Two-Handed Backhand Secrets From a Pickleball Pro!
Richard Pickleball hosts Jack Munro (lefty) on the two-handed backhand / “twoey.” Jack’s core mechanics: the off-hand does roughly 70–80% of the push while the dominant side stabilizes. He prefers two fingers on the paddle edge for stability and fewer shanks (personal preference; short handle factors in). The consistency rule is see ball, see paddle at the same time: set early instead of a big loop where the paddle disappears. He gets around the ball for side-topspin rather than pure topspin.
Placement is not one-note: pull wide carefully (deeper if needed so you don’t feed an ATP) and love the inside foot so you can crowd middle afterward. Follow the ball, hunt short hops and pop-ups, and take the next one out of the air. Speed-ups keep the same set as the dink; only acceleration and late wrist RPMs change, so disguise holds.
Key takeaways
- Off-hand pushes; dominant hand stabilizes
- See ball + see paddle — set early, no blind big loop
- Place to inside foot / careful wide; then lean in for next ball
- Speed-up = same set as dink, faster arm + late wrist
- After twoey: hunt short hops / air balls — don’t camp
Action items
- Wall twoeys: “see paddle” every rep; film takeback
- Crosscourt dinks aiming inside foot only for 10 minutes
- After each twoey, take one step in and look for air ball
- Speed-up drill: identical prep to dink; partner guesses before contact
- Track shank rate with 1 vs 2 fingers on edge for a session
- Rule: never miss speed-up in net — lob miss > net miss