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"The Slice Backhand in the Modern Game"
He's back! Yes, and with renewed importance. Finally boom-boom tennis is over. The era of hitting powerful groundstrokes only is ending, evolving into a more all around game and the "old" slice is back. It was never gone all the way, but it became something many coaches who teach mainly two handed backhands, decided not to include in their lessons. Now we can see the best players having 20+ ball rallies in which topspin and slice are both mixed. The multiple uses of the slice backhand are so many that are worth spending time perfecting it during your practice. Let's examine them.
- Defense: Nothing can take the place of a slice backhand when your are stretched out wide (unless you want to try the lefty forehand like Sharapova tried to invent.). We can reach further by crossing (stepping in, no open stance here) our foot and hit a long crosscourt to remain in the point when under pressure.
- Offense: This one is the last one to come back, even the one-handers (Sampras started this and Roger followed) have been hitting the approach with topspin paying dearly many times because unless this is done perfectly the ball bounces high and gives your opponent a better chance to pass. The old slice approach is still the hardest shot to pass someone off of as the ball stays low after the bounce.
- Drops: Djokovic and Murray are the best ones using it even on hard courts! Not necessarily to hit a clean winner, it's often used to get your opponent out of the baseline (Roger made this dangerous play very popular). The combo "big forehand/drop" works well on any surface. Don't ever forget that the drop is always a low percentage shot, so be careful when you decide to use it!
- Lob: Another defensive use, when someone hits a good approach to you, nothing better than a high defensive lob. It will buy you time to recover and many players don't have great overheads.
- Return: As a block or chip, a compact slice backhand is the choice of Federer and many others against the big bombs of Roddick and the big servers. A good block, deep to the center, will give you the chance to play the point without the risk of miss-hitting the return.
- Passing: Yes, the shot Lendl used many times, used as a dinky shot will set you up for an easier 2nd passing shot. Many players volleys get exposed after you give them a low volley "first".
- Volley: The little brother of the slice family, if you have a good groundstroke slice, you'll probably have a good backhand volley as well as the movement is basically the same.
So, don't you think these are enough reasons to practice your slice backhand?
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