Anna Leigh Waters – Two-handed backhand poach

“You should probably work on the movement before you actually get on the court,” she explained. “When you’re trying to hit it, you watch the ball, and you’ve got to make sure you’re hitting a pretty hard shot or place the shot well because you’re putting yourself and your partner out of position. So when you’re hitting it, think about where you want to hit it and then just go for it.” 

“It’s all about repetition. You can have somebody feed you the ball and then you just hit it over and over again. It’s a very different shot from a traditional dink or third shot. You’ve just got to fail a lot,” she mentioned. “Everyone has a different technique, so you really have to play with it and figure out how you can hit the ball hard.”

Mari Humberg – Backhand flick 

Humberg was one of the first women on tour to use a backhand flick, so it’s no surprise that this impressive shot has become her signature move.

“The way I hit a backhand flick is actually not what I recommend for an amateur because I turn my wrist a ton and I have a lot of wrist pain because of that,” she noted. “It’s not something that I would recommend for people to do. I think the way that Ben Johns hits it is very clean.”

To develop a stronger backhand flick, Humberg has a few key suggestions.

“Strength in your wrist is super important, so I do a lot of band exercises for my wrist to make sure it’s super healthy,” she said. “I wear a wristband around it at all times to make sure it stays stable. I started with a ball machine and I set it up for a little bit below the net. I work on getting the ball up and down and adding a ton of topspin to it. It’ll come with time.”

Callie Smith – Forehand

“You have to practice a lot, so go hit lots of forehands. I also recommend doing a little weightlifting in the gym to get yourself stronger,” she recommended. “If you’re up at the kitchen line, you can have someone feed you just slightly elevated balls that are level with the net. Then practice getting right on top of it and pushing through as fast as you can. Get good acceleration, swing through it, and see how fast you can hit it without hitting it out, which is hard. But with time and a lot of reps, you’ll get there.” 

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