He’s still not #1 champ. Winning one PPA gold doesn’t mean you are ranked #1. I think this is his first gold btw and kuddos to him he deserved it, but don’t act like he’s the best singles player.
good stuff! just some pos feedback, if the cameraman could back off the frame just a bit so we can see your footwork on the shots and not film for effect that would help us see your whole stroke and footwork mechanics as well as the arc of the inbound ball and the contact timing of the stroke(on the arc of the ball) Thanks!!! appreciate the lesson!
Hey Connor! I met you at the PPA Hertz Gold Cup and you were one of the nicest guys there. I actually got a game ball that you and Christian signed! Thanks for being awesome and keep up the good work!
Awesome instruction! I met Connor at PPA Minnesota recently and he was approachable, enthusiastic and genuine even as he was getting ready for his Sunday match. Thank you Connor- your two handed backhand wizardry is a joy to watch.
My thoughts, exactly. Courts (at the Y) are closed for the weekend, but can't wait to get out Monday to try this. Until then, a lot of dry runs in the living room.
Fantastic lesson. I've struggled with the two handed backhand but this makes it understandable and I can't wait to go try this on a court. And I love watching you play Connor.
Thanks for this. Couldnt figure out why I was so inconsistent with this stroke till seeing your description. The emphasis of letting the hip turn bring the paddle forward after weight transfer and before arm swing was key. I think I was coming forward with weight transfer but with an incomplete hip turn and that led to significantly reduced power. Without that hip turn my arms came across my body rather than forward . Thx!
Awesome, glad to hear! Def coming out with some videos like that. I would say the main things though are 1) compact swing 2) weight shift through 3) if time letting the ball slightly descend vs hitting on the rise
I've had a bad case of tennis elbow the last few weeks that has been very frustrating as I can't progress in skill because of it. As a newer player, I am very motivated to put the work into increasing my skill, but the pain interferes. After playing for even just 30-45 minutes, I can barely do a backhand. I need to learn a two-handed backhand to take some pressure off my arm. Thanks for the video!
Just subscribed. Thanks for the very thorough explanation on how to do the 2-handed backhand. Saw your match against Donald Young. I didn't see that coming. Still, great to see new faces competing for medals.
Awesome video bro great stuff. Also I order the Twoey hat just waiting until it says shipped 😂 I cant wait to rock the hat when it arrives it’s look so cool
Started working on my 2 hander this spring. This is good. Seems like footwork isnt quite so important as is needed for single hand. Pls come to Canada! Love to see you play.
Thanks Connor one issue I'm having is knowing when to go with the Two=hander vs the one hander in live play. I think focusing on trying to use the two-hander is the issue instead of just being ready to play the next shot however it needs to be.
Thanks! So I typically block with a one hander directly in front of me and go two-hander for everything else. So my thought process is try and block the ball and then when I have time to get the second hand on the paddle I do
@@congarnett yeah that’s what I was referring to. I just started working on this and noticed if at the kitchen taking a ball above net height kicking that left leg back really helps with power and feels natural. Thanks again for the great video. Love watching you play singles. You will be #1 for sure soon
Connor this is excellent - So glad I found your channel - You’re an excellent teacher! My question relates to what you said about not breaking your wrists. If you’re crashing and taking a higher ball close to the kitchen- and you want to get it down- do you break your wrists then? Thanks!
So its more of a wrist turning over then flat out breaking them. The left arm is the driver of the shot so the right wrist may break a little but the left one think more turning a doorknob type motion
Thanks Connor- I love your game and especially your two hand backhand. As a singles player, I am interested in your lead tape setup. It appears you have a lot on top. Does this negatively affect the swing weight to head heavy and make the paddle more powerful, but less maneuverable? Does your paddle weigh around 9 oz? Thanks much, Connor and good luck getting to number 1.
Thank you! I weight it up to 9.3 and the tape at the top helps the paddle dip more naturally. I would imagine it slightly slows down hand speed, but I haven't noticed
Yeah, the backhand return of serve I am keeping the swing short and trying to get the ball deep and in singles by yourself time to get in the net. Baseline to baseline it is keeping it low over the net with depth
When you aim the backhand down the line do you use the face of paddle to aim down the line or your right index finger as an arrow to guide it down the line ?
Thanks for the video. One bit of feedback….too much camera motion while you were demonstrating. I wasn’t able to focus in on what you were doing. I was more concerned about not getting dizzy from watching. New subscriber. Thanks
Hey Connor, thank you for the video. Your backhand cross court do you use that shot in doubles as an aggressive drop? Or is that shot mostly for singles.
Great tutorial! Do you recommend an elongated paddle? I ask because I prefer lighter low swing weight wide body paddles for faster hands. I use a hybrid shape but was about to change to a wide body.
So I use a longer handle and the paddle width is standard. The longer handle allows for more whip on the ball and ability to get the second hand on which is why I like that
It looks like you keep your paddle pretty locked, as oppossed to dropping the head down and then lifting and flicking through at the end. Is that stylistic or best practice?
Stylistic! From the baseline I think you can go either way and I drop it a bit more unless I am going for a sharp angle. At the kitchen the more compact the motion it keeps you ready for the next shot if attacking off the bounce
@@congarnett Got it. I am sure you will be making more of these. When you do, try zooming out a bit away from your body, and possibly providing a few slow mo's from different angles. Would be helpful, at least for me.
At 1:44 you say if you're on the run you can take a step forward with your right foot. Does this mean if you're not on the run you shouldn't take that step? Do you always have your right foot in front when you hit this 2HBH or do you sometimes have your left foot forward?
I try and take a step forward any time I can it naturally allows me to get my kinetic chain involved but if I am on the dead sprint I will sometimes hit open stance where my left foot is in front of
I used a two handed backhand when I played tennis, but since I have started playing Pickleball (about 3 months in), it feels so unnatural to try and use both hands. I can't decide if i want to work on my one handed top spin backhand or make that switch. With such a small light paddle it just feels weird with 2 hands.
At the kitchen when dinking the two hander allows more power to pull a topspin / sidespin dink wide; however, countering one and two hands both work well and with the flick one hand is better. All in all I like it for the aggressiveness dinking + the swing volleys, but def a personal pref
In tennis the one hander gives a lot more power and is more dynamic, in pickleball with the shorter swings you don't gain those benefits with the one hand and allows for more optionality whether the short angles or hitting through the ball
I could see an argument if you have a split second on a volley and you are stretching with one hand or blocking directly in front of you. Everything else the range of motion doesn’t affect me and the benefits outweigh it. That being said everything is a personal preference
