Mastering The Pickleball Backhand Groundstroke: A Player's Guide On Technique

Mastering the pickleball backhand has been a tough journey, involving many hours of practice, sweat and tears. Ever since I started playing pickleball, the backhand has been an area of confusion in terms of which techniques to employ. Here I will be sharing what I learned over many hours of dedicated backhand training.

Various Grips

I first started by experimenting with various types of grips, different ways to hold the paddle when striking backhands. When it comes to pickleball backhands, I genuinely believe there is no one grip that fits all. We need to find the most efficient techniques for our own playing style. That being said, I found that the continental grip for hitting single backhands was the most effective for me in comparison to using an eastern or semi-western backhand grip. It also allows for versatility and better reach in comparison to using two hands for the backhand.

Different Stances

When it came to adopting the most appropriate stances, I did various drills to see which stances allowed for greater consistency on my groundstrokes. And I found that adopting both the open and closed stances was the best way to be more consistent on my shots. Staying dynamic with our footwork, so we can respond to different types of incoming balls is crucial if we want to be adaptable pickleball players. Thus, concluding there is no one stance that will be optimal for all shots. We need to have variety in our techniques and footwork.

Now that I have covered the various grips and stances for executing the backhand groundstroke in pickleball, I certainly believe that variety is a key part to being able to execute your best backhand groundstrokes consistently in different situations. It is important that we experiment with the various grips and stances in our training, so when it comes to matchplay, we can be adaptable to any given situation.