If you miss, the pressure is still on your opponent to hit a great return off your slower second serve. 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). 4. Over the years, many techniques have been developed in tennis to make shots more difficult to hit. 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. Disguise is crucial, but if executed well against a player who is standing a long way back, it can be very effective. 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 The underarm serve is most widely employed by players with big serves and a good touch, such as Nick Kyrgios and Alexander Bublik. easier to learn and to apply slice shots, and have better feel and control . Defensive Lob. This toss placement allows you to achieve the proper racquet angle for those serves. Tennis Tips for Seniors and Every Tennis Lovers. Noticed one disadvantage is playing on a slower court. Take a deep breath, bounce the ball, and consciously relax your muscles, including your grip and wrist.
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. 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. 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. Lets take a look at how to hit a slice serve with proper technique. With the topspin, he forces Federer and other opponents to either be pushed too far backward or to take a risk and hit the ball extremely early. This leads to a higher bounce and less spin on the ball after contact with the ground. {"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 shots never travel with a lot of pace. The result can be a very low-bouncing serve that is hard to return. The essence of a slice is that it is the opposite of a topspin. The result will be a more fluid motion that helps you achieve a better serve. This photo was snapped at the height of the toss so you can get a sense of accurate placement. . A slice serve is a fantastic weapon on any court surface. Backspin is most commonly achieved when using a slice shot technique. 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. 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. 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. Related Tags. Reference: tennis slice vs topspin. 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. Figure 1: Hold your racquet at a 45-degree angle to the fence when you slice your backhand. 3. Hopefully, youve enjoyed this post on the three different types of serves. A slice ground stroke causes the ball to rotate backwards towards the person who hit the ball. However, the shot is not always . The flat serve gets its name from the fact that minimal spin is applied to the ball when making contact. In contrast, a sliced groundstroke will appear to be rotating anti-clockwise.
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. And, an athlete like Mima Ito, proves beyond a doubt that the banana flip can be even more effective . But knowing how to use the topspin to your game (strategy) has its advantages: Again, this is in favor of the two-handed backhand. Within tennis, the serve is a bigger weapon for men than for women, in part . 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. Many players will want to take the initiative from the slicer by hitting an aggressive topspin. The result will help you generate even more topspin. Many leading players will use the block-slice return and forehand squash-shot described above. The forehand slice is a shot which is rarely taught or discussed in modern tennis. 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. 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. 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. However, it makes it challenging to get under the ball and apply maximum topspin for the kick serve. Slicing does have disadvantages, so ideally it is used as a variation or in specific circumstances. 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! Your email address will not be published. Helpful Tip 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. Read our weekly recap of the 5 most interesting things we dig up in tennis. He used the slicing technique very often to outdo his opponents at the highest international stages of the sport. Both arms should be out in front of you. The Best Babolat Tennis Rackets (for Every Type of Player). Slice shots never travel with a lot of pace. 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. The most common variations are the slice and the topspin. Follow through until your racquet arm is fully extended, with the head pointing toward the ground at a moderate angle. The slice backhand suited their approach to the game, which was based on control rather than power. This can put the person slicing very much on the defensive and makes the game extremely hard work. Oh, and I had lunch with Brad Gilbert once. 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. 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. 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. Like all slice shots, the forehand version is hit high-to-low, with the strings brushing under the ball. 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. That's just plain easier.
\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. Create a free account and explore my latest videos below. We are compensated for referring traffic and business to Tennis Warehouse, Amazon, and other companies linked to on this site. Modern-day tennis players utilize topspin frequently, as it can appear that the ball will sail over the net and out of bounds before dropping well within the lines of play. Your email address will not be published. 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. There are a few disadvantages of using a slice in tennis. 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. Wrist strains. 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. 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. 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. Tennis is at the top. On Friday at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships, the Grand Slam champions earned themselves a nomination for point of the year. 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. Most of the more adaptable players will also use the forehand slice for approach shots when necessary, although some are better at it than others. 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 often stays low to the ground after it bounces. As for the angle of your racquet head, youll want the edge to be roughly parallel with the baseline. If you are happy to slice the ball back, the standard slice technique can be used, making sure that you stay in a low stance, as the ball may stay quite low. Another essential element to the kick serve is racquet head speed. Im extremely passionate about the mental and technical part of the game. This position makes it easy and natural to brush your strings under the lower portion of the ball, producing backspin. Heres a photo that showcases the contact point and racquet angle when hitting a kick serve. The answer to this question depends upon whether you are aiming to reply in kind with a slice, or to hit a topspin. Slice shots never travel with a lot of pace. Some professionals hit virtually all of their forehands with slice. Basically, a slice causes the ball to rotate backward (toward the person who hit the ball). disadvantages of the two backhand strokes in relation to the style of play. 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.
\nBasically, 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. Regardless of the type of serve you hit, relaxing through your service motion is essential. This is known as a squash shot and a good one will fly low and fast over the net. This will allow you to hit the ball with a slicing action. Kevin Leck is a Sport Psychology Consultant and Writer from Loughborough in the UK. Knees should be slightly bent and the body should be leaning forward. The sports divide into a few tiers of serving advantages. 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.
\nIf 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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\nThis position makes it easy and natural to brush your strings under the lower portion of the ball, producing backspin. 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). 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. Slower Pace: Kick serves are slower than flat or slice serves. A player can add slice or topspin to shots by hitting the ball in different places. 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.
\nBasically, 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. Slice shots don't bounce as high, either. 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. 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. 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. Advantages of Clay . Here are some tips on how to slice a ball in tennis: 1. To help, give yourself a moment before you go to serve. The drawback of a slice serve is that it is easy to read. Advantages of a Tennis Slice 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. There are many different types of forehand slice shot, all of which have their uses. Slice Forehand & Backhand 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. But don't use it as a substitute for your flat or topspin forehand. The slice can be a useful weapon, but it does have some disadvantages. However, your ability to control the point is tied heavily to executing an effective serve that keeps your opponent guessing and prevents them from establishing a rhythm. 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. It doesn't break your bank. 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. The first thing you need to do is grip the racket properly. 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. Babolat have been producing tennis equipment since 1875, and today they manufacture a range of rackets that offers something for everyone. The same goes for court surfaces. 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. 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.
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Figure 1: Hold your racquet at a 45-degree angle to the fence when you slice your backhand.\t |
3. Dummies has always stood for taking on complex concepts and making them easy to understand. As the previous tip suggests, you must relax your grip and wrist to allow for the wrist to move freely. If you look at a tennis shot side-on from the players right, a ball hit with topspin will appear to be rotating clockwise. Straight flips can be much easier and quicker as the pips are less sensitive to spin. When youre scrambling to retrieve a good, angled shot by your opponent you can swipe the ball back with a slice and buy yourself a little time to get back into position. Second, changing your grip can be a dead giveaway to your opponent as to what type of serve youre about to hit. Lets take a look at some of the details that will help ensure you can hit a great flat serve. At MyTennisHQ, we have all played junior, college, and professional tennis. 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. Table tennis forehand push. When a slice shot bounces, the ball stays low, forcing your opponent to really stretch to get to the ball. 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. Here too, it is necessary to make a distinction. Those two qualities can catch your opponent off guard and screw up her timing.
A word of caution: Slice backhands make poor passing shots. Because of this added spin, the ball will bounce with significantly less height when reaching the opponent's side.The ball bouncing with less height then makes it more difficult for the opponent to return the slice, since they will have much less time to reach the ball from where they awaited the return. 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. The loose surface dissipates sidespin so that heavy slice serves and sidespin-slice backhands, for example, turn less dramatically than they do on other surfaces. 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. ), your position on the court and the direction you want to hit. Slice always imparts control. Ive had the chance to play against great names of the new generation, like Christian Garin, Cameron Norrie, and Kyle Edmund.