News for hackers. Stuff that matters.
Re:Pete Sampras: Letter to My Younger Self by larrydag on Tuesday June 30, 2015 @09:18AM (#9804945)
The last of the great single backhand tennis players. Is the double backhand really that much of an advantage? Does power trump lateral range? I'm not a tennis player but I was a fan watching Sampras while growing up.
Re:Pete Sampras: Letter to My Younger Self by adpd on Tuesday June 30, 2015 @09:24AM (#9804978)
AFAIK, the single-handed backhander can be hit with more power than the double-hander.

However, the single-hander is tougher to execute when under time-pressure compared to the double-handed backhand (given that you should hit the ball further out in front on the single-handed backhand, and it is possible to have a good contact later for the double-handed backhand). It is also difficult to execute well with higher balls. Given the amount of top-spin that exists in the modern game, this makes the single-hander a tough choice to stick with.

If anybody saw Stan Wawrinka hitting through Federer (my current favourite player, and arguably the GOAT) and Djokovic to claim the French Open this year, you wouldn't say that the single hander is weaker than the double-hander.

And I would suggest that Federer is the last of the great single backhanded tennis players.

* Edited to add a bit of additional info around contact points for the single- and double-handed backhands.

Re:Pete Sampras: Letter to My Younger Self by trequartista on Tuesday June 30, 2015 @09:21AM (#9804969)
Roger Federer is still playing and he has a single handed backhand and is considered by many as the greatest ever to play the game.

Having said that, I agree with your sentiment. It was a great era to watch tennis. Legends like Becker, Edberg & Lendl were fading and newer upstarts like Sampras, Courier, Agassi were coming up

Re:Pete Sampras: Letter to My Younger Self by larrydag on Tuesday June 30, 2015 @10:25AM (#9805417)
That validates my theory. I always thought that there is such a big advantage to a single backhand vs double backhand. I haven't watched tennis is a while but I was a Becker and Connors fan.
Re:Pete Sampras: Letter to My Younger Self by smeyer on Tuesday June 30, 2015 @03:49PM (#9807971)
What about the parent comment validates your theory? The commenter gave another example of a skilled single backhand player but that doesn't really validate a theory that it's better or worse than the double backhand.
Re:Pete Sampras: Letter to My Younger Self by VeejayRampay on Tuesday June 30, 2015 @12:49PM (#9806613)
Don't forget the very talented yet always disappointing Richard Gasquet. That backhand is just out of a book.
Re:Pete Sampras: Letter to My Younger Self by pselbert on Tuesday June 30, 2015 @09:31AM (#9805025)
Stan Wawrinka is also a single backhand player who just won the French Open, denying Novak Djokovic in the process. There aren't many of them left, but there are a few prominent examples.
Re:Pete Sampras: Letter to My Younger Self by factorialboy on Tuesday June 30, 2015 @11:07AM (#9805790)
Wawrinka has potentially the greatest backhand of all time (single or double handed).
Re:Pete Sampras: Letter to My Younger Self by geoka9 on Tuesday June 30, 2015 @11:34AM (#9806015)
All other things being equal, one-handed backhand can generate more pace than a double-hander. However it is vulnerable to high bouncing balls (it's hard to generate much pace on those and they wear you out) and getting "jammed" (when you don't have enough separation between your body and the ball - it's much easier to hit with some pace using 2 hands from a jammed position).