Swing forward with a high-to-low motion.
\nRelease the racquet with your left hand as you do this. As the ball approaches and you rotate your shoulders to your left, bring your racquet back above your left shoulder.
\nYour stance resembles the stance you take when you step up to the plate and get ready to swing a baseball bat in both cases, your hands are up around your left shoulder. Over the years, many techniques have been developed in tennis to make shots more difficult to hit. If youre a righty, hitting a slice serve out wide in the deuce court will draw your opponent off the court, leaving the rest of the court open for a follow-up shot that puts you in a position to move forward and attack. The result will be a more fluid motion that helps you achieve a better serve. Generally, when practicing a topspin forehand, players will implement a semi-Western grip, as you are able to apply a greater amount of spin to the tennis ball using far less effort. It's a defensive shot that you should use on only three occasions:
\n- When you're scrambling to retrieve a good, angled shot by your opponent (this is called making a get) and can't set up to hit a conventional forehand you can swipe the ball back with slice and buy yourself a little time to get back into position.
- When you're moving forward toward the net and you want to drive a low-bouncing ball into the corner of your opponent's court.
- When you want to surprise your opponent with a drop shot.
Dressing up your backhand with slice
\nIf you have trouble effectively hitting the flat backhand, you can use a slightly different stroke that carries many players far in the game the pure slice backhand. A flat groundstroke is usually more challenging to hit while keeping the shot within boundaries of the tennis court since there isn't much topspin. But knowing how to use the topspin to your game (strategy) has its advantages: The truth is, a continental serve grip is highly effective for all types of tennis serves. Implementing finesse into your shots when competing against other tennis players is a great way to throw off your opponent by forcing them to change their game plan on the fly. The slice can be a useful weapon, but it does have some disadvantages. For the taller opponent, who might not move as well as a shorter player, you might hit a slice serve at their body because theyll struggle to reposition themselves quickly when returning. The Top 3 Best Babolat Tennis Rackets Under $100. Ultimately, the greater variety of serves you can hit, the more you can adjust your strategy to compete at a higher level against different players and on various court surfaces. To hit a slice, you need to strike the ball with a high-to-low movement, thus imparting backspin. The same can be said about Federers use of the backhand slice. Slice is also an underrated shot, again thanks to that Bollettieri talent-destroying-nonsense. It is also the most commonly used shot when you are in a defensive position. The major difference is that the racquet shouldn't be pointing straight up, at a 90-degree angle, like a bat. . That's just plain easier.
\n- Slice slows the ball down. A ball hit with any kind of spin travels slower than a flat one. Slow pace and the flat trajectory give your opponent two big advantages: more time and an ideal height, at about a foot above the net, to smash away a winner. Hitting a very high lob with some slice, by cutting under the ball with a flattish swing, can give you time to get back into a rally. Sliced returns need to be controlled with precision or else a volleyer can pick them off, especially in doubles. The drawback of a slice serve is that it is easy to read. As for the angle of your racquet head, youll want the edge to be roughly parallel with the baseline. If players like to attack the net and volley, they slice a lot. The Austrian said: "Very difficult because, I mean, I . Reaction time: The same speed that makes it difficult for your opponent to return a hard flat serve can make it challenging for you to field a well-executed return off of a flat serve because youll have less time to react. Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. If you look at a tennis shot side-on from the players right, a ball hit with topspin will appear to be rotating clockwise. It's a defensive shot that you should use on only three occasions: \n
- When you're scrambling to retrieve a good, angled shot by your opponent (this is called making a get) and can't set up to hit a conventional forehand you can swipe the ball back with slice and buy yourself a little time to get back into position.
- When you're moving forward toward the net and you want to drive a low-bouncing ball into the corner of your opponent's court.
- When you want to surprise your opponent with a drop shot.
Dressing up your backhand with slice
\nIf you have trouble effectively hitting the flat backhand, you can use a slightly different stroke that carries many players far in the game the pure slice backhand. A player can add slice or topspin to shots by hitting the ball in different places. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); The last comment and 5 other comment(s) need to be approved. On Friday at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships, the Grand Slam champions earned themselves a nomination for point of the year. She has even used the shot effectively on hard courts, which is probably more difficult than employing it on softer surfaces. This requires care, however, as the ball may be low, and will not rise off the racket as readily as a ball which comes to you with topspin. If your opponent has a very fast or heavily spun serve, and you are having difficulty controlling it with a flat or topspun return, a block return with a little slice can be effective. I had to work extra harder. Your email address will not be published. However, youll also want to hit up slightly to give the ball a bit of topspin so that it drops back down into the court. When you reach it, the ball may only be a few inches off the ground, meaning that a topspin is not a realistic option. 5 Point Friday However, its often one of the most challenging serves to develop. 02. of 02. Swing forward with a high-to-low motion. First and foremost, its important to make sure youre using the correct grip for the flat serve. The underarm serve is most widely employed by players with big serves and a good touch, such as Nick Kyrgios and Alexander Bublik. Kevin is an LTA-accredited coach, and is world ranked in the over-55 age group. MyTennisHQ is a participant in affiliate advertising programs designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to websites like TennisWarehouse.com and Amazon.com. Tsvetana Pironkova and Monica Niculescu have both enjoyed success using this tactic, particularly on grass. If you miss, the pressure is still on your opponent to hit a great return off your slower second serve. link to The Best Babolat Tennis Rackets (for Every Type of Player), link to The Top 3 Best Babolat Tennis Rackets Under $100. This is most easily done if you are holding the racket in either a continental or Eastern grip (see How to hold a tennis racket on this site for details of these grips). Upper Body Exercises Safe for Tennis Elbow, How to Choose a Grip Size for a Tennis Racquet, How To Handle The High Bounce To The Backhand Side In Tennis. At the highest level, many matches go by without a single sliced forehand being played. Think of your racquet face as an elevator that you need to move to the right "story" or height to pick up the passenger, a bright yellow tennis ball! When a slice shot bounces, the ball stays low, forcing your opponent to really stretch to get to the ball. If you miss, then youll have to rely on your second serve to keep you in the game with your opponent, who is ready to take a chance themselves and close out the game. Heres a video that showcases the kick serve, including the toss, contact point, and racquet angle necessary to generate topspin. Grass is tough on the arm, though, because the ball hits the racquet with more speed, and more speed generally means more shock and torsion. Using this technique, you can make it very difficult for your opponent to return your shot with topspin, making the slice a great defensive shot. Once again, when hitting a kick serve, you should rely on your continental service grip, which is ideally suited for this serve. He knows like no other how to disrupt the opponents rhythm by using the slice in almost every rally or how to completely catch them off guard with a drop shot. When a slice shot bounces, the ball stays low, forcing your opponent to really stretch to get to the ball. Those two qualities can catch your opponent off guard and screw up her timing.
- Slice shots travel in a flat trajectory. You don't have to lift the ball over the net in an arc and then get it to drop back down inside the boundaries of the court like you do with your other shots.
A word of caution: Slice backhands make poor passing shots. disadvantages of the two backhand strokes in relation to the style of play. The first thing you need to do is grip the racket properly. As a result, when the ball hits the court, it stays low, which forces a player to have to bend and get low or return out of their strike zone. Read our weekly recap of the 5 most interesting things we dig up in tennis. When you're moving forward toward the net and you want to drive a low-bouncing ball into the corner of your opponent's court. Even at pro level, doing damage is still all about the forehand. Rookie Road may earn a commission when you buy through links on our site. On the other hand, if youre down 15-40, a big flat serve can be a considerable risk. For example, if youre 6 tall and playing a 54 opponent, then you might be able to take advantage of their height by hitting a kick serve thats way out of their strike zone or even over their head, making it challenging for them to return. Slice shots don't bounce as high, either. The racquet head instead should be pointing at the back fence, at about a 45-degree angle. Approach shots. In fact, hitting a slice serve at 75% of your max swing speed can be a great tactic because the sidespin combined with the change in pace will often throw off your opponent. We're Gui and Karue. Thats where variety is king and why learning the three different types of serves is crucial. On a surface like grass which creates less friction, the ball will tend to skid and stay low. There are basically three major types of court surfaces: Hard Courts, Grass Courts, and Clay Courts. Some coaches will tell you that the short game can be more difficult in terms of short chops and banana flips. Research Design and Testing Procedure . The ideal contact point and racquet angle. However, on grass, that same kick serve wont jump nearly as high, so you might rely on your slice serve, which stays low, making it challenging to return when playing on grass. With the kick serve, youll want to contact the ball from bottom to the top of the ball so that youre hitting or brushing up on the ball. Slice shots can be good for making an opponent really stretch for a ball, but it is difficult to hit them with much pace. More consistent - means with which one you can hit more or less the same shot over and over again. Once again, Ive provided a view of this serve in slow motion so you can easily see the nuances of the different pieces. The ball will naturally bounce less on grass, which plays terrifically with the slice serve, which also doesnt bounce high. Using this technique, you can make it very difficult for your opponent to return your shot with topspin, making the slice a great defensive shot. Lets take a look at how to hit a slice serve with proper technique. Many players assume behind means you need to toss the ball toward the back fence, i.e., behind the baseline. Additionally, if the forehand slice has been hit with side-spin, you will need to recognise this and allow more space if you aim to reply with a forehand, as the ball will spin into your body if your opponent is right-handed. Make contact with the ball, with the racquet "slicing" under it, when it's at a point about even with your right shoulder. You can see it coming, as it is obvious where the server is hitting the ball to impart the sidespin. A tennis slice is a means of hitting or returning the ball that puts a particular spin on the ball. In tennis, a slice is a type of swing that puts spin on the ball.Players will utilize a slice when serving or returning volleys to give the ball an irregular bounce, making it harder for their opponent to track and return. The forehand smash is a fast, hard and powerful stroke that aims to force the opponent away from the table or to win a point outright.