Jesse Engelbrecht is back in front of the camera this week, with another deep dive technical series introduced in his inimitable style. This time the focus is on all things backhand, with an in-depth analysis of a shot that is often a significant source of frustration for the amateur player.
This is a 2 part playlist, to help ensure no stone is left unturned in the examination of playing the ball on the backhand side from a whole range of positions and situations. Whilst all of the different drive, drop, and volley shots are discussed, Jesse goes deeper and takes a look at some of the real underlying foundations of positioning, grip, and swing that are common to everything on the backhand.
There are certain technical fundamentals that go into being solid and consistent on the backhand side, and there’s a lot of breakdown into these key aspects. This is backed up as ever in our SquashSkills playlists, with some first-class clips of elite PSA pros hitting the shots discussed in the videos and demonstrating the specific skills that Jesse focuses on in his instruction.
The aim of this blog is to give you some ideas of the best drills and practices you can use to start working on these primary foundations of the backhand and help you become more confident and capable in this area of your game. Once you start implementing some of the technical aspects that Jesse introduces, you’ll see immediate results in the effectiveness of your play on the backhand side of the court.
We’ve put together a selection of brand new solo and pairs sessions for you to try, built around these main technical points. Watch through the videos from the playlist and then click through the links to the integrated sessions below to check them out, and discover the benefits of resolving to allocate some of your training time into really getting these key areas nailed.
Put it into practice
This session contains a series of individual drills to practise on your own, to focusing on some of the fundamentals of hitting a quality backhand.
This session consists of a variety of pairs drills and conditioned games for you to practice, to help work on the key points as discussed by Jesse in the playlists.
Being strong and stable in your position will help your consistency on the backhand side – check out this great squash-specific balance/strength session to help you develop this area.
Related content
Best in the Business with James Willstrop
In Part 1 of this series we dive into the tactics and technique of James Willstrop’s super strength, the backhand drop, with a special focus on his ability to play the shot from the back wall.
Clean hitting on the backhand side with Jethro Binns
In this series, Jethro takes Paul Miles through a coaching session to improve his backhand technique and ball striking.
Backhand options with Ali Farag
Ali Farag talks about the mid backhand area of the court and explains using the varying types of shots to your advantage.
Let us know how you get on with the sessions, we’d love to hear your feedback!
Haven't seen the full series yet?
In this series, Jesse takes a deep dive into the backhand, looking at the fundamentals, shaping your swing, body position and hitting with ball in different scenarios.
Watch now