Here’s a pattern you’ll see if you watch enough junior tennis: at 10, every kid runs around their backhand to hit forehands. At 14, the kids who are still doing it are losing — because their opponents figured out that the backhand side is where matches are won. The backhand doesn’t need to be a weapon. It needs to be unbreakable. A kid who can rally 15 balls off the backhand without missing will beat a kid with a huge forehand and a shaky backhand almost every time.
Most juniors hit a two-handed backhand (both hands on the racket). A few hit a one-hander. This guide focuses on the two-hander — it’s what the vast majority of juniors learn, and what the videos below teach. If your kid hits a one-hander, the checkpoints about preparation, contact point, and balance still apply.
What you’re watching for: 6 checkpoints
1. The grip change happens early. Most kids wait in the ready position holding a forehand grip. The instant they see the ball going to the backhand side, both hands need to shift: the bottom hand slides into a continental grip (base knuckle of the index finger on the top bevel of the handle — like holding a hammer), and the top hand takes a forehand-style grip above it. This change should happen during the split step, not after. Late grip changes are the #1 backhand killer in juniors.
2. The full shoulder turn. Watch the chin: on a good backhand preparation, the kid’s chin ends up near their front shoulder — meaning the shoulders have turned a full 90 degrees, sideways to the net. The cue coaches use is “show your back to the net.” If the chest is still facing the net at contact, there’s no coil, and therefore no power.
3. Racket head above the hands. In the loaded position (coaches call it the power position), the racket head should be up — higher than the grip, strings roughly facing the back fence. This gives the racket room to accelerate downward and then up through the ball. A racket that’s already dropped low in the backswing has nowhere to go.
4. Contact in front and to the side. The ball should meet the strings in front of the front hip, roughly a comfortable arm’s length from the body — not jammed into the stomach, not reached for at full stretch. Backhands break down most often because of spacing: the kid didn’t move their feet, so contact happens in the wrong place.
5. Weight moves forward. Watch the back foot: as the swing goes forward, weight should transfer from the back foot onto the front foot. Kids who hit off the back foot — leaning away from the ball — spray it. The best cue: “step into it.”
6. The full rotational finish. After contact, the shoulders and hips keep rotating, and the racket finishes up over the opposite shoulder with the chest facing the net. A backhand that stops at contact — the racket dying right after the ball leaves — was muscled, not swung.
The 3 mistakes almost every junior makes
Mistake 1: Changing grips too late. They recognize it’s a backhand, then fumble the grip change mid-swing, and the racket face is wrong at contact. Balls fly or dump. The fix: make the grip change part of the split step, every single time, even in warm-up. It has to be automatic before it can be fast. Have them practice the change without hitting — 20 reps of “see backhand, change grip, turn.”
Mistake 2: No shoulder turn — all arms. The kid swings with just the arms while the chest stays square to the net. It feels powerful because the arms work hard, but there’s no body behind it, so the shot has no depth. The fix: the “chin-to-shoulder” check. Film five backhands from behind. If the chin never gets near the shoulder in preparation, that’s the project for the month.
Mistake 3: Getting jammed. They don’t move their feet, the ball gets too close to the body, and they shovel it with bent elbows and no extension. The fix: spacing drills. The rule of thumb: at contact, there should be roughly a fist-sized gap between the hands and the body — close enough for control, far enough for leverage. If they’re consistently jammed, the issue isn’t the swing, it’s the feet (see our Footwork guide).
What’s realistic at each ball stage
- Red ball (ages 4–8): Two hands, just make contact. Don’t even discuss one-hander vs. two-hander — it’s years too early.
- Orange ball (ages 8–10): The grip change gets introduced. Keep it simple: “forehand grip to wait, backhand grip to hit.” Expect fumbling for months. That’s normal.
- Green ball (ages 9–12): Commit to the style (almost always two-handed). The unit turn is the lesson — everything else follows from early preparation.
- Yellow ball (ages 11+): The backhand has to hold up under real pace now. This is where you find out whether the fundamentals are solid. A kid whose backhand breaks down against pace doesn’t need a new backhand — they need earlier preparation and better spacing.
Watch and learn: 4 video lessons
- Tennis Two Handed Backhand — 3 Steps To The Perfect Double Hander — Top Tennis Training (Coaches Simon Konov & Alex Slabinsky). Beginner. Grip, unit turn, power position, finish — the cleanest 3-step breakdown we’ve found.
- Perfect Two Handed Backhand in 3 Steps — Perfect Tennis (Episode 6) — Top Tennis Training (Coach Simon Konov). Beginner–Intermediate. Goes deeper on the ideal grip combination and why early preparation creates time.
- How Two Handers Can Get More Power — 2MinuteTennis (Coach Ryan Reidy). Intermediate. The coil-and-release: rotate to load, uncoil through contact, swing up. Short and specific.
- Complete TWO-HANDED BACKHAND Tennis Lesson (No Talking!) — WebTennis24 (Coach Cosmin Miholca). All levels. No talking, just demonstration — grips, contact, follow-through, footwork. Perfect for visual learners and younger kids who won’t sit through explanations.
Next in the Stroke Library: The Slice — the most under-taught shot in junior tennis, and the reset button every kid needs.
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