+Pedro Poyares I have several of those Head Ashe rackets - they are a pleasure to hit with, though if I engage in a heavy exchange with a player blasting with a Babolat I will invariably frame a shot from time to time.
+Pedro Poyares The average player does find it difficult to hit consistent shots with those rackets. But pros don't. They have that great hand/eye coordination that enables them to hit the sweet spot most of the time.
It also depends on what you want to do with it. Hitting a slice like Ashe, just like about any other stroke on more of an horizontal plane, is easier than if you insist on moving down a lot on your slice (more like contemporary professional players) or moving up a lot on your groundstrokes (again, more like contemporary pros).
Can't everyone hit that BH as he did. Flat flat flat. He was a real badass and his serve was no joke either. Love his earlier game it had more touch. As he grew into the Head rackets he went more for the guns. I got to meet him once for an interview session in 1990. RIP Arthur Ashe you were The Man.
Theoriginal thinker Yah true, but I think Mac even hits his BH with more top from time to time. Mac's BH is very underrated too. In fact his whole ground game was underrated and only became exposed once Lendl and others brought that power into the game and he couldn't penetrate as much. Anyway you've seen that Ashe/Nastase video on UA-cam right? And the Doubles video with Borg Laver Nastase Ashe, great shit. Peace.
Christopher King Mac's bh is very similar to Arthur's in that they could both hit all shots, but Arthur's was more orthodox, flatter, with an eastern grip, whereas Mac almost always hit topspin or underspin, with a continental for all his shots. Also, to watch Arthur hit his Bh was really a thing of beauty. I've read all of his books. I recommend all of them for any tennis enthusiast, but I highly recommend "Portrait in Motion", as it was written while he was at the top of his game. And yes, I've seen the Ashe/Nastase match. Good one. Have you seen the Laver/Ashe match. That one's just as good. In his prime, Arthur just glided on the court. I'm convinced that the burden of being the first black tennis player in the civil rights era was burdensome, and prevented him from reaching his full potential. Still, a great athlete, and even greater man.
Interesting how Ashe talks about the Eastern backhand grip but he is actually demonstrating the Continental grip. The standard grip for the slice backhand is the Continental grip which opens the racquet face more than the Eastern backhand grip. The real problem is trying to hit a backhand drive, even one that is "flat", with a Continental grip. Adept players like Rosewall did this perfectly but for the average club level player, I think the Eastern backhand grip should be used for backhand drives (and especially strong topspin drives).
3:20, he said that this has been the technique for the underspin backhand, this is also known as the backhand slice, I am with you that to drive the ball flatter you need to go eastern backhand or rarely semiwestern.
In the complete video, Arthur admited he used continental but he encouraged the use of eastern backhand grip, he said "do what I say, don't do what I do"
Hard part is you have to time it so you have the time that so it's like hitting a fly on the wall but if you don't have the right time and rhythm you'll miss
What he does is once he turns he steps at a 45° angle towards the net post that automatically turns his shoulder to the correct position from there it turns his shoulder is at that point it's all one motion continuous but it takes it back slow as a very far take back then he hits it like a fly swatter really lets the arm loose and just wants it like a fly swatter now the racket is going away from his body on the back end unlike a forehand where a racket's going towards the body so in this instance he has three different follow-throughs one straight which is and then finishes high which is flat straight back in second one was his top spin where he gradually came over the ball of the racket and finish with his elbow down on the other side on the fall through then on the slice he would come or underneath it and then his elbow position would be at a 45° skyward on the opposite side of his body this was the three methods of the straight shot top spin and slice but the secret was that he kept his arm super loose and you some type of flyswatter motion as we did is forehand was not as good as everybody else but it's back in was way better he hit it harder
And start the game number one in the world it's back and was twice as good as everybody else used to fly swatter technique on the backhand and hit it harder than anybody else and became number one in the world
Started doing this and I beat the computer and two tennis games at the highest level I was just whipping Mac and roll everybody so I don't know I think this
The sky beat Jimmy Connors and must become number one the world that's hard to do considering how good Jimmy Connors was beating back around at that time can only consider how good this guy must have been he was able to mix it up use a lot of spins and junk and that would throw their games off I think he the guy that beat him was Manuel Santana or did a background check that guy knocked him out that was one of the best Mexican Spanish players of the day this guy was an excellent diet hitting short angles which would run you clear off the court all day long
If you want to hit a good backhand drive, do not use the continental grip that Ashe is advocating here. Only use that for slices. Hitting a continental grip topspin backhand is incredibly hard. Instead go a bevel over to eastern or even two bevels over to western and 20 hours against a wall.
I think I'm not getting as much back swing as the sky he keeps his arm a lot looser than mine and he really swings that thing like a fly swatter can only imagine that's how he's hitting the ball way out in front of his body and the s*** out of it
Pros at that time had the technique of nowaday's amateurs...incredibly unprofessional measured with today's standards. I know the material was different, but that alone doesn't explain the lack of perfection...it was the time of course. No one back then practised everyday from 4 years of age, had a professional team for every aspect, they didn't have nutritions scientists on their side, no mental coaches and so on...just less professional. The gap between players tenniswise was huge. With the effort they put in tennis and the lack of professional preparation, no one could enter the top 1000 today, not even close. But again, I know it's not their fault, it just was the time. The sport finally reached real professionalism.
+Markkyish What an utterly ridiculous statement. Those guys weren´t just good athletes, but unlike most of today´s players [with Federer being the rare exception] had actual tennis talent. They had a variety of shots that guys like Djokovic can only dream of, and their understanding of the game was far beyond that of today´s players, who don´t know what to do with the ball except hitting it from side to side as hard as they can. And, dare I say it.. those guys knew how to volley! Watching Djokovic at the net is almost comical, since his volleying technique is so woefully bad.
+Markkyish Look at it from the other direction. Drop the modern player in the past with a wooden racquet and you would see our past "professionals" would be able to compete just fine.
Yes whilst I do take some of that on board and yes I have watched tons of old footage. Remember the game was much slower then. The players today and those even as far back from the 80's demonstrate far greater technical ability. The slice backhand was and still is a safety shot. Yes Federer uses on grass to good effect but that has been undone by Djokovic in recent years. Look at players like Lendl that far back and the technical excellence. The game then evolved further with Sampras and Agassi. Like I said in my original comment this is not a bashing of the players of the past. It is just evolution and it happen to today's players who in 30 years will look pedestrian compared to the players to come. What gets on my nerves are people who demonstrate crass stupidly and say a player from 40 years ago with a slice backhand has the greatest backhand of all time.
captainkirk21101967 I agree. The original post I replied to was being far too condescending of the players of the past. It is like people who put down special effects of movies before the pc.
I have never heard such ridiculous comments such as the greatest backhand ever. Let's be real folks Lendl used a racket that was just 10 percent bigger than a wooden version up until 94 when he retired with the exception of the last few Wimbledons. Mark Philippoussis hit a serve with a wooden racket at 129 mph. I started in the early 80s and saw the transition in the game and to be honest there are club players now who would beat Laver and Ash. That may sound extreme but just look at the old footage and be really honest. Yes off course the rackets have helped but that's only one factor. Look at techniques, back then they used to hit closed stance Forehands unlike today's pros who hit open stance. Back then with perhaps a few exceptions like Lendl Borg or Vilas alot of pros used Continental type grips so not much topspin. The players were smaller for example Laver was 5ft 9. Fitness which Lendl pioneered just didn't exist at the time. Although this sounds like a bashing to past players it isn't it's just a dose of reality. They were good for their time but couldn't compete with today's crop even if you evened up the racket tech. Its the same with all sports Osullivan in Snooker, Usain Bolt in Sprinting. Sorry if this upsets the Dunlop Green Flash traditionalists but it's called evolution.
1. Professional players use various stances, depending on the circumstances. If you bother to watch old footage, you will also notice that there is a variety in terms of stance, albeit to a lesser degree; 2. Older players usually played with lighter balls and faster courts. In that world, the ball usually bounced lower, slices were more effective and there was a much bigger premium put on volleying. It made sense to use more conservative grips like continental grips or eastern forehand grips (according to Don Budge, that was the most common grip in his days) because the intention was to seize the net; 3. Professional players today are very likely better athletes, but I am not sure how many amateurs today are better athletes. How many actually train harder than those former pros and benefit from advances in science and training method ? 4. It would take a damn good amateur to beat former pros like Laver, Ashe or Rosewall when they were at their best. Even on slower courts today, using contemporary rackets and strings, their ability to serve, as well as to approach and to volley would remain hell of a threat -- the same techniques apply, save for the fact that they'd be allowed per the rules to jump on their serve.
What a great instructor! Steps are simple, yet extremely effective.
A great man.
RIP.
Thanks to the Internet I can watched the legendary Arthur Ashe
It is an honor to learn from the legend!!
love You RIP Mr Ash
Incredible how he hits the one hand backhand with only 68sq inches of frame. Legendary!
+Pedro Poyares I have several of those Head Ashe rackets - they are a pleasure to hit with, though if I engage in a heavy exchange with a player blasting with a Babolat I will invariably frame a shot from time to time.
+Pedro Poyares The average player does find it difficult to hit consistent shots with those rackets. But pros don't. They have that great hand/eye coordination that enables them to hit the sweet spot most of the time.
It also depends on what you want to do with it. Hitting a slice like Ashe, just like about any other stroke on more of an horizontal plane, is easier than if you insist on moving down a lot on your slice (more like contemporary professional players) or moving up a lot on your groundstrokes (again, more like contemporary pros).
He uses the string portion.
Back in the day: This video won't replace a lesson from your coach.
Today: HOW TO HIT YOUR FIRST SERVE LIKE ANDY RODDICK
with a his serve surely he won wimbledon ... oh no wait
I taylored by backhand from Ashe, when i was 12. It was my best stroke.
Arthur Ashe had arguably the greatest one handed backhand in the history of the game.
Can't everyone hit that BH as he did. Flat flat flat. He was a real badass and his serve was no joke either. Love his earlier game it had more touch. As he grew into the Head rackets he went more for the guns. I got to meet him once for an interview session in 1990. RIP Arthur Ashe you were The Man.
He could hit it with top, flat, and underspin. He could hit his backhand volley with topspin!
Theoriginal thinker Yah true, but I think Mac even hits his BH with more top from time to time. Mac's BH is very underrated too. In fact his whole ground game was underrated and only became exposed once Lendl and others brought that power into the game and he couldn't penetrate as much. Anyway you've seen that Ashe/Nastase video on UA-cam right? And the Doubles video with Borg Laver Nastase Ashe, great shit. Peace.
Christopher King Mac's bh is very similar to Arthur's in that they could both hit all shots, but Arthur's was more orthodox, flatter, with an eastern grip, whereas Mac almost always hit topspin or underspin, with a continental for all his shots. Also, to watch Arthur hit his Bh was really a thing of beauty. I've read all of his books. I recommend all of them for any tennis enthusiast, but I highly recommend "Portrait in Motion", as it was written while he was at the top of his game.
And yes, I've seen the Ashe/Nastase match. Good one. Have you seen the Laver/Ashe match. That one's just as good. In his prime, Arthur just glided on the court. I'm convinced that the burden of being the first black tennis player in the civil rights era was burdensome, and prevented him from reaching his full potential. Still, a great athlete, and even greater man.
Theoriginal thinker Love this conversation. More coming soon. I cannot seem to find my autographed copy of Days of Grace, grrr....
The good old memories ❤️
Wonderfull to come across this..legend
Yeah I think he had his knuckle up on top of the of that plane which was the standard backhand grip of the day
Interesting how Ashe talks about the Eastern backhand grip but he is actually demonstrating the Continental grip. The standard grip for the slice backhand is the Continental grip which opens the racquet face more than the Eastern backhand grip.
The real problem is trying to hit a backhand drive, even one that is "flat", with a Continental grip. Adept players like Rosewall did this perfectly but for the average club level player, I think the Eastern backhand grip should be used for backhand drives (and especially strong topspin drives).
George Oberlander The old school played all with a continental grip
3:20, he said that this has been the technique for the underspin backhand, this is also known as the backhand slice, I am with you that to drive the ball flatter you need to go eastern backhand or rarely semiwestern.
In the complete video, Arthur admited he used continental but he encouraged the use of eastern backhand grip, he said "do what I say, don't do what I do"
Hard part is you have to time it so you have the time that so it's like hitting a fly on the wall but if you don't have the right time and rhythm you'll miss
What he does is once he turns he steps at a 45° angle towards the net post that automatically turns his shoulder to the correct position from there it turns his shoulder is at that point it's all one motion continuous but it takes it back slow as a very far take back then he hits it like a fly swatter really lets the arm loose and just wants it like a fly swatter now the racket is going away from his body on the back end unlike a forehand where a racket's going towards the body so in this instance he has three different follow-throughs one straight which is and then finishes high which is flat straight back in second one was his top spin where he gradually came over the ball of the racket and finish with his elbow down on the other side on the fall through then on the slice he would come or underneath it and then his elbow position would be at a 45° skyward on the opposite side of his body this was the three methods of the straight shot top spin and slice but the secret was that he kept his arm super loose and you some type of flyswatter motion as we did is forehand was not as good as everybody else but it's back in was way better he hit it harder
And start the game number one in the world it's back and was twice as good as everybody else used to fly swatter technique on the backhand and hit it harder than anybody else and became number one in the world
Wow, nothing like what they do today
Those glasses are dope......1
Love the socks:-)
Started doing this and I beat the computer and two tennis games at the highest level I was just whipping Mac and roll everybody so I don't know I think this
The sky beat Jimmy Connors and must become number one the world that's hard to do considering how good Jimmy Connors was beating back around at that time can only consider how good this guy must have been he was able to mix it up use a lot of spins and junk and that would throw their games off I think he the guy that beat him was Manuel Santana or did a background check that guy knocked him out that was one of the best Mexican Spanish players of the day this guy was an excellent diet hitting short angles which would run you clear off the court all day long
If you want to hit a good backhand drive, do not use the continental grip that Ashe is advocating here. Only use that for slices. Hitting a continental grip topspin backhand is incredibly hard. Instead go a bevel over to eastern or even two bevels over to western and 20 hours against a wall.
compare this backhand to gasquet or Stan's
I think I'm not getting as much back swing as the sky he keeps his arm a lot looser than mine and he really swings that thing like a fly swatter can only imagine that's how he's hitting the ball way out in front of his body and the s*** out of it
This guy is the goat forget Federer
He was killed 2 much KNOW how
Pros at that time had the technique of nowaday's amateurs...incredibly unprofessional measured with today's standards. I know the material was different, but that alone doesn't explain the lack of perfection...it was the time of course. No one back then practised everyday from 4 years of age, had a professional team for every aspect, they didn't have nutritions scientists on their side, no mental coaches and so on...just less professional. The gap between players tenniswise was huge. With the effort they put in tennis and the lack of professional preparation, no one could enter the top 1000 today, not even close. But again, I know it's not their fault, it just was the time. The sport finally reached real professionalism.
+jpjanonceseis9 i agree with jpjanonceseis9
+Markkyish What an utterly ridiculous statement. Those guys weren´t just good athletes, but unlike most of today´s players [with Federer being the rare exception] had actual tennis talent. They had a variety of shots that guys like Djokovic can only dream of, and their understanding of the game was far beyond that of today´s players, who don´t know what to do with the ball except hitting it from side to side as hard as they can. And, dare I say it.. those guys knew how to volley! Watching Djokovic at the net is almost comical, since his volleying technique is so woefully bad.
+Markkyish Look at it from the other direction. Drop the modern player in the past with a wooden racquet and you would see our past "professionals" would be able to compete just fine.
Yes whilst I do take some of that on board and yes I have watched tons of old footage. Remember the game was much slower then. The players today and those even as far back from the 80's demonstrate far greater technical ability. The slice backhand was and still is a safety shot. Yes Federer uses on grass to good effect but that has been undone by Djokovic in recent years. Look at players like Lendl that far back and the technical excellence. The game then evolved further with Sampras and Agassi. Like I said in my original comment this is not a bashing of the players of the past. It is just evolution and it happen to today's players who in 30 years will look pedestrian compared to the players to come. What gets on my nerves are people who demonstrate crass stupidly and say a player from 40 years ago with a slice backhand has the greatest backhand of all time.
captainkirk21101967
I agree. The original post I replied to was being far too condescending of the players of the past. It is like people who put down special effects of movies before the pc.
I have never heard such ridiculous comments such as the greatest backhand ever. Let's be real folks Lendl used a racket that was just 10 percent bigger than a wooden version up until 94 when he retired with the exception of the last few Wimbledons. Mark Philippoussis hit a serve with a wooden racket at 129 mph. I started in the early 80s and saw the transition in the game and to be honest there are club players now who would beat Laver and Ash. That may sound extreme but just look at the old footage and be really honest. Yes off course the rackets have helped but that's only one factor. Look at techniques, back then they used to hit closed stance Forehands unlike today's pros who hit open stance. Back then with perhaps a few exceptions like Lendl Borg or Vilas alot of pros used Continental type grips so not much topspin. The players were smaller for example Laver was 5ft 9. Fitness which Lendl pioneered just didn't exist at the time. Although this sounds like a bashing to past players it isn't it's just a dose of reality. They were good for their time but couldn't compete with today's crop even if you evened up the racket tech. Its the same with all sports Osullivan in Snooker, Usain Bolt in Sprinting. Sorry if this upsets the Dunlop Green Flash traditionalists but it's called evolution.
1. Professional players use various stances, depending on the circumstances. If you bother to watch old footage, you will also notice that there is a variety in terms of stance, albeit to a lesser degree;
2. Older players usually played with lighter balls and faster courts. In that world, the ball usually bounced lower, slices were more effective and there was a much bigger premium put on volleying. It made sense to use more conservative grips like continental grips or eastern forehand grips (according to Don Budge, that was the most common grip in his days) because the intention was to seize the net;
3. Professional players today are very likely better athletes, but I am not sure how many amateurs today are better athletes. How many actually train harder than those former pros and benefit from advances in science and training method ?
4. It would take a damn good amateur to beat former pros like Laver, Ashe or Rosewall when they were at their best. Even on slower courts today, using contemporary rackets and strings, their ability to serve, as well as to approach and to volley would remain hell of a threat -- the same techniques apply, save for the fact that they'd be allowed per the rules to jump on their serve.
ASHE WAS THE BEST BE CAREFUL WITH YOUR WORDS
+CHINA SNOW Be careful or what exactly. Ashe wasn't exactly the greatest was he.
captainkirk21101967 DUDE WATCH HIM
good points maestro.