my backhand slice has no depth

[tennis_hand]

Hi,

My slice is pretty bad, but I am desperate to have it as a defense.

If I hit it well, it spins a lot but has no depth. So if I hit a slice at the baseline, it does not go over the net most of the times. If I hit a slice in mid court, it lands in the opposite mid court. and If I have to chase the ball and hit a slice, it becomes a high backspin lob.

I use continental grip on slice. The most annoying thing is still the lack of depth.

Any ideas what is wrong? I use a 1HBH and it has become better and better, but never with slice BH.

thanks.

 

[POGforEver]

You might be taking too much of a cut at the ball. Try to lengthen your stroke and reach to the other side of the court. My coach always told me that the slice is a finesse shot, don't try and put too much back spin on it...Good luck!

 

[str33t]

you are probably hitting under the ball instead of behind it.

 

[krprunitennis2]

push the ball while hitting it.

 

[tennis_hand]

Ya. I also think I hit too much under the ball. So I should push it forward while swinging down?

 

[White_Rice]

Hit it deeper

 

[aznspongehead]

Hit it deeper

Yeah and don't hit it with so little depth, right? :roll:

 

[N4n45h1]

try stepping into your cut at the ball, and add some horizontal movement, if you want as much spin try cutting down harder also

 

[JCo872]

Hi,

My slice is pretty bad, but I am desperate to have it as a defense.

If I hit it well, it spins a lot but has no depth. So if I hit a slice at the baseline, it does not go over the net most of the times. If I hit a slice in mid court, it lands in the opposite mid court. and If I have to chase the ball and hit a slice, it becomes a high backspin lob.

I use continental grip on slice. The most annoying thing is still the lack of depth.

Any ideas what is wrong? I use a 1HBH and it has become better and better, but never with slice BH.

thanks.

Two quick suggestions. First, most people have the racket angled way too much on contact. The racket should just slighly be angled open. Second, you must drive this shot with your shoulder. The racket isn't what is slicing through the ball.

There is also a full shoulder turn, and a specific takeback position on this shot.

Check out the angle of the racket on contact, and the drive from the shoulder here:

http://www.hi-techtennis.com/slice/videos/singha.php

Jeff

 

[dpfrazier]

You might be "casting" the racquet head before contact. Make sure there's close to a 90 degree angle (an "L" shape) between your forearm and your racquet at contact.

A full shoulder turn and long follow-through are also important, as noted by others...

 

[Andres]

Drive through it more, instead of brushing it backwards so much.

 

[Slazenger]

Great backhand slice article which also addresses specifically your problem

http://www.tennis.com/yourgame/instructionarticles/backhand/backhand.aspx?id=426

Good luck.

 

[alan-n]

Hit through the ball with your legs and shoulder more as if you were volleying instead of drop shotting it or undercutting it.

 

[Rafa's best friend]

Hi,

My slice is pretty bad, but I am desperate to have it as a defense.

If I hit it well, it spins a lot but has no depth. So if I hit a slice at the baseline, it does not go over the net most of the times. If I hit a slice in mid court, it lands in the opposite mid court. and If I have to chase the ball and hit a slice, it becomes a high backspin lob.

I use continental grip on slice. The most annoying thing is still the lack of depth.

Any ideas what is wrong? I use a 1HBH and it has become better and better, but never with slice BH.

thanks.

ok, you are probably putting too much slice and hitting thru the shot enough. There is a Ken Rosewall video in tennisone.com and watch how he hits thru the ball like he is hitting a flat ball almost and racket face has to be perpendicular on impact. Hit thru and out, not chop down. watch the video you will see, besides Rosewall had the best backhand slice ever, and he still does. Jimmy conners said he hit his slices harder than his flat forehand..

 

[tennis_hand]

good point, guys. Thanks. i will practice the forward motion.

 

[nagan]

I've found that if I spread my thumb (in an Eastern bh grip) along the back of the handle, it stables the shot, and even adds some power (and consistency).

 

[Solat]

try to hit with more of an eastern bh grip rather then the conti, and treat it like a BH volley with a punching motion rather then a chopping motion. This will give much better depth

 

[Swissv2]

Great backhand slice article which also addresses specifically your problem

http://www.tennis.com/yourgame/instructionarticles/backhand/backhand.aspx?id=426

Good luck.

very GL indeed!

awesome post.

 

[tennis_hand]

try to hit with more of an eastern bh grip rather then the conti, and treat it like a BH volley with a punching motion rather then a chopping motion. This will give much better depth

Hmm. sounds good, as I don't have much problem with volleys. but the thing is I use continental for volley too, and I believe most use conti to volley rather than eastern BH.