Argh! I hate the Slicers from Hell!

[peter]

Just lost a match against a very good player - that more or less sliced me
to death - with great precision. He had me running all over and I never really
had any success getting any speed on my returns. Argh!

(I'm more of a baseliner that likes to hit the ball as hard as I can).

Frustrating!

(Yes, I know - I probably should have sliced the ball back to him instead
of keeping on trying, but that's just so boring :-) [and not to mention that
my slices suck :-)]. And besides, I probably would have lost to him
anyway - this way I atleast got to sweat a bit!

Ah well... Back to the practice courts again. Perhaps I'll be a good
tennis player around the time for my retirement in some 30 years...

[Benjamin]

As a slicer for the past 20 years....I thank you!!!

From the time I was 6 until I was 21 (I'm currently 36 and have added all the other shots to my arsenal), the backhand slice was the only weapon I had. It continues to be my go to shot when I start to get nervous.

If you'll learn that slice and used it effectively, then you can hear some great one liners after your match too.

"I'm used to playing against guys who don't hit the ball like a girl."

"Before this tournament I practiced against 5.0 guys, and they hit the ball hard."

"I just can't play against guys like you." (guys like me? you mean guys that know how to win?)

"Your sissy style just threw my power game off."

They are endless. I just smile and say thanks.

Benjamin

[Cypo]

Benjamin - I have a backhand slice weapon too, so I'm hanging myself as well when I write this.

Peter, people I hate to play are those who know how to bend their knees and get under my wicked slice. In a slicing war the odds are most likely in my favor, but if they can consistantly nutralise the slice, then they take away a shot I rely on, and that hurts !

[Shaolin]

Peter,
Constant slicers arent that complicated to deal with. Just hit high topspin balls, esp. to their backhand (or a very low slice works as well) and go to the net. If they just hit slices, they shouldnt be able to pass you very well, or with much power at least. Just watch out for the lob, in my experience these guys can hit deep lobs pretty well. I used to hit with this guy who constantly hit slices, and I liked it because it posed different problems than playing a typical topspin baseliner or s&v player. Good luck.

[jmckinney]

Peter,

My high school nemesis was a slicer with michael chang wheels. It seemed like he never missed and always hit the back line with his lobs. Well, to beat him I finally figured out to hit high topspin to his backhand as Shaolin suggested and then I used short angles with my forehand and backhand to open the court and follow by stepping in and hitting to open court following into the net for a volley. I think that by hitting more short angle topspin shots and hard deep drives and mix in high topspin really kills the slicers. Good luck next time.

[saeta119]

you can either hate slicers, pushers, drop shoters, etc. fact is that when you play matches you'll end up playing people with different skills. Yes you can be upset and blame them for doing what they do best, but they don't play your game, but I think the best choice is to learn how to beat them, my suggestion don't fight fire with fire, get on a rally with a slicer and if you start slicing it up, more than likely you'll lose bad, it's not your game, that's not how you play so don't even try it.

I agree with the posts here, figure out what they don't like to hit, more than likely a slicer doesn't like high topspin shots, I usually try to hit deep shots to the backhand to solve that problem, and be ready to add some mad spin to the ball as a good slice is hard to pull it up again, maybe you can try to do a drop shot, see how they do on the net, point is that you need to block their advantages.

Take it from me, a leftie with a good drop shot move ;)
and yeah practice with people from all ages and all levels, you can learn a lot from them.

[Matt H.]

i can totally hear where you are coming from.

I think i hate slicers worse than i do "pushers"

Sunday afternoon i played a guy who had an extreme western forehand, and a slice backhand. He held the racquet different from a normal tennis slice, it looked like he was trying to slash the ball (imagine going from 11 oclock to 5 oclock) and it would just float back, then kick in some weird direction.


by looking at the two of us you could tell i was in a whole different level then him skill wise, but yet i had to come back from 1-4 down to win 7-5. Very frustrating to have a guy chase down a ball then float it back with heavy slice on EVERY shot.

[@wright]

All the people I've ever played who have been really deft slicers had trouble hitting their high one-handed backhands, so that is always an area I try to pick on. I've also met plenty who were good at hitting a forehand at your feet right after you return a low slice. Very frustrating.

[Benjamin]

@wright,

That's why I have a two-handed backhand :lol:

Benjamin

[Russiadude]

I am a pretty weird player myself. My favorite shot is slice angle forehand, which I get back into play almost no matter what they give me. For my backhand I hit a pretty flat two hander with good control. People get pissed off because I get my forehand back and eventually they hit to my backhand. Expecting me to hit a backhand slice floater like I sometimes do on my forehand they come up to the net. Thats followed up with a sweet low passing shot that comes very unexpectedly. By the way Benjamin, I've gotten some really really good end of match comments too. In fact, in the MIDDLE of one of my matches after I one a point, my opponent said "God, don't play like a woman!"

[Cypo]

I watched our number 1 player play a woman with a two handed slice backhand. Wicked shot. Really hard to read. And she alternated it with top spin which kept our number one really off balance.

[polakosaur]

slicers are the best you can learn so much from them, why do they succeed, they succeed because they are consistent, while your trying to hit the ball back and set yourself up every point they run around and just consistently get the ball back, there the ones who know how to play. the only thing is they can't advance to really high levels of play, they accept there position and they do their job well. occasionally against players that i don't like, just to piss them off i'll slice the hell out of the ball just to annoy them.

[Benjamin]

Didn't Steffi Graf slice most of her backhands....and she made it to a pretty high level.

Benjamin

[matchpoints]

If it's on my back hand, I usually just side-slice it back so it curves a bit and bounces to the side somewhat. it's a high probability shot for me but if they have a strong forehand or back hand, then i'm gonna get killed unless it goes deep enough to their weaker side. if i try to slice back, i'm destined to be doomed so usually I don't even bother.

If it's to my forehand then....many many options here. short topspin crosscourt, high topspin to the back hand, heavy topspin low lob shot etc....it's just a matter of frustrating the opponent before getting frustrated.

btw, steffi had other big shots too. she didn't just slice all day, except in some matches you'd see her keep slicing over and over and over and over and over......

[jcm876]

Just because you slice does NOT mean you can't advance to higher levels of play. As mentioned earlier Steffi Graf Consistently hit a nice slice backhand. Nicolas Lapentti was ranked in the top 10 at one point. I'd say 95% of his backhands are slices. John McEnroe used the slice backhand to chip and charge. Sampras had a classic backhand slice (as well as many other weapons). Marc Philipoussis has an amazing offensive backhand slice.

The slice used to be a common shot by pros 10 or 15 years ago. But the game has changed and today you see more one-dimensional power games where the pros are mostly hitting power shots.

The slice is a great weapon if you can master it. It's a great defensive shot that can allow you to get back into position. It's also a great offensive shot if you like to chip and charge.

[polakosaur]

i meant slicing all shots approaches, serves, groundstrokes volleys, overheads, lobs, everybody has a slice stroke to some degree in their game, when i meant having a complete slice game they can't advance

[Max G.]

Heh. I slice most of my backhands, drives guys nuts. And I love the high slices too - to a degree. Shoulder height I can really smack it, with slice of course. I can place the passing shot low down the line, well enough to force an error from anyone who isn't perfectly comfortable at net - or I can do a slice lob, over their head.

True, if they're a serve-volleyer that's perfectly comfortable at net, then I'm in a bit of trouble. But if it's a baseliner trying to come to net to beat my slice backhand - that may or may not work.

I think the key is patience - not go for shots you don't have. Move your feet, get into position for the slices - and you'll be fine.

Find what annoys the slicer most. I know that I have trouble with power, the timing on my backhand breaks down; no trouble with placement or spin, up to a point. Like with any other stroke, different things break it down for different people.

[bob]

Benjamin,

Where do you line in NC? I'm in Raleigh.

@wright,

That's why I have a two-handed backhand :lol:

Benjamin

[Al Carter]

I'm 10-0 so far against pushers. All you need is a steady volley AND overhead. Also. NEVER, Never let pushers see you upset. Its how they win in the first place. They frustrate the mind first, then the body. Yup

[jediknightdan]

that sucks lol

[BiGGieStuFF]

I have a primarly slice backhand and I'm learning how to hit a topspin or flat backhand. It usually does me well in rallies as I get some easy points because most of the people I play can't handle the change of pace. Problem I have is that most players I play approach on my backhand where I can't pass very well with the slice. Similar problem Steffi had and why she started to throw in some topspin and flat backhands in the mix later in her career. It's a boring shot no doubt. I like to whack it but it's a very good shot to have in your arsenal

[Aoya]

I love my slice. It lets me control the pace of the game...if they're hitting too fast, I slow it down with a slice. If they're hitting too slow, I'll just run around it and lay the smack down.

[mistapooh]

I played against a guy that would play 5.0 tourneys, and he is roughly 5'2". He used his backhand slice so effectively when the ball was high, it was frightening how precise it was....