backhand shots(clear, smashes or drops), in most cases it's always near or at the end of handle butt. Now, that is what i call a very strong forehand, wrist and fingers... Also, if one noticed in the pic above, at least myself when i met Taufik this past August @ the WC, if you look at Taufik's forehand, wrist and esp. handsize, it's quite "beefed up"/"big". And i remember his rackets' grip was quite thick. I noticed those physical features also with Tony Gunawan, Halim Haryanto no name a couple more. Personally i've never seen Yang Yang or ZJH play, thus can't make any comments, how their forehand, wrist and handsize are..
Does it mean dudes with small hands (G5 grips) are hopeless in generating enough power to do corner-to-corner backhand clear ?
As an aside, Sun Jun had a terrible backhand (relative to other top professionals). Most of the time he played a back hand it was short, and killed next shot (although this may be because by the time he was force into a backhand he was under severe pressure, so weakening the ability to "do" something with it)
Oh yeah, forgot that one too, oops. The handles' grip size(G4, G5) probably *does matter* to some folkz(since of course, people have different size hands)...Add to that if they add additional grips on the handle.. I remember Cai/Fu also had a pretty "beefed up" and large hands also, when i met and shake hands with them... No, they're not "hopeless" either in generating enough power to hit corner to corner backhand clear. But i'm pointing those 3-4 factors, through my observation and noticing many pros, esp. the ones with a pretty solid backhand shots...Doesn't necessarily mean pros/players with a "big, beefed up" or large hands can do "backhand clear corner to corner" consistently either..It's gotta be a combination of the factors i mentioned, esp. the first 3 factors..
Did you feel how powerful their grips are? So, big hands and strong grips = effortless corner-to-corner clear? Can't imagine a reanimated Guan Yu who plays baddie. The dude can bent iron bars with his hands!!! That's some gripping power. BTW, the GDTV commentor mentioned that Fu has a recorded smash of 350 km/hr to 380 km/hr!!!
