By Mark Renneson

If you are like most people, you don’t love it when the ball comes to your backhand side. This may be when you are up near the net hitting a volley, a dink or a smash, or could be when you’re at the back of the court playing a return of serve, third shot drop or a drive. For many people, when the ball comes to their non-dominant side panic sets in and that is never a good thing in pickleball. So here are three tips to improve your backhand.

Set up sideways. A common mistake that players make when hitting backhand groundstrokes is that they stay facing forward. By doing this players make it virtually impossible to use their body to hit the ball. Instead, they must rely solely on their forearm and elbow to do the heavy lifting. And since these are such small parts of the body, it rarely works out well — and can often lead to injury. There is just no power when using such small parts of the body.

Instead, set up in a sideways position so your opponents can see the back of your shoulder. This will allow you to take more of a swing and turn through the shot. You will then be able to use the stronger parts of your body including your hips core and shoulder to generate power more easily. There’s a reason that in virtually all sports were people hit a ball with an implement, they stand sideways. Think about golf or baseball or hockey or even cricket. The sideways set up promotes rotation and rotation allows for effortless power.

Check your grip. Many people who play pickleball hold the paddle with an eastern forehand grip. As they’re hitting a forehand their hand is slightly behind the paddle putting in a really strong hitting position. But if we use the same grip when hitting a backhand the hand is now in front of the panel — between the handle and the net. This is a very weak hitting position and will make it hard to hit the backhand well. So what should you do?

One option is a grip change. To turn the paddle in your hand so that you’re holding it more like a hammer. This is called a continental grip. This is a slightly stronger position and will make it easier to hit the backhand a little more solidly. However, grip changes can be pretty major surgery and take a fair bit of time to develop.

Another option is to hit the backhand with two hands. While your dominant hand will still be in that weak forehand grip position, your non-dominant hand can support the handle through contact. As pickleball continues to evolve, we are seeing many top players using two hands on the backhand side. This allows them to have that stability without having to perform a grip change with the dominant hand.

Turn. Once you’re in a sideways hitting position, you are primed to rotate through the shot. Just like a baseball player uncoiling their body or a golfer driving the ball, rotating through the shot will allow you to generate speed more easily. It’s important that you have a turning feeling if you want to generate this power and that you allow the follow-through to happen without force. If you put on the brakes or just use your arm, the backhand will continue to be weak.

Learning to use different technique is very much about feel. Once you’ve settled on how you’re going to approach your weak backhand, I recommend spending some time with a coach, practice partner, ball machine or wall. Putting in some reps will help your body get comfortable with these new movements and will make it more likely you can use them in a game.