Lendl Edberg Federer - Backhand Comparison

[SylarFr]

edberg could be most eficient but roger's is most bealtifull

[pier70juve]

Edberg is the best one-handed backhand in the modern history of this sport (i mean from 1982 and on, when wooden rackets were changed with over sized kevlar and other materials rackets).

[pablotjob]

all of them are great! but i choose Fed's one...

[Thealmostguy]

Great stuff but Gasquest's bh is king.

[xridethelightningx]

edberg has the best backhand

[fmvgomes]

Federer should rip his backhand more often.

[bengtmartin]

Beautiful little backhand collection. Why the need to "pick" one when you can just enjoy them all? Federer´s stroke is wonderful to watch because he keeps his body closed for so long. He also belongs to an era when better materials allowed for more power. But no one moved as smoothly around the court as Edberg, ever.

[kkdkk7]

Stefan Edberg has the most exquisite and deadliest backhand in tennis history, second to none.

..

(.. Federer relies too much on the pull which altho spinful, is too complex n unnatural. Thats why players love to attack his backhand.)

(Edberg on the other hand relied on the stability of his wrist as a multiplier to return the opponent's shot at twice the speed, n he possesses a rare ability to find the most acute angles into the most remote spot of the other side with a lot of dip)

[michaelnight67]

I saw Lendl, Edberg and Federer, the best backhands ever. Why to choose one if you can enjoy them all?

[Stier19812002]

My favorite is Edberg's. I don't know if it was the best but it was the greates pleasure to watch!

All these players had great backhands, but I miss Michael Stich in this backhand collection. He was not that good as the other players at all, but his backhand was most definitely one of the best!

[yemenmocha]

Edberg's was by far the most graceful, silky smooth, and pleasurable to watch. I miss him and the true variety of playstyles from that era, unlike contemporary tennis.

[gulligulli]

great vid. thx

[SportsboxTennis]

Guga's backhand was the best ever.

[konvictz0007]

lol federer's is soo much better...amazing...

[xridethelightningx]

Lendl/Federer's backhand was great, but Edberg was on another level. Only Laver was better.

[Turbominchia2]

FEDERER FRAMES WAY TOO MANY BACKHANDS!

[haywoodlbc]

Stefan Edberg!

[SVolleyGame]

For additional fact, Lendl always had problem with high bounce top-spin to his backhand - thus frequent use of slice.

Edberg's flat backhand is the best ever (my opinion period). But top-spin is not as potent - he never needed one since he was always at the net.

Roger's back is designed to take on top-spins. He takes the ball on the rise so early. Very powerful and accurate. But he could not do this consistently enough until he increased his racket to 90 sq inch.

They are/were very elegant

[SVolleyGame]

They all have great backhands (best of all times), but I say Edberg or Lendl's backhand is better for most public. Unless you are 4.5 or up level player, you should not even try to imitate Roger's.

Norice that, among above three, Roger's take-back swing is the slowest - less time for preparation. Unless you are at pro-level, I bet you that your backhand will have consistency problem. It works well because it is Roger federer.

But for the rest of population, try to copy Edberg or Lendl's.

[mehdialloula]

@SVolleyGame I think that the big difference between Lendl+Edberg vs Federer is that Federer's backhand preparation is a continuous loop (i.e. not back / stop / forth) ... And actually that's the way tennis is being taught these last 10 years...

[PhilippedeHerte]

@mehdialloula

Where do you see Lendl and Edberg stopping? It's a continuous movement for both of them. They didn't loop it as much as Federer but they didn't stop at any point.

[mehdialloula]

@PhilippedeHerte

well at the risk of sounding like a physics teacher if you go back and forth along the same trajectory (i.e. no loop) than there must be a point where your racket speed has to be zero (i.e. it stops)

irrespectively of the movement looking fluid there is a point where it stops when there is no loop and to me it lkooks like Lendl and Edberg are doing that

[PhilippedeHerte]

@mehdialloula

I guess we have a misunderstanding of what a loop is. A backhand without a loop simply means that one just brought the racquet straight back. A loop means that one has brought the racquet back and up. The racquet face is well-above one's head (as in Gasquet's one-handed backhand). If we accept that definition of a loop, both Lendl and Edberg were looping their respective backhands. I don't believe that Lendl's or Edberg's backhands we worse than what one sees today.

[matteodinenno]

@mehdialloula They simply didn't loop as much as Federer. Both Lendl and Edberg take the racquet back to the higher point behind the left sholder (not just sidewise the head like Roger does). So they drop and release almost directly foreward in a more linear way.

[MrPURECONTROL]

all three are great, lendl's was one of the best, but you would have to be an idiot to think any of them are as good as federers and none of them look even half as good as federers(literally)

[matteodinenno]

May be i'm too stupid, or you too young, but l prefer both Lendl's and Edberg's backhand. Nostalgia?

[andrewo91]

@matteodinenno I guess it's just a matter of taste. I consider Federer's backhand slightly more elegant, though it has betrayed him in some circumstances (but this has nothing to do with elegancy).

[PhilippedeHerte]

@matteodinenno

I also think that Lendl's and Edberg's backhands were as good as what you see today in mens' tennis.

[rintintin7529]

@matteodinenno Matt you're living in the past. Live in the now.

[Turbominchia2]

@MrPURECONTROL Bullshit. Edberg's backhand is by far the best looking shot in the history of the game. Federer is miles down in terms of elegance.

[MrPURECONTROL]

@Turbominchia2 lol

[sultanabran1]

@MrPURECONTROL Roger Federer's backhand is better. But, it's in a different era where ground strokes have developed further for more power. You can see it in the footwork, upper leg and also shoulder rotations. However in their respective times, I think each was a good as each other's. Lendl's and Edberg's are great as well.

[blindspirit]

@MrPURECONTROL completely agree

[ladcameo]

@MrPURECONTROL

get out of the roger obsession, have any clue how the competition was in the Edberg and Lendl era, it was called the Golden Era... Rosewell has the best backhand in the game followed by Stefan Edberg, Federer is good, now you have some resistance from Nadal and Novak and the lad is struggling to win a slam.. he did well to cash in on the lull period of tennis when players like an aging Agassi, Roddik and Hewitt were considered the top players of the game... No comparison? LOL

[Turbominchia2]

@MrPURECONTROL No way, Edberg had the most fluent motion (a pure delight to watch), and also, Federer frames way way WAY too many backhands.

[napajedlacek]

Ivan Lendl invented everything....

Edberg did not really played same topspin...he was more flat

[MrJoegideon]

It seeams to me:

Stefan Edberg = continental/eastern grip

Ivan Lendl = eastern grip

Roger Federer = eastern/western grip.

[69wiwi69]

federer's backhand is the most elegant

[MrJoegideon]

Stefan Edberg's is the most elegant...