A two-handed backhand has a compact swing and two hands on the racket, so it can be a very steady shot when your timing is right. When you are rushed it can break quickly: your arms take over, your body stops turning, and the ball lands short or goes into the net.
This guide covers what each arm does, how to prepare and space yourself, why the stroke breaks under pressure, and a drill progression with a pass mark for every level. The directions are for a right-hander. Left-handers should reverse them.
What does each arm do on a two-handed backhand?
A common coaching picture is a left-handed forehand with help from the right hand. Research gives this some support. A 2015 review by Genevois, Reid, Rogowski and Crespo cites work suggesting that the dominant side stabilizes the stroke, and that joints on the non-dominant side move faster. It also reports that two-handed players in the professional top 100 used an eastern forehand grip with their non-dominant hand. Coaches still differ on the balance between the hands, and some good players use the bottom hand more.
| Hand | Common grip | Main job | Sign of trouble |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bottom hand (right hand) | Continental | Keeps the racket steady and helps on wide and low balls | You push with this arm, and the ball lands short or goes wide |
| Top hand (left hand) | Eastern forehand | Drives the racket through the ball and adds speed and spin | This hand is loose or comes off early, and the ball has no depth |
Self-test: let go with your bottom hand and hit 10 soft drop feeds with your top hand only. If fewer than 5 land in the court, your top hand is not doing much of the work yet. Start at level 1 of the progression below. This benchmark is our suggestion, not a research figure.
Prepare early and turn your shoulders
The same review reports that the two-handed backhand gets its speed mainly from trunk rotation, while the one-handed version relies more on rotation of the arm. One study it cites measured average pelvis rotation at 538.5 degrees per second for two-handed strokes and 280.7 for one-handed strokes. So the turn of your body does a lot of the work. If that turn gets short, your arms have to make up the difference, and that is when the swing gets stiff. If you are still choosing a stroke, read one-handed vs two-handed backhand.
- Turn your shoulders and hips as soon as you see the ball coming to your backhand side, well before it bounces.
- Take both hands back together, with the racket beside your rear hip.
- Let your front shoulder point toward the ball.
- Keep moving your feet while you turn, so you are not waiting in one spot.
Video check: film side-on and pause when the ball bounces on your side. If your racket is still in front of your body, you are late. The guide to being late on the ball has drills for this.
Spacing and contact point on the two-handed backhand
With two hands on the racket, you have less reach than on a forehand. That leaves less room for error in your spacing. Too close and your arms get jammed against your body. Too far and you lean, lose your balance, and your top hand often comes off. Use small steps until the last moment, and on wide balls take one extra step instead of reaching.
Most coaches want contact in front of your lead hip, with your arms away from your body. The review found one-handed contact further forward than two-handed contact, relative to the hips, though it warns that the reference point differs between the strokes. In practice, you can make contact a little closer to your body than a one-handed player, but not beside or behind your hip. See the contact point guide for how to find yours.
Video check: pause on the contact frame. Is the ball in front of your lead hip? Is there space between your hands and your body? Is your head still?
Why a two-handed backhand breaks down under pressure
The pattern coaches commonly describe starts with timing and then spreads to the rest of the stroke. Use this table to find your version of it.
| What happens | What you see on video | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| You start late | The racket is still in front of you at the bounce | Start your turn as the ball leaves your opponent's racket. Say "turn" out loud in practice. |
| Your feet stop | One long reach instead of small steps | Take at least two small steps before each ball in drills. |
| Your hands tighten | The swing gets shorter and ends early | Breathe out at contact and finish over your shoulder. |
| Your turn gets smaller | Your chest faces the net early | Hit at half speed with a full turn, then build up. |
| You aim closer to the lines | Misses go wide or barely clear the net | Choose a bigger cross-court target and more net clearance. |
Two-clip test: film 20 backhands in a calm, cooperative rally. Then film 20 in points played with a real score. Compare the same frames in both clips: racket position at the bounce, number of steps before contact, and the contact point. The first thing that changes is the thing to train.
A two-handed backhand consistency drill progression
Start with repeated shots, then add choice and pressure. In one study of 83 undergraduates in tennis classes, low-skilled students did better with blocked practice, meaning the same task repeated, while high-skilled students showed no difference. A 2007 review argued that repetitive hitting alone is unlikely to give the best learning. So do not stay at the early levels for long. Move up once you pass a level in two separate sessions. The pass marks are our suggestion.
| Level | Drill | Amount | Pass mark |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Drop feeds, top hand only, then both hands | 20 balls | 14 land in the court |
| 2 | Drop feeds cross-court | 20 balls | 14 land past the service line |
| 3 | Mini-tennis, backhands only, inside the service boxes | Repeated rallies | 20 shots in a row |
| 4 | Cross-court rally from the baseline, clearing the net by a racket head or more | Three rallies | One rally of 15 in a row |
| 5 | Cross-court, changing to down the line when your partner calls it | 20 balls | 14 land in the singles court |
| 6 | Backhand-only points to 11, started with a feed, and any miss loses the point | Two games | Fewer errors in the second game than in the first |
No partner? Use a wall. Mark a line at net height, 0.914 m (3 feet), and try for 30 backhands in a row above it. When your backhand holds up, the consistency drills add depth and height targets for both sides.
Track your backhand from week to week
Write down your level and your counts after each session. Film from the same spot once a week, because a change of angle can look like a change in technique. If you want a second opinion, TennisAI gives a separate backhand score with feedback, and its progress tab can filter sessions by stroke. The score is an automated estimate that can be wrong, so use it alongside your own counts. A coach can also spot things neither a camera nor you will notice.
Frequently asked questions
Which hand does most of the work on a two-handed backhand?
Usually the top hand, which is the left hand for a right-hander. It drives the swing while the bottom hand keeps the racket steady. Coaches differ on the balance, and some good players use the bottom hand more.
What grip should I use for a two-handed backhand?
A common choice is a continental grip with the bottom hand and an eastern forehand grip with the top hand. Small changes are fine if you can repeat them.
Should I let go with my top hand on the finish?
Keep both hands on through contact. After that, some players keep both on and others release the top hand. Both are normal, so use the finish that keeps you balanced.
Why does my two-handed backhand go into the net?
Check for late contact first, then a swing that does not rise through the ball, then a target too low over the net. Pause your video at the bounce and at contact to see which it is.
See this in your own game
Upload a practice or match video to TennisAI and get feedback on your forehand, backhand and serve.
Sources
- Genevois, Reid, Rogowski and Crespo, Journal of Sports Science and Medicine: Performance Factors Related to the Different Tennis Backhand Groundstrokes
- Hebert et al., Research Quarterly for Exercise and Sport: Practice schedule effects on low- and high-skilled students
- Reid, Crespo, Lay and Berry, Journal of Science and Medicine in Sport: Skill acquisition in tennis
- ITF (now World Tennis): Rules of Tennis 2026 (net height)
This article is general information about tennis training and does not replace a coach or medical advice. Stop and see a professional if something hurts. TennisAI is made by Pace, the publisher of this blog.
