PICKLEBALL 360
- Two Handed Backhand Counter
- Ben Johns

Hi, I'll be going over the technical aspects of the two-handed backhand counter from the ad side. So the 200 backhand counter from the outside is characterized by your opponent attacking down your line here. And once you're in this position, you can choose to hit a 100 backhand or two-handed backhand. I prefer the 200 backhand because it offers more power more stability and more of a wrist snap enabled that enables you to get the ball down at your opponent's feet. So you can see in this position right here. It can often be difficult to get around the ball and generate power with one hand or snap your wrist to get the ball down at your opponent's feet with a left hand behind it. It's easier to generate that power keep the paddle stable to ensure you get The Sweet Spot and snap your left wrist get the ball back down at your opponent's feet. Let's see that again. So you can see I'm reaching out here and snapping the left wrist. The left wrist is going to roll over the ball. It's not an extreme amount, but it's just enough to get it to go from a flat trajectory to a downwards trajectory. And that is especially what we want to focus on whenever we're countering the ball. You want to punish your opponent for hitting up and return hit the ball back at their feet. In terms of footwork, you're usually gonna be right in the middle of your side. And if someone chooses to attack down the line, even with the slightly limited reach of the 200 backhand you should be able to reach your line with one lunge step this lunge also enables you to get your body lower. So you're able to see kind of on the same levels the net and keep your counter low to the net. You might also ask where should I be hitting this shot other than down low and the answer is the middle is a great place to go because your opponent that hits this shot is usually expecting your counter to come back at them and they're usually ready for it and then you're in trouble so that extra supporting hand behind the left loves you to get ahead of the ball slightly and return it to the middle instead of Back Down the Line. In terms of paddle positioning on this shot. A lot of people will ask should I drop the paddlehead? Should it be horizontal? Should it be up and for me the easiest way to get it back down at your opponent's feet is to have the paddle slightly cock upwards. And the reason for that is the left hand can then come over. So the paddle comes down. Whereas if it's horizontal. It's gonna come through more and that's gonna generate a little more power, but it's not as easy to get it back at your opponent's feet. now as you're reaching for this counter attack You want to ensure that your body isn't tilted backwards or the weight on the back of your feet because this is going to cause the ball to go up a lot more than you want and then you won't be able to hit it down at your opponent's feet where you want. If you're on your heels, you're naturally already in a defensive mode and that's usually going to lose you the point. Preferably you want to be on the balls of your feet and ready to get that ball back down at your opponent's feet. And there you have the two-handed backhand counter from the add Court.