Well, listen to Ace - the backhand is the most natural stroke for anyone to hit! And it should be the easiest because, unlike the forehand, the rest of your body is out of the way when you swing! Here are 2 tips to cure the most common problem with backhands:
Cure 1: For any good ground stroke, your wrist must be behind the handle. If you use a forehand grip on a backhand - two things may happen. First, if you put your wrist behind the handle relative to the ball, then you open your racket face (the strings face the sky more than the net). So, when you swing the racket, the ball goes straight up. Or, if you keep your racket face so that the strings face the net, then your wrist is in front of the handle, and you can only hit a weak, pantiewaist stroke that way without breaking your wrist. You have to switch your grip!!! From a forehand grip, use your other hand to turn the handle to the right until your index knuckle is on top of the handle. Then let it rip!
Cure: Now calm down - I said there are two cures for this common backhand problem. If your strokes are still going high, even when using the correct grip, it means you are lifting your front shoulder when you strike the ball (and maybe hitting off your back foot). Concentrate on keeping your front shoulder (the one closest to the ball) pointed down as you swing into the ball. If you remember to do this, I guarantee you'll be ripping screamers down the line!
