3. However, by hitting up on the ball, you generate topspin, which can bring the ball back down into the court even though youre hitting up. But don't use it as a substitute for your flat or topspin forehand. Many top players, including male and female Grand Slam champions use the sliced forehand. The slice can be a useful weapon, but it does have some disadvantages. 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. Heres a photo to show you what your contact point should look like for a slice serve. 5 Point Friday This leads to a higher bounce and less spin on the ball after contact with the ground. Many players assume behind means you need to toss the ball toward the back fence, i.e., behind the baseline. The one handed backhand is definitely a weakness and - Talk Tennis Even if good spin and placement are used, if the ball lacks pace, it can easily be attacked. 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. You will have more time to return the ball, have a better stance, stronger strokes, more spin, and more confidence. Like all slice shots, the forehand version is hit high-to-low, with the strings brushing under the ball. The forehand slice is a shot which is rarely taught or discussed in modern tennis. Table tennis forehand push - Table tennis - essential skills and The Top 3 Best Babolat Tennis Rackets Under $100. On the other hand, if youre down 15-40, a big flat serve can be a considerable risk. Table tennis forehand smash - Table tennis - BBC Bitesize The ball often stays low to the ground after it bounces. 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. 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. Nonetheless, the shot can be very useful in a variety of situations, and some professionals have enjoyed quite a bit of success using it as their main option on the forehand side. After all, if you have a question, its likely another reader does too, which helps our entire community. 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. What is the difference between tennis slices and tennis tops? 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. Heres a video that showcases the kick serve, including the toss, contact point, and racquet angle necessary to generate topspin. 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). Sources: rio2016.com, itftennis.com. Lets take a look at how to hit a slice serve with proper technique. Advantages of a Tennis Slice Many players will want to take the initiative from the slicer by hitting an aggressive topspin. 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. Second, changing your grip can be a dead giveaway to your opponent as to what type of serve youre about to hit. To slice in tennis, a player must angle their racquet and swing downward in a slicing motion.The manner in which the player angles their racquet while slicing downward can be anywhere between fully flat and entirely diagonal. What Is A Slice In Tennis? - Tennis Information Required fields are marked *. 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. When a slice shot bounces, the ball stays low, forcing your opponent to really stretch to get to the ball. You just need to learn to use it for a great slice serve, which takes time and patience. Many pros, including the legendary Australian champion Ken Rosewall, used the slice backhand stroke as their only backhand. . 4. Here are a few tips to keep in mind when hitting a kick serve. Slice shots can be good for making an opponent really stretch for a ball, but it is difficult to hit them with much pace. If the one-handed backhand is so bad at high balls, why - Talk Tennis Without some of Hi there! 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. Stand quite close to the table, an arms length away. 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. Within tennis, the serve is a bigger weapon for men than for women, in part . . He enjoys competing in county tennis leagues and ITF Seniors events. Here too, it is necessary to make a distinction. 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. With the slice serve, youll want to make contact with the outer edge of the ball to generate sidespin. \n
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. Aerodynamically it will appear to rise and then dip, kicking forward and up off the court surface when it lands. Another instance when you are using a slice is if you want to surprise your opponent with a drop shot. Helpful Tip Slice will make the ball stop short after it hits the court, so it is the obvious choice if you want to hit a short ball to surprise your opponent. 2. 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. 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. 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. Hopefully, youve enjoyed this post on the three different types of serves. A topspin shot, on the other hand, rotates forward toward the opponent as it travels through the air. The slice serves name comes from the brushing action, or slice, applied to the tennis ball to produce sidespin. Slice vs. Topspin | The Evolution of Tennis 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. 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. What Is A Flat Serve In A Tennis Match? - rookieroad.com Your email address will not be published. The Pros and Cons of the Game Tennis | Healthy Living Its consistent, provides players with a significant level of control, and can be used to attack a returners weaknesses with precision. It is possible to play every single forehand shot as a slice, but this is unlikely to be the most effective way to play. Whether it's to pass that big test, qualify for that big promotion or even master that cooking technique; people who rely on dummies, rely on it to learn the critical skills and relevant information necessary for success. 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. 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. Sliced returns need to be controlled with precision or else a volleyer can pick them off, especially in doubles. 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. Not a Team Sport. 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. Home > Instruction > Serve > 3 Types of Tennis Serves, Improve your game alongside our community of tennis players. The result will be a more fluid motion that helps you achieve a better serve. There are many variations of the topspin forehand where players will choose a desired Western or Eastern grip depending on their style of play. Regardless of the type of serve you hit, relaxing through your service motion is essential. On a surface like grass which creates less friction, the ball will tend to skid and stay low. The first thing you need to do is grip the racket properly. Knees should be slightly bent and the body should be leaning forward.
\n
\n \n3. Backhand gets the ball back neutral so that . Both arms should be out in front of you. 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. She has even used the shot effectively on hard courts, which is probably more difficult than employing it on softer 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. When executing a tennis slice, the player will swing downward in a slicing motion, angling the racket anywhere between fully flat and entirely diagonal.When the racket and the ball make contact, the racket should be continuously moving in a direction close to perpendicular to the ball. As a result, you should aim to toss the ball directly above your head and slightly behind you, so that when you can swing up to contact the ball, youre coming from under the ball. What Was The Battle of The Sexes In Tennis. 22 Crucial Pros & Cons Of Playing Tennis - E&C 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. It is said to be the fastest shot in tennis. Topspin shots are used by most tennis players as their general groundstroke because it forces opponents to go backward. A slice is often used when you return a serve and then come straight to the net (known as Chip and Charge) because it gives you time to do so. Tennis Grips | Types of Grips Explained & Illustrated 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. Slice shots never travel with a lot of pace. Typically, your opponent will be in defense mode when returning your first serve because they know that you can throw anything at them. Once again, Ive provided a view of this serve in slow motion so you can easily see the nuances of the different pieces. To generate the necessary topspin for your kick serve, you need to brush the side of the tennis ball from low to high. 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. Serving Is A Disadvantage In Some Olympic Sports Basically, a slice causes the ball to rotate backward (toward the person who hit the ball). At the highest level, many matches go by without a single sliced forehand being played. The type of tennis court surface that you play on can have a major influence on how the game is played as well as on the effects of Tennis on your body. This can put the person slicing very much on the defensive and makes the game extremely hard work. Swing forward with a high-to-low motion.
\nRelease the racquet with your left hand as you do this. Serve and volley: Due to the shorter reaction time that you may have fielding your opponents return, it can be challenging to move forward and volley. At MyTennisHQ, we have all played junior, college, and professional tennis. To help, give yourself a moment before you go to serve. 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. The truth is, a continental serve grip is highly effective for all types of tennis serves. On the other hand, if you were to try that same serve against a 65 opponent, then you may find it lands much closer to their strike zone, allowing them to hit an easy return. Table tennis forehand smash. The same can be set for other net approaches. 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. Why most pros use slice only as a last resort? | Talk Tennis 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. Many of tennis greats, such as Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal, have relied on their vicious topspin forehand to win world championships and countless titles. The slice backhand suited their approach to the game, which was based on control rather than power. 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. Tsvetana Pironkova and Monica Niculescu have both enjoyed success using this tactic, particularly on grass. First and foremost, its important to make sure youre using the correct grip for the flat serve. 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. The three primary types of tennis serves include the flat, slice, and 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. More consistent - means with which one you can hit more or less the same shot over and over again. 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 toss placement allows you to achieve the proper racquet angle for those serves. Up a set and a break, Medvedev served into the deuce court to . Next, lets talk about how to make contact with the ball. During a slice shot, the racket travels in a downward motion, before slicing underneath the tennis ball. Modern tennis is dominated by the use of topspin shots. If you look at a tennis shot side-on from the players right, a ball hit with topspin will appear to be rotating clockwise. On slice shots, the racquet doesn't come around and up, making an arc. The 5 Unique Spins For A Winning Tennis Serve 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. 2. Tennis Slice vs Topspin - What's The Difference? On Friday at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships, the Grand Slam champions earned themselves a nomination for point of the year. When a slice shot bounces, the ball stays low, forcing your opponent ","noIndex":0,"noFollow":0},"content":"
Slice, or backspin, causes the tennis ball to spin back toward the source of impact (you). However, once you miss your first serve, the pressure equalizes to a degree. For this reason, they are vulnerable to attack if not hit with enough spin or placement. Advantages of Clay . If you are defending desperately, you are unlikely to be able to execute a topspin lob. 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. 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.
\nMake contact with the ball, with the racquet \"slicing\" under it, when it's at a point about even with your right shoulder.