The one handed backhand is definitely a weakness and - Talk Tennis Topspin shots are used by most tennis players as their general groundstroke because it forces opponents to go backward. It moves forward and down, coming around to your right side only at the tail end of your stroke, long after the ball is gone. Once again, when hitting a kick serve, you should rely on your continental service grip, which is ideally suited for this serve. If players like to attack the net and volley, they slice a lot. Some coaches will tell you that the short game can be more difficult in terms of short chops and banana flips. The slice backhand suited their approach to the game, which was based on control rather than power.
\nThe slice backhand offers the following practical and tactical advantages:
\n- The slice stroke is simple. You hit under the ball, instead of through and over it, as you do on the flat backhand. 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.\n
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:
\n1. 3. For a slice, you will need to grip the racket with an eastern or semi-western grip. 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. 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. 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. Slicing and Dicing, Tennis Style - dummies For that reason, its vital to add different types of shots to your repertoire. Babolat have been producing tennis equipment since 1875, and today they manufacture a range of rackets that offers something for everyone. Why most pros use slice only as a last resort? | Talk Tennis Your ability to hit more than one type of serve will allow you to be more competitive against different players and on various court surfaces. Thats because racquet head speed is required to create topspin. Let us know about your experiences via the comments. A tennis slice is a means of hitting or returning the ball that puts a particular spin on the ball. We both feel like tennis has given us opportunities that we would have never had otherwise, so we started myTennisHQ with the intent of helping more and more people become familiar with the sport. Advantages of Clay . Sliced returns need to be controlled with precision or else a volleyer can pick them off, especially in doubles. Tennis Quiz Flashcards | Quizlet The first thing you need to do is grip the racket properly. 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. When hitting a flat serve, youll want your toss to be roughly 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.
Michael Kernicki is currently the Head Professional at the Indian Creek Country Club in Miami Beach.
Michael Patrick Shiels writes frequently for golf magazines and is the official golf writer of the PGA of America's Michigan section. 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. About a 90-110 degree bend at the elbow. When the racket and the ball make contact, the racket should be continuously moving in a direction close to perpendicular to the ball. The kick serve gets its name from how the ball jumps or kicks up off the ground as a result of heavy topspin applied to the ball. The slice backhand suited their approach to the game, which was based on control rather than power. . Here, well share as much knowledge and experience as we can, so we hope you enjoy it! The flat serve is one of the most popular and most useful serves in tennis. 02. of 02. Generally speaking, coaches and players will talk about three main spots in the service box: Since you can hit your serve in any of these locations, youll have a minimum of 9 serves in your back pocket that you can hit at any given time pretty sweet, right? Some people love the camaraderie and sense of interdependence that goes with being part of a larger sporting group, like in a football, soccer, or basketball team. What are the pros/cons of a one handed and a two handed backhand in tennis? However, if you do adjust your toss, keep in mind that a good returner might pick up on the change in your toss and give them a hint of the type of serve and where you might be inclined to hit it. Heres a photo to show you what your contact point should look like for a slice serve. For most players, the kick serve has become the default second serve. After watching some players in action, you could be forgiven for thinking that the answer to this question was no, but of course this is far from the truth. At the highest level, many matches go by without a single sliced forehand being played. Heres a photo that shows the contact point against the ball as well as the correct racquet face angle, which is flat to avoid putting spin on the ball. 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. Tennis Grips | Types of Grips Explained & Illustrated Since a big flat serve has a lower margin for error, its worth being thoughtful when you choose to use it. At the start, youre content with just hitting the ball flat but as your skill level progresses you need to add variation to your game. If youre short, the flat serve is more challenging to execute because you have less clearance over the net, which reduces your margin of error. It doesn't break your bank. 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. Frequently, players who are just learning to serve want to hit with power, so they try hard and attempt to muscle the serve over the net. In a press conference at the French Open, Dominic Thiem commented on his switch from two-handed to one-handed backhand. Tennis may not be right for you if you suffer from heart disease or have high or low blood pressure, rheumatoid arthritis or osteoporosis. Sources: rio2016.com, itftennis.com. Knees should be slightly bent and the body should be leaning forward. Do you like to hit a forehand slice? However, its often one of the most challenging serves to develop. Here are a few tips to help execute an effective slice serve: When youre learning the slice serve, it can be relatively easy to overhit as you attempt to generate side spin. 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. 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). The 5 Unique Spins For A Winning Tennis Serve Lets take a look at some of the details that will help ensure you can hit a great flat serve. Members of a larger team often take on different roles, and there will generally be a captain to lead. I went with that for a bit then went back to try and develop topspin, at which point it was infinitely easier because I could get clean contact and not have the racket face twist back on me during . This position makes it easy and natural to brush your strings under the lower portion of the ball, producing backspin. The good news is that youll use the continental grip for all three types of serves, so you only need to learn this one grip if youre not already familiar with it. 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. It tends to put you on the defensive quite often, so you must be physically and mentally prepared for that. The Austrian said: "Very difficult because, I mean, I . The middle of the net is its lowest point, so its easier to execute a flat serve at that point of the net on either side. If you remember, the flat and slice serve toss is 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. Again, this is in favor of the two-handed backhand. Disadvantages of Tennis Potential for serious injuries Tennis equipment can be costly Not a team sport Tennis cannot be played alone Lack of tennis courts Tennis takes some time to learn Motivation might be a problem Tennis may be time-consuming Need for a trainer to get to the next level Pressure can be high May conflict with your corporate career Now that you know the three different types of tennis serves, it pays to keep in mind that each serve can be hit in countless places in the service box, providing you with even greater variety. Within tennis, the serve is a bigger weapon for men than for women, in part . The Pros and Cons of Grass Tennis Courts - LiveAbout How To Hit The Perfect Tennis Forehand Slice In 5 Simple StepsThe forehand slice in tennis can be a real weapon if you master the technique and use it at the. Disadvantages A low margin of error: Easily, the biggest downside of the hard flat serve is that it's challenging to keep it in, let alone place it well in the service box. 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! Tennis is at the top. Up a set and a break, Medvedev served into the deuce court to . As a result, the overuse of a hard flat serve can lead to giving away too many free points or forcing you to rely heavily on your second serve. The flat serve is perhaps one of the most sought-after serves in tennis because its synonymous with power and the ability to hit an ace. Believe it or not, when the pros hit a kick serve, their racquet is traveling at roughly the same rate or faster than their flat or slice serve. Table tennis forehand push. On Friday at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships, the Grand Slam champions earned themselves a nomination for point of the year. 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. 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. 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. With the slice serve, youll want to make contact with the outer edge of the ball to generate sidespin. If youre looking to develop an effective serve thats a weapon, then its crucial to understand and learn how to execute the three different types of tennis serves. 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. Rallying. Kick Serve vs Slice Serve: Which Is Better? - Dad Racket {"appState":{"pageLoadApiCallsStatus":true},"articleState":{"article":{"headers":{"creationTime":"2016-03-26T22:57:30+00:00","modifiedTime":"2016-03-26T22:57:30+00:00","timestamp":"2022-09-14T18:12:05+00:00"},"data":{"breadcrumbs":[{"name":"Home, Auto, & Hobbies","_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/categories/33809"},"slug":"home-auto-hobbies","categoryId":33809},{"name":"Sports & Recreation","_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/categories/34001"},"slug":"sports-recreation","categoryId":34001},{"name":"Tennis","_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/categories/34033"},"slug":"tennis","categoryId":34033}],"title":"Slicing and Dicing, Tennis Style","strippedTitle":"slicing and dicing, tennis style","slug":"slicing-and-dicing-tennis-style","canonicalUrl":"","seo":{"metaDescription":"Slice, or backspin, causes the tennis ball to spin back toward the source of impact (you). Slice Forehand & Backhand The slice can be a useful weapon, but it does have some disadvantages. While weve tried to provide a thorough examination of the three kinds of serves, we realize it can be challenging to answer every question a reader might have. 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. If you look at the top players in the world they know exactly how to use topspin and slice shots to their advantages. Remember, when you serve, you have a considerable advantage because you begin the point on offense and can control and dictate the point from the start. Turn the racquet face as you bring it back so that the hitting surface ends up facing upward, as shown in Figure 1.
\nThis position makes it easy and natural to brush your strings under the lower portion of the ball, producing backspin. Dominic Thiem: One-handed backhand has some disadvantages But knowing how to use the topspin to your game (strategy) has its advantages: The racquet head instead should be pointing at the back fence, at about a 45-degree angle.
\nWhen your backswing is complete, your right shoulder is close to your chin, and your right elbow points in the same direction as your right foot.
\n2. But don't use it as a substitute for your flat or topspin forehand. Disadvantages Of Slice In Tennis The slice forehand has many advantages, but using it for rally balls on slow surfaces like clay and some hard courts can result in the ball bouncing slowly and steeply, seemingly asking to be attacked. Backhand Slice is The Easiest Shot in Tennis - YouTube 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. Modern tennis is dominated by the use of topspin shots. Both arms should be out in front of you. 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. 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!
\n4. 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!
\n4. The slice forehand has many advantages, but using it for rally balls on slow surfaces like clay and some hard courts can result in the ball bouncing slowly and steeply, seemingly asking to be attacked. If well placed, the flat serve can be extremely challenging to . What Does Game, Set, Match Mean In Tennis? The Top 3 Best Babolat Tennis Rackets Under $100. 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. Like all slice shots, the forehand version is hit high-to-low, with the strings brushing under the ball. This toss placement allows you to achieve the proper racquet angle for those serves. Get the Intuitive Tennis iPhone/iPad App https://apple.co/3c5IyJpGet the Intuitive Tennis Android App https://bit.ly/3QTK1S7In today's video, I explain. Some professionals hit virtually all of their forehands with slice. The slice backhand offers the following practical and tactical advantages: A word of caution: Slice backhands make poor passing shots. Many top players, including male and female Grand Slam champions use the sliced forehand. 2. The major difference is that the racquet shouldn't be pointing straight up, at a 90-degree angle, like a bat. Of all the serves, the kick serve is arguably the most valuable and highly sought after for players to learn. The slice can be a useful weapon, but it does have some disadvantages. Dummies helps everyone be more knowledgeable and confident in applying what they know. To be a complete tennis player and to be competitive you need to master every shot and you need to know when to use them. 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. Swing forward with a high-to-low motion.
\nRelease the racquet with your left hand as you do this. On slice shots, the racquet doesn't come around and up, making an arc. 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. 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.
\nThe slice forehand is easy to master, and a fair number of hackers resort to it. However, flat shots with little topspin won't bounce high - they'll almost skid across the court. However, once you miss your first serve, the pressure equalizes to a degree. On your side, there is pressure to hit your second serve in, which forces you to take some pace off the serve and subsequently gives your opponent more confidence in their return. Lets dive into the proper technique for hitting a kick serve. This brushing action means youre allowing the strings of your racquet to make contact with the outermost edge of the tennis ball, which causes the ball to spin and ultimately kick up off the ground when it hits the court. In contrast, a sliced groundstroke will appear to be rotating anti-clockwise. Return of serve. Second, it can be difficult to generate power with a slice. Topspin has changed how tennis is played due to the fact that you can generate much more power behind your shot with a proper topspin forehand. A low margin of error: Easily, the biggest downside of the hard flat serve is that its challenging to keep it in, let alone place it well in the service box. 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. One of the biggest challenges of the game of tennis is adjusting your stroke according to the incoming ball (high, low, topspin, slice, fast, slow, etc. He enjoys competing in county tennis leagues and ITF Seniors events. The racquet head instead should be pointing at the back fence, at about a 45-degree angle. Your email address will not be published. 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. Follow through until your racquet arm is fully extended, with the head pointing toward the ground at a moderate angle. Thats where variety is king and why learning the three different types of serves is crucial. 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. Many players will want to take the initiative from the slicer by hitting an aggressive topspin. If you are defending desperately, you are unlikely to be able to execute a topspin lob. 3.
\nHigh 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. Join the conversation with other members of the community. 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. As a result, when the flat serve hits the court, it tends to bounce low and continue straight forward from where it lands in the court. 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. If players like to attack the net and volley, they slice a lot.
\nThe slice can be a useful weapon, but it does have some disadvantages. Rallying with a sliced forehand is mainly done by players who lack confidence in their topspin game, but it can nonetheless be very effective in the right conditions. During a slice shot, the racket travels in a downward motion, before slicing underneath the tennis ball. An out-to-in movement can be incorporated to add side-spin. What is the difference between tennis slices and tennis tops? Slower Pace: Kick serves are slower than flat or slice serves. During a slice shot, the racket travels in a downward motion, before slicing underneath the tennis ball. How To Bounce A Slice Ball And Drive Your Opponents Crazy The Good, Bad, and Debatable Clay Courts - LiveAbout 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. The shot is executed with a flowing high-to-low action and a continental or Eastern grip, using a neutral or semi-open stance. Advanced Tennis Backhand Technique - Drills And Corrections To Fix The
\n3. Retrieving a wide ball. Advantages of a Tennis Slice Even at pro level, doing damage is still all about the forehand. The underarm serve is most widely employed by players with big serves and a good touch, such as Nick Kyrgios and Alexander Bublik. As a result, it can be beneficial to avoid overusing a big flat serve and to use other types of serves that have a higher margin of error while focusing on quality placement to put the pressure on your opponent. Reference: tennis slice vs topspin. Create a free account and explore my latest videos below. The answer to this question depends upon whether you are aiming to reply in kind with a slice, or to hit a topspin. 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. This can put the person slicing very much on the defensive and makes the game extremely hard work. On a surface like grass which creates less friction, the ball will tend to skid and stay low. Even if good spin and placement are used, if the ball lacks pace, it can easily be attacked. A "tennis slice" is when the ball hits the ground and bounces back into play. The same can be said about Federers use of the backhand slice. By entering your email address and clicking the Submit button, you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy & to receive electronic communications from Dummies.com, which may include marketing promotions, news and updates. Tennis Interviews. Low bounce: as the name suggests, flat serves have minimal spin. Swing forward with a high-to-low motion.
\nRelease the racquet with your left hand as you do this. Friction and surface area explain why slower surfaces are less effective. To generate the necessary topspin for your kick serve, you need to brush the side of the tennis ball from low to high. Former US Open champion Bianca Andreescu is one player particularly renowned for her sliced forehand drop shot, which she likes to play with a continental grip. When your backswing is complete, your right shoulder is close to your chin, and your right elbow points in the same direction as your right foot. The result will be a more fluid motion that helps you achieve a better serve. 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. 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. Slicing can also be used as a means to aid in the return of difficult or powerful shots.By slicing the ball, this will counter the effects of a powerful shot or one that has a lot of spin, thus making the return much more feasible than with a standard attempt to return. If the one-handed backhand is so bad at high balls, why - Talk Tennis disadvantages of topspin -easier to judge it's bounce pattern -requires more technique -if too much is applied it may go too low and hit net advantages of slice -low bounce -harder for opponent to read bounce pattern -doesn't require as much energy as topspin disadvantages of slice -it's a defensive shot -slower bounce -gives opponent time to think Like all slice shots, the forehand version is hit high-to-low, with the strings brushing under the ball. Speed: The faster a serve is hit, the less time your opponent will have to react, which can cause players to make contact with the ball late or mistime their shot. As for the angle of your racquet head, youll want the edge to be roughly parallel with the baseline. This leads to a higher bounce and less spin on the ball after contact with the ground. Regardless of the type of serve you hit, relaxing through your service motion is essential. 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. The ball will naturally bounce less on grass, which plays terrifically with the slice serve, which also doesnt bounce high. To hit a slice, you need to strike the ball with a high-to-low movement, thus imparting backspin. Release the racquet with your left hand as you do this. For example, if youre lucky enough to have access to grass courts, keep in mind that the slice serve is a fantastic serve for this surface. Hitting up is counterintuitive to many players at first because theyre afraid the ball will sail long. 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. Many pros, including the legendary Australian champion Ken Rosewall, used the slice backhand stroke as their only backhand. 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.
Michael Kernicki is currently the Head Professional at the Indian Creek Country Club in Miami Beach.
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