1hbh slice for shoulder height balls

[directionals]

I can hit a pretty good slice when the ball is below shoulder height. But when the ball is above shoulder, I have trouble generating pace and the ball becomes a floater and lands short. What is the proper way to slice a high ball that has a good amonnt of topspin? The recent thread on Federer's slice where it describes you hit down and across, I can do that on low balls. I can't visualize how you slice down and across on a shoulder height ball. Tips?

[boramiNYC]

squarely sideway stance and straight down chop. control trajectory with the whole body balance. lean whole body toward the net for steeper chop and flatter trajectory.

[The Meat]

Originally Posted by boramiNYC

squarely sideway stance and straight down chop. control trajectory with the whole body balance. lean whole body toward the net for steeper chop and flatter trajectory.

Would you also say that taking it either on the rise or at its max peak is the ideal time to hit it?

[TheCheese]

Originally Posted by The Meat

Would you also say that taking it either on the rise or at its max peak is the ideal time to hit it?

Depends what kind of shot you want to hit. If you want a really low skidding ball, take it on the rise. If you want to float it or curve it, it's much better to take it at the top as long as it's not too high.

If it gets too high above the shoulder all you're going to be able to do is float it deep.

[boramiNYC]

Originally Posted by The Meat

Would you also say that taking it either on the rise or at its max peak is the ideal time to hit it?

the ideal height would be near shoulder level. so if the ball is bouncing even higher than that you wanna step in and take it on the rise. if the max peak is around shoulder height you can take it there too.

[luvforty]

it is more difficult to put pace on the high slice, lean into the shot without losing balance... don't worry about the 'across' part.... at that height it's all about 'down' and 'forward'.

also, cut the OUTSIDE of the ball so it also curves to the right and make it difficult for the other guy.

[Nellie]

With a higher ball, hit straight through the ball with racquet head tilted back, like hitting a high volley.

[J011yroger]

I think it would be cool if everyone who gave advice put up a video of them hitting the shot they are advising.

It would be nice to see the source of this golden advice.

J

[TomT]

Some good (ie., testable) comments so far, imo. I'm not qualified to offer any advice, but here's some vids (they're all really short, like a few seconds each, so go ahead and check them out).

This one's hit at about chest height. I guess I could have taken the ball a little earlier (a bit higher). Anyway I think the principle is basically the same as for undercutting higher balls.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zMQQSdS3y2M

These are hit at about shoulder height.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vMG1Cyk00XM

This one's over my head at contact. I followed it in because I figured I had enough time to get into a fairly good net position. Probably a bad idea on such a no-pace ball, but this is 3.0 tennis where nobody has good passing shots and any kind of pressure usually leads to errors, and anyway I should have been able to hit a successful volley off what came back.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jXC4Qn8e8yM

[LeeD]

Higher prep, and load that front foot, forcing your shoulder to lower and square up onto the ball, the opposite of leaning backwards and aiming the ball skyward.
Forceful swing, closed stance.

[mntlblok]

Have the racket head *above* the ball before contact, then, as you slice down and forward, *don't* let the racket face "close" - which, if you opened it a good bit for power on the back swing, can get to be kind of interesting. Might even think of it as making contact "above the ball's equator". This keeps it from "floating" higher than you want.

Much like a high backhand volley, you may have to either just "stop" the racket face at impact, or really do some fancy racket face manipulation after contact in order to keep the face from closing. If you *do* let the face close, then it was probably closing too much at impact, and it probably went into the bottom of the net.

Kevin

[luvforty]

lean on the ball, upper body about 15 degrees leaning forward at impact... weight on right foot, left leg trailing behind for balance.

also, cut the outside of the ball to make it curve and less attackable.

[J011yroger]

Originally Posted by mntlblok

Have the racket head *above* the ball before contact, then, as you slice down and forward, *don't* let the racket face "close" - which, if you opened it a good bit for power on the back swing, can get to be kind of interesting. Might even think of it as making contact "above the ball's equator". This keeps it from "floating" higher than you want.

Much like a high backhand volley, you may have to either just "stop" the racket face at impact, or really do some fancy racket face manipulation after contact in order to keep the face from closing. If you *do* let the face close, then it was probably closing too much at impact, and it probably went into the bottom of the net.

Kevin

Why does your signature say "pounds per square inch"?

J

[mntlblok]

Originally Posted by J011yroger

Why does your signature say "pounds per square inch"?

J

It's "long" for PSI. I string my Weed at 39 PSI cause I'm too old to generate pace any other way.

Kevin

[J011yroger]

Originally Posted by mntlblok

It's "long" for PSI. I string my Weed at 39 PSI cause I'm too old to generate pace any other way.

Kevin

But string tension is measured in pounds. Square inches don't enter into it. PSI is a measure of pressure, not tension.

J

[mikeler]

Originally Posted by J011yroger

But string tension is measured in pounds. Square inches don't enter into it. PSI is a measure of pressure, not tension.

J

This is correct.

[mntlblok]

Originally Posted by J011yroger

But string tension is measured in pounds. Square inches don't enter into it. PSI is a measure of pressure, not tension.

J

I'll be derned. I'll set that straight. Thank you.

[LeeD]

Since you're SLICING, the ball cannot travel as fast as a topspin or flat shot.
So you aim lower, maybe 2' above the net cord, the ball lands deep past NML, skids off to one side, bouncing low, and hopefully gives your topspin grooved opponent some problems with setup and prep.
And since you are slicing, you have more control of the height over net, so you can adjust as needed if the opponent comes into net position.
Load your front foot, lean towards your target lowering your front shoulder, slice FIRMLY thru the stroke, with weight behind it.
I like a conti grip with a slight twist towards eFOREhand, taken well late, almost in line with my front shoulder.

[anubis]

Just keep practicing it outside of match play. Have someone feed you higher than average balls to your BH and keep at it. Or, practice with a ball machine. or, practice against a wall. You'll figure it out, you just need a lot of time doing it.

How do you think guys like Federer are so good at so many awesome shots (aside from just a ground stroke)? They practice and isolate those shots for hours on end.

In a given match, how many of those slice BH's are you going to encounter? How many of them are above your shoulder? Not a whole lot, i don't think. Until you've done it 500/1000/10,000 times, then both your mind and body aren't used to it, aren't used to anticipating that shot and then going for it.

[mntlblok]

Originally Posted by J011yroger

But string tension is measured in pounds. Square inches don't enter into it. PSI is a measure of pressure, not tension.

J

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SjRN4j9RJu8

Always fun to learn. . .