Add to that the ability to hit your serve at different speeds to throw off your opponent, and you can begin to see why developing various types of serves can be such a huge advantage. A player can add topspin to a shot by hitting the ball in a down-up movement, which causes the ball to rotate towards the opponent. Let us know about your experiences via the comments. Here are some tips on how to slice a ball in tennis: 1. By using the proper topspin or backspin techniques during your next competitive match, you will be able to easily keep your opponent on their toes, making it much more difficult for them to adjust to your techniques throughout the entirety of your match. Friction and surface area explain why slower surfaces are less effective. Defensive Lob. 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.

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Basically, you hit the slice backhand just as you would hit your standard backhand (both one-handed and two-handed backhands), changing only the following things about your stroke:

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1. Topspin shots are also used to come towards the net as previously mentioned it pushes the opponent back, which gives you time to advance to the net. If you havent had the chance, Id highly recommend you check out our post on the serve trophy pose, which will show you how to get the most out of your serve while incorporating your legs to help you generate power. By common sense, it is known that in tight situations players have to use larger body parts to lessen the impact of their muscles tightening. Slicing and Dicing, Tennis Style - dummies When the racket and the ball make contact, the racket should be continuously moving in a direction close to perpendicular to the ball. Aerodynamically it will appear to rise and then dip, kicking forward and up off the court surface when it lands. For that reason, its vital to add different types of shots to your repertoire. For example, if youre up 40-15 when serving, you might throw a big flat serve in to try and close out the game. Instead, the best option is to stretch wide, perhaps in an open stance, and move the racket from high to low and through the line you want the ball to travel. Lets take a look at how to hit a slice serve with proper technique. The best choice is, using a continental or Eastern grip, to cut sharply under the ball with a high-to-low action, following through either straight up the court or cutting across the line to impart additional side-spin. Since a big flat serve has a lower margin for error, its worth being thoughtful when you choose to use it. To help, give yourself a moment before you go to serve. After all, if you have a question, its likely another reader does too, which helps our entire community. All three have their benefits and all three result in a very different bounce of the tennis . Both arms should be out in front of you. 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. A forehand push is a difficult defensive shot that requires the player to strike downwards on the back and underneath the ball to create backspin. Slice is also an underrated shot, again thanks to that Bollettieri talent-destroying-nonsense. First, it can be difficult to control the ball. As a result, most players hit flat groundstrokes sparingly. Slice shots that are hit from lack of confidence or in a desperate attempt to just get the ball back tend to float, and they travel through the air slowly. An Overview of The Different Types of Tennis Shots - TennisCompanion However, assuming you have the correct serve stance, behind you is parallel with the baseline and an important distinction when it comes to the kick serve. What Does Game, Set, Match Mean In Tennis? I got a chance to play junior and professional tournaments across the world, and in 2015 I began playing as the #1 player for Pepperdine University, a great division 1 school. To be successful with this tactic, you will need to stay low and develop plenty of racket-head speed, to allow you to control the trajectory of the ball. Your 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. Sources: rio2016.com, itftennis.com. Tennis Grips | Types of Grips Explained & Illustrated Nuanced shots can effectively deceive your opponent, causing them to approach the ball incorrectly while increasing the likelihood that they will not be able to return your shot. 3.

Michael Kernicki is currently the Head Professional at the Indian Creek Country Club in Miami Beach.

","authors":[{"authorId":10669,"name":"Michael Patrick Shiels","slug":"michael-patrick-shiels","description":" Michael Patrick Shiels writes frequently for golf magazines and is the official golf writer of the PGA of America's Michigan section. Ive had the chance to play against great names of the new generation, like Christian Garin, Cameron Norrie, and Kyle Edmund. Its subtle, but hopefully, compared with the flat serve, you can tell the racquet is coming toward the ball at an angle with a bit of upward motion. Take a deep breath, bounce the ball, and consciously relax your muscles, including your grip and wrist. 2. 2. Thats because racquet head speed is required to create topspin. Many players assume behind means you need to toss the ball toward the back fence, i.e., behind the baseline. This is known as a squash shot and a good one will fly low and fast over the net. 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. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); The last comment and 5 other comment(s) need to be approved. A "tennis slice" is when the ball hits the ground and bounces back into play. How To Feel Topspin In Tennis The Way A Pro Hits It 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. The result can be a very low-bouncing serve that is hard to return. Slice shots don't bounce as high, either. It's a defensive shot that you should use on only three occasions: If 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. If you are under pressure in a rally and are forced to stretch very wide to retrieve a ball on your forehand side, it is unlikely that you will be able to play a topspin shot. Kevin Leck is a Sport Psychology Consultant and Writer from Loughborough in the UK. Just before you start your forward swing, raise the racquet head to shoulder height, open the face so that the hitting surface faces up, and produce slice by cutting under the ball with a long, smooth stroke.

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The slice forehand is easy to master, and a fair number of hackers resort to it. However, you can use it to your advantage on certain court surfaces. Within tennis, the serve is a bigger weapon for men than for women, in part . Only people who haven't really played tennis (or have played and don't use a one hander) believe this myth (aka 90% of this forum). Many pros, including the legendary Australian champion Ken Rosewall, used the slice backhand stroke as their only backhand. Lastly, it can be difficult to hit a winner with a slice. But don't use it as a substitute for your flat or topspin forehand. Disadvantages Lack of topspin Lower power potential Difficulty handling high bouncing balls How to Form a Continental Grip To form the continental grip, place the palm side of your index finger's bottom knuckle against the second bevel if you're right-handed or the eighth bevel if you're left-handed. When a slice shot bounces, the ball stays low, forcing your opponent to really stretch to get to the ball. Second, changing your grip can be a dead giveaway to your opponent as to what type of serve youre about to hit. It also has a slightly lower margin for error than the kick serve, because it doesn't have as much top spin to make the ball dip into the service box. Disadvantages Of Slice In Tennis Slashes are disliked by many lower-level recreational players. Another instance when you are using a slice is if you want to surprise your opponent with a drop shot. Basically, you hit the slice backhand just as you would hit your standard backhand (both one-handed and two-handed backhands), changing only the following things about your stroke: 1. 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!

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4. Kick Serve vs Slice Serve: Which Is Better? - Dad Racket Follow through until your racquet arm is fully extended, with the head pointing toward the ground at a moderate angle. 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. This photo was snapped at the height of the toss so you can get a sense of accurate placement. When a slice shot bounces, the ball stays low, forcing your opponent to really stretch to get to the ball. When comparing table tennis to tennis, golf, ice hockey, football, or nearly anything, you will find that it is rather cheap. At MyTennisHQ, we have all played junior, college, and professional tennis. In this article, well cover these topics for each type of serve: Well start by talking briefly about why you should learn the three types of tennis serves. 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. This motion gives the ball the spin or slice that youre looking for while also making sure theres just enough topspin to bring the ball back down into the court.

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If you hit this shot from a comfortable, set position (at about the center of the baseline), your racquet should be pointing toward the right netpost.

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Slice, or backspin, causes the tennis ball to spin back toward the source of impact (you). On slice shots, the racquet doesn't come around and up, making an arc. After that, I somehow ended up with a flat slice (something similar to Rosewall's backhand), probably in my attempt to firm up the face on contact. While you should strive to maintain an identical toss for your flat and slice serves, the kick serve falls into a category of its own, with a different toss that allows you to generate the necessary topspin. Similar to the flat serve, youll want to place your toss about 12-18 inches in front of you and approximately 6 inches to the right of your tossing arms shoulder at the peak of the toss, allowing for natural contact with the ball. Many players will want to take the initiative from the slicer by hitting an aggressive topspin. The latter has been a key element of Roger Federers defensive game for a number of years. Kevin is an LTA-accredited coach, and is world ranked in the over-55 age group.

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High bouncing balls are ideal for hitting slice shots, but you can play balls at any height with a slice by bending more at the knees and/or adjusting the height of your back and forward swings. The same can be set for other net approaches. 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. The ball will follow a low, flattish path through the air and then bounce up (but not far forward) on a grippy court surface like acrylic. The Austrian said: "Very difficult because, I mean, I . Thats where variety is king and why learning the three different types of serves is crucial. More consistent - means with which one you can hit more or less the same shot over and over again. If you look at the top players in the world they know exactly how to use topspin and slice shots to their advantages. 4. One of these techniques is the slice, which gives a confounding backspin to a serve or return.Find more information on slice strokes in tennis below.

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Figure 1: Hold your racquet at a 45-degree angle to the fence when you slice your backhand.\t

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3. You may want to be slightly lower for a push as usually we play this shot against lower, backspin balls. 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. Just before you start your forward swing, raise the racquet head to shoulder height, open the face so that the hitting surface faces up, and produce slice by cutting under the ball with a long, smooth stroke. For a slice, you will need to grip the racket with an eastern or semi-western grip. If something isnt clear or you have questions, please feel free to submit a comment below wed love to hear from you! In this section, I will look at some of the circumstances in which a forehand slice shot can be played successfully, and the broad technique which should be used. The flat serve gets its name from the fact that minimal spin is applied to the ball when making contact. 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.