PANCHO SEGURA : A TENNIS PECULIARITY by Robert Firlus

The debate ended long ago. When it was obvious that two-handed players were winning as often as one-handed players, the gurus gave up.  It probably lasted longer than it should have when gurus who had learned their game as one-handed players had no credentials for teaching a two-handed stroke except to suggest the extra hand in the two-handed grip did essentially what the other hand did but in a backhanded manner on the other side of the racket and on the other side of the body.

What could have been even more confusing to one-handed gurus was the arrival at the University of Miami of a two-handed player from Ecuador. His name was Pancho Segura.  He arrived in the 1940’s not only hitting two-handed on his forehand but also using two hands on his backhand. His two-handed backhand was not given much credit since it was mediocre and not used that often. It was also not that apparent since his follow-through was done with one hand due to an early release of his other hand.  

Segura won the collegiate NCAA singles championship three times when attending the University of Miami. Jack Kramer, who played Segura professionally called Segura’s two-handed forehand the greatest single shot in tennis in his time.  Segura’s two-handed backhand, surprisingly, needed work compared to the two-handed backhands of today which are considered the strength of two-handed players. Eighty percent of the work Segura did on a tennis court was done by his two-handed forehand. Some gurus admitted to working with his backhand but never said what was accomplished or what good it did.

Jack Kramer didn’t recommend the use of Segura’s two-handed forehand in a book he wrote.   Since it was Kramer’s book on how he played tennis, he had first rights on how to hit a forehand.  But there was another reason. Segura’s manipulation of his racket during stroke production rivaled dealing from the bottom of a deck of cards. At least it gave that impression. Nobody taught Segura how to hit his two-handed forehand anymore than anybody taught him how to deal from the bottom of a deck of cards. It was simply a lucky mistake.

The first mistake little Pancho made, when his father was working as a maintenance man at a tennis club, was to pick up a standard size racket (27 inches) which was too big for him to handle. He put his right hand two inches up from the bottom of the handle and his left hand was placed forward of his right hand. This was, in effect, the ready position grip.  If the ball came to his forehand his right hand stayed in place while his left hand would move to the vacant bottom two inches of the racket. The index finger of the left hand would overlap the little finger of the right hand and the little finger of the left hand located off the bottom of the racket.

On the backhand (also two-handed) the right hand would slide down to the bottom of the racket while the left hand held the racket in place.   The left hand would then slide down to join the right hand in stabilizing the grip for the two handed backhand. . On the forehand only the left hand changed grips but on the backhand both hands changed grips.

Something was going on inside Segura’s two-handed forehand. Kramer credited Segura with the ability to disguise the direction of his shots. This advantage was something that was not deliberate on Segura’s part. It was simply difficult to know where his shots were going regardless of how he setup.  He could also hit angles that were not common to most players. Another advantage that Segura had was his grip in the ready position with his right hand two inches from the bottom of the racket and the head of the racket carried parallel to ground near his left forearm.  There is an advantage in handling a tennis racket from near the middle of the racket rather than manipulating it from the end. It is easier not only for a little boy but also a grown man to manipulate a racket from the middle.  On his two-handed forehand Segura’s right hand (top hand) was dominant throughout his two-handed forehand at its location two inches from the bottom of the racket.   The left hand, located below the right hand, provides a pivoting action that stabilized the two-handed stroke of the forehand and gave versatility and disguise to forehand.

It’s doubtful that Pancho Segura ever taught anyone how to hit a tennis ball like Pancho Segura. Although Segura is credited with spending time with Jimmy Connors, another two-hander, their biomechanical commonalities, if there are any, which is doubtful, are not worth talking about. They are subtle, unique and mutually exclusive.

Current guru gripping terminology is obsolete. It talks about the location of the hand on the handle but says nothing about what individual fingers do or don’t do on the handle. Additionally, gurus locate the hand on the circumference of the handle. The vertical location, above, on, or below the butt cap is not talked about in relation to an individual’s grip  The butt cap can be an integral part of an individual’s gripping technique. The butt cap can also interfere with the gripping technique of people like Chris Evert and Jimmy Connors. Fingering actions of individuals are, in effect, the idiosyncrasies that distinguish the grips of individuals regardless of the apparent location of the hand. Idiosyncrasy is the excuse of the guru who says: “Sure looks like an Eastern to me but it acts like a Semi-western.”

Idiosyncrasy needs a new name.  Call it a “twitch.”  Call the eight sides to the racket handle flats. From the top of the racket (when held vertically) they are numbered clock-wise flat #1 through flat #8. All grips consist of two parts: (l) location and (2) twitch. Call the grip the “LT” (location/twitch). Location can be seen. The twitch is a tactile (touchy/feely) sensation. The problem with attempting a grip change is that the change in location can be seen but not the twitch. When a grip change is made the twitch normally wants to go back to the flats (panels and bevels) on the handle that it was once comfortable with. The twitch can be as unrelenting as the French “R” when used in the English language.

There is no such thing as a bad grip. There are only grips that work better than others. Some world class players have “a hitch in their twitch.”  Jimmy Connors had trouble with low balls to his forehand and Chris Evert had problems at the net. Segura’s backhand was mediocre but it and his forehand carried him to world class status.

The author has never seen Pancho Segura hit tennis balls. But there is enough talk and graphics around to suggest what Pancho was doing with a stick called a tennis racket in his hands. It would be a shame to lose the special technique that Pancho brought to the tennis world. Segura’s stroke production evolved to accommodate his peculiar grips which were simply lucky mistakes that took him to the top of the tennis world. Segura brought his goofy grips to the tennis world about thirty years before Bjorn Borg brought his.

THE READY POSITION/THE HOME GRIP

Segura’s home grip (in the ready position) places the right hand two to three inches from the bottom of the racket. The right hand grip (twitch) is dominated by the pincher fingers of the right hand (thumb/index finger) and the middle pad of the middle finger. (It’s essential not to grip with the ring or little fingers of the right hand.) The base knuckle of the index finger locates on flat #3, the top pad of the index finger locates on flat #6, and the base knuckle of the thumb locates on flat #8. The racket head is held parallel to the ground near the forearm of the left arm.

The left hand holds the racket just above the right hand with the side of the thumb and forefinger (pincher fingers) pressing into the metal frame of the racket (corresponding to flats #3 and 7 of the handle.

THE TWO-HANDED FOREHAND. (From home grip to forehand grip)

The right hand remains in the home grip. The left hand moves down to the vacant bottom two inches of the handle with the bottom pads of the middle and ring fingers locating on flat #6, The index finger of the left hand overlaps the little finger of the right hand and the little finger of the left hand is off the end of the racket handle below the butt cap.  It is essential not to let the butt cap fall into the palm pocket of the hand. The bottom pads of the middle and ring fingers must stay on flat #6 to provide the blocking/pivoting action of the left hand during the two-handed forehand.

THE TWO-HANDED BACKHAND (From home grip to backhand grip)

The left hand remains in the home grip (holding with the index finger and thumb on the metal frame of the racket (corresponding to flats #3 and #7 of the handle. The right hand moves to the vacant 2 inches of the handle and then the left hand moves down to join the right hand to stabilize the grip for the two-handed backhand.  The palm of the left hand overlaps the right hand. During stroke production the left hand releases early and the follow-through is done with the right hand only.

THE VOLLEYS AND SERVE

The volley and serve (one-handed) are the same as the grip of the right hand during the two-handed backhand. (Minus the left hand, of course)

GETTING A HAND INSIDE THE SEGURA PECULIARITY

There is a preferred way to get a hand inside the Segura peculiarity. Use the right hand only. Place it two inches above the butt cap using the location and twitch (LT) described above for the right hand. Hit some forehands. Hit some backhand (slice). The emphasis should be on use of the pincher fingers and the middle pad of the middle finger. Once the right hand has been “twitched” the left hand can move to the vacant two inches on the bottom of the handle using the location and twitch described above for the left hand on the two-handed backhand.

It is necessary to let the right hand dominate on the two-handed forehand while the left hand acts as a pivot. The two-handed backhand should not be too difficult. It is simply a sliced backhand with some assistance from the left hand.

WARNING:  On the two-handed forehand do not let the butt cap fall into the palm pocket of the left hand. It may result in something as exciting as a “tennis elbow” only it’s called a “tennis thumb.”

There may be a tendency not to hold onto a tennis racket like Pancho Segura. This tendency can be overcome. Patience and handle the stick.