Forehand power vs Backhand power

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I don't know if it is just an illusion or reality but for most player I have seen, they usually have a more powerful forehand than their backhand counter part. By the way, when I say powerful, I mean force and speed but not accuracy and consistency which are both important too, though I'm not talking about them here.

So why is there an inclination towards a powerful forehand? Is there some bio-mechanical restriction that favors the forehand while limiting the backhand's power? Or is it just a matter of style? If it is a matter of style, what is the advantage of just making the forehand powerful? Why don't the reverse happens more? or just make both sides equally powerful. :rolleyes:

I tried to do research on this but the only thing that came up was something on the line of methods that help to improve your backhand. It just was not the answer to the question at all. :(

I'm curious on your thoughts on this topic
 
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It's because you hit the backhand in front of the body (so short backswing) and use mainly the arm, forearm and wrist so less power than the forehand where you can use the whole body to hit. In a way you can also use the body in the backhand but less i think.

And for me the advantage of the forehand is that it's easier to finish point with it as it is more powerful. And it can be use more widely, i mean the sweet spot to hit a backhand is quite narrow while the sweet spot for the forehand is wider so in the end the forehand is more versatile
 
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I recommend you watching YouTube video Powerful Backhand Attack Like A Pro by ERT. In the showed rally the backhand seemed so be stronger than forehand.
For me in this video the biggest difference between the usual BH attack and the one showed/analysed in the video is:
- don't move the elbow to much forward
- to drop down the elbow more to gain more way thus more upward & forward motion.
I did try the movement in training and my colleague mentioned the whole session how impressive he is with my backhand. I didn't tell him about the change, he noticed himself.
The big problem with that was the practical application. I and most in my club are close to table looper/hitter. With the previous technique (elbow forward, shorter motion) u can attack much sooner and over the table if necessary. The technique in the video is more of a prepared forceful attack u can also do with forehand. In my opinion u can also get a hammer backhand like shown in the video which wont be much weaker as strong forehand attacks.
 
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Forehands inherently make use of bigger muscle groups.

Your big muscles groups are all ones that help you pull your hand into your body, which is the action of a forehand stroke.

Your backhand is inherently about pushing your hand out, away from the body. And since your muscles only pull, and do not push, you have to use smaller muscle groups to achieve this.

While how much of your raw power can be restricted by the available time, space and positioning, sometimes making a backhand a stronger option, mostly because you can generate more speed with a smaller, more compact, shorter swing from your backhand. And some people just have bad forehand technique, and potentially they may have smaller forehands than their backhands. At the end of the day, the ceiling on how much power is possible is much higher on the forehand, because it involves bigger muscle groups.
 
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I certainly agree with Hysteresis Hysteresis on this point.

Forehands inherently make use of bigger muscle groups.


But what I think I'm trying to say is this

Blue: Arm movement
Gray: waist+hip movement
yellow: weight transfer
Untitled.jpg
The backhand movement may be weaker by itself. However, when you add in the weight transfer and the waist, these two becomes the leading factor for how much power you get. Sure, your forehand is still better in terms of the ultimate potential for power. What I was a bit confused about is that the actual power difference in real life is way more pronounced than the power difference caused by biological limitation.

I think this is probably a big reason.
A lot of people understand how to generate power on their FH with the body. Very few people understand the same thing for BH.

The other thing is that it takes more effort to reach the biological power limit for backhand as the optimal position to release power takes more time to get into.
22.jpg
like Iamsan said.
The big problem with that was the practical application. I and most in my club are close to table looper/hitter. With the previous technique (elbow forward, shorter motion) u can attack much sooner and over the table if necessary. The technique in the video is more of a prepared forceful attack u can also do with forehand. In my opinion u can also get a hammer backhand like shown in the video which wont be much weaker as strong forehand attacks.

At least that is what I can say from my current knowledge. Sorry for the bad drawing.;)
 
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Momentum is the product of force and distance (the driving force being delivered by whip mechanics in differring ways on both wings).

Even with equal force, the larger distance of the FH travel implies a disparaty in the generated momentum.

Isn't p=F Δt or p=m Δv. (Force) x (Distance traveled) should be workdone or energy transferred right? lol
 
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The backhand movement may be weaker by itself. However, when you add in the weight transfer and the waist, these two becomes the leading factor for how much power you get. Sure, your forehand is still better in terms of the ultimate potential for power. What I was a bit confused about is that the actual power difference in real life is way more pronounced than the power difference caused by biological limitation.

I think you overestimate just how much of a factor your lower body is.

Try playing any shot with no weight transfer/waist rotation. It's noticeably less power, but still very playable.

Try playing a shot with your arm held out but not swinging, and power the shot with only your lower body/waist (you can adjust our arm so you don't miss contact). This is more or less unplayable.

There is a alot of power available in the lower body, but in terms of effect on overall power of the shot, it's definitely not more of a factor than the arm/shoulder/wrist.

Using your lower body is alot more than the power difference between someone with a good stroke swinging fairly hard, and using every ounce of strength in the arm. It's not more difference than the entire arm.

While your legs/waist are certainly more powerful muscles than your arm, you need to keep in mind they are still very slow muscles. Most of what determines your actual raquet speed will still be your arm/wrist.
 
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I think you overestimate just how much of a factor your lower body is.

Try playing any shot with no weight transfer/waist rotation. It's noticeably less power, but still very playable.

Try playing a shot with your arm held out but not swinging, and power the shot with only your lower body/waist (you can adjust our arm so you don't miss contact). This is more or less unplayable.

There is a alot of power available in the lower body, but in terms of effect on overall power of the shot, it's definitely not more of a factor than the arm/shoulder/wrist.

Using your lower body is alot more than the power difference between someone with a good stroke swinging fairly hard, and using every ounce of strength in the arm. It's not more difference than the entire arm.

While your legs/waist are certainly more powerful muscles than your arm, you need to keep in mind they are still very slow muscles. Most of what determines your actual raquet speed will still be your arm/wrist.

Yeah, you are right. But what I said is still true to a degree, I guess. I still think that people are exploiting the more of their forehand's potential than their backhand.

For whatever reason, people use short and quick stroke on both forehand and backhand but when it comes to the long and powerful strokes, for example in mid to long distance, people mostly rely on forehand.

I find the chance of people switching to defensive play(lobbing/chopping) more often than it would been if they could reach it with their forehand. People sort of back off more easily on the backhand, instead of still trying to counter.
 
Anatomically and body mechanics wise, the backhand can never be as strong as a forehand. Even if ylu swing like kreanga, the forehand will still produce more power since the difference in swing of both strokes are much different.
 
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Even with good technique, a bh is limited by body mechanics and anatomical function and movement. The op is specifically asking for power of both strokes and you can never remove strength from the equation.
 
Yes, the question is about power and strength, and its very obvious that the FH power and strength is greater.
I tried to picture it using examples of other sports. When it comes to power, the FH mechanics and muscle groups are used.
In martial arts the BH mechanics are used more in blocks and whips, FH punches are always stronger.
Speaking more widely, TT is a martial art too, using a weapon and a ball mediator. In TT the BH is good for blocks and whips /flips are whips/ too, but the FH is more powerfull.
 
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I think people are underestimating what taking the ball in front of you means for limiting hip usage and torso rotation. Also adjusting strike zones on the backhand is much harder than doing so on the forehand. When baseball hitters start hitting with a backhand motion, then we can have a serious discussion
Until then, devil's advocates should relax. Even good backhand technique is limited vs good forehand technique for hitting the ball.
 
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It's because you hit the backhand in front of the body (so short backswing) and use mainly the arm, forearm and wrist so less power than the forehand where you can use the whole body to hit. In a way you can also use the body in the backhand but less i think.

And for me the advantage of the forehand is that it's easier to finish point with it as it is more powerful. And it can be use more widely, i mean the sweet spot to hit a backhand is quite narrow while the sweet spot for the forehand is wider so in the end the forehand is more versatile

Thia ia pretty much complete.
 
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Yeah, you are right. But what I said is still true to a degree, I guess. I still think that people are exploiting the more of their forehand's potential than their backhand.

For whatever reason, people use short and quick stroke on both forehand and backhand but when it comes to the long and powerful strokes, for example in mid to long distance, people mostly rely on forehand.

I find the chance of people switching to defensive play(lobbing/chopping) more often than it would been if they could reach it with their forehand. People sort of back off more easily on the backhand, instead of still trying to counter.

I think if you play table tennis you will see that timing a backhand away from the table is hard unless the ball is a clean rally ball. Playing a chopper is hard to do consistently with the backhand as adjusting to last second changes in the ball trajectory is hard. Tes we can argue thar people can develop stronger backhands but a backhand is never a forehand. Wcen players with great backhands cannot become world class players without good forehands. You don't need a powerful backhand loop to be a world class player.
 
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