slice backhand help

[clintontiger]

I have searched the forums but with no good results. I'm having problems with my slice backhand going long, floating and just generally long. My swing starts with my racquet face pretty much fully open with knuckles towards the sky and i swing down and through the ball and then back up, like a bow. Obviously it isn't happening like this all the time or they wouldn't be floating and going long. Question is on contact and hitting through the ball is the face closed or slightly open before you start to swing back up (finishing the arch). It is hard to tell on the you tube slow motion videos that I have watched. I also try and lean foward when slicing and swing my nonhitting arm back for balance. Any thoughts or suggestions.

Thanks,
Chris

[KenC]

It could be that you are hitting the shot a little too late. I find I hit floaters if I don't hit the ball well out in front of me. The racquet face at impact is just slightly open. I also don't like to hit high soft slice shots and like a lot of pace behind them, so I stopped using a continental grip and started using the eastern backhand grip. This forces me to hit more through the ball and impart less backspin than normal.

[escii_35]

1. A good slice backhand takes just as much energy as a drive.
2. Don't flail the wrist. (my biggest issue)

[larry10s]

racquet face goes open to closed (on contact) to open.
try this try hitting your slice as a "drive" instead of a "slice" get the feeling of hitting a little flatter. the ball wont float as mush and still bite. try it . let me know what happens

[LeeD]

If it always goes long, aim LOWER TO THE NET, switch grip to EBH, or close the racketface with forward leaning body posture.
Any of the 3, or all of them, will have you hitting hard slices into the ground before you know it. Then modify it back up to just over the net...

[jigar]

I don't remember but I found a link on forum in last couple of months where there is a lot of video instructions on slice.

[GetBetterer]

Could you upload a video? Perhaps even a video of the full court so we can see the exact problem.

Maybe you're giving it too much push. Some of the energy needs to give it underspin, the rest of it needs to give it the push to make it across the court where you want it.

Try a slightly faster, top to bottom swing for the underspin. Start behind the head, and go straight across your body (in front of your thigh area) as you swing down. But don't do it TOO fast otherwise you will develop Tennis Elbow a lot faster.

[rice&tennis]

maybe your doing too much "forward" motion on the swing, try to use more of a left to right (if your right handed) on the swing, and use your body to do the forward motion. if that makes sense :/

anyway here's a nice vid; http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=II7Wo0y6fC8

[fuzz nation]

A slice bh can sometimes float if your contact point is too far out in front where the racquet face opens up and slides under the ball too much. Get deliberately onto your front foot before your swing, but look to make contact maybe no farther ahead of you than your front knee. Although you hit the ball earlier in your swing, make a complete follow through to help the racquet accelerate through the ball - the hand leads the racquet.

[clintontiger]

Thanks everyone for the responses, I will try to get a video posted on Monday evening.

Chris

[5263]

Originally Posted by rice&tennis

maybe your doing too much "forward" motion on the swing, try to use more of a left to right (if your right handed) on the swing, and use your body to do the forward motion. if that makes sense :/

anyway here's a nice vid; http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=II7Wo0y6fC8

Good post.
Just like on the topspin, the crossing action helps to control ball height on the shot. As you bring the racket face to the ball, it should move from very open to Less open. At contact, the racket should be pulled down and across, opposed to out to the target.

[LeeD]

If you slice with conti or conti with efh flavor, take it LATER than any other backhand to keep the ball low with penetration.
Easier to switch to ebh or ebh with SW flavor, so the ball goes low and hard with underspin.
TURN SHOULDERS CLOSED !!

[fuzz nation]

Originally Posted by LeeD

If you slice with conti or conti with efh flavor, take it LATER than any other backhand to keep the ball low with penetration.
Easier to switch to ebh or ebh with SW flavor, so the ball goes low and hard with underspin.
TURN SHOULDERS CLOSED !!

Close them shoulders, indeed.

Just for clarification, I think Lee and I are saying the same thing - take the ball later or farther back so that the contact point isn't too far out in front of you. I was referring to contact happening earlier in the forward swing with a slice bh compared with let's say a one-handed topspin stroke where there's ideally more forward swing before contact occurs at a point farther out in front of the hitter.

If you hold your racquet with a slice bh grip and watch the face while you slowly move it through the path you'd use to hit a slice, you ought to see the face open up as the racquet moves out in front of you - later in the forward portion of the stroke.

[athiker]

Good thread and vid...I never realized how bad my bh slice technique was!

I was taught the "bow" thing as well like the OP. Thinking now, I think the bow technique is more of a bh volley technique?...to get a bit more pace and depth from a shortened backswing?

The pros in this video don't seem to do that at all with the bh slice groundstroke. Initially I would think they wouldn't get much power not following through with the "bow" out toward the target, but I also see their backswing is much greater and higher than mine.

Of course they are also typically getting pace from the incoming ball, but watching the vid, with the bigger backswing, they still have quite a distance of forward motion in their swing to generate pace.

The different contact point vs 1hbh topspin is also interesting. I'm excited to try this stuff out.

[Wilander Fan]

The tough part about the slice is how to hit shoulder high balls. I think anything waist high or lower is a pretty natural swing for both slice and drive BHs. Anyone have any tips for how to handle high balls with the slice?

[fuzz nation]

Slicing a higher ball requires more of an angular hit than a drive straight through the ball. I'm a righty, so I'll slice a higher ball with a swing path that's more out to the left of my target than through the ball in the direction of where I want to send it. Something to experiment with.

[rice&tennis]

i think for higher balls, its better to run around to your forehand and just hit it as hard as you can : D

[rice&tennis]

Originally Posted by athiker

Good thread and vid...I never realized how bad my bh slice technique was!

I was taught the "bow" thing as well like the OP. Thinking now, I think the bow technique is more of a bh volley technique?...to get a bit more pace and depth from a shortened backswing?

The pros in this video don't seem to do that at all with the bh slice groundstroke. Initially I would think they wouldn't get much power not following through with the "bow" out toward the target, but I also see their backswing is much greater and higher than mine.

Of course they are also typically getting pace from the incoming ball, but watching the vid, with the bigger backswing, they still have quite a distance of forward motion in their swing to generate pace.

The different contact point vs 1hbh topspin is also interesting. I'm excited to try this stuff out.

i think these are some of of the more important aspects of the bh slice.

[Mr_Shiver]

Good practice is to start hitting backhand volleys with a partner at the net. Gradually both of you should move back until you are at the baseline. For higher ones i go east of a cont grip.

[fruitytennis1]

Originally Posted by escii_35

1. A good slice backhand takes just as much energy as a drive.
2. Don't flail the wrist. (my biggest issue)

Not doubting your extensive experience but...im sure that #1 is wrong.