Instruction Corner: Don't Diminish The Slice

[scoop]

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Sound tennis instruction picked up from a former ATP top ten pro:

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Honestly, this is not the first time I heard this….

“You don’t need a slice backhand as you may get to depend on it too much and you won’t hit your bigger backhand”…

(Sighs)…..

This is one of the most absurd things I have heard coaches spew to good female players! I heard it again today.

Who are these “mental giants in coaching” who think this way?

Look, it is way better to have competencies in having a “full toolbox” of shots. You may not use them all in a match but what if you need them all?

Don’t tell me you only get deep balls that bounce as high as your hip so you can murder every
groundstroke!

Returns of serve can end up short, opponent has low slicing capability etc and you better know some slicing off both backhand and forehand side ……

Go tell Radwanska or Nicolescu their slices are no good….

So many people get fed a bunch of bs by coaches who have a “certification” of who knows what…..
So much free information to see at Wimbledon…..
people don’t “see” it….

Don’t diminish the slice and it’s place in your arsenal.

 

[scoop]

Scoop Malinowski writes:

A good biting slice is a weapon. It's a difficult shot to handle because you have to slightly alter the way you contact a slice compared to a forehand. A good biting slice can provoke errors and give you free points. Even a slow paceless slice can be tricky for some players who don't like to suddenly have to generate their own pace. If you don't have a good slice backhand you need to get one. A good forehand slice is also a nice shot to have in your tennis toolbox.

 

[TFBlogGuest]

Chazz writes:

I don't understand why anyone would want to remove shots from their arsenal unless they are terrible at them. I would also add that if an opponent has a big kick serve, an important shot is being able to block it back with placement deep in their court. It's not really a slice but it can be a defensive stroke that can be used as a weapon if you are consistent with it.

 

[TFBlogGuest]

catherine writes:

I've seen good slices from both men and women pros but then again they don't use the shot that much. Simona H has a slice forehand dropshot but I've only seen it a couple of times. Once last W'don v Kerber who reached it so maybe Simona gave up on that. And back in the day of serve/volley I read BJK on the slice and she put it down as a shot to avoid because it tended to float if not hit well and be a setup. But of course she had slice in her arsenal along with every other shot. I'm not technically expert obviously, just a spectator, but it seems to me that when new more powerful racquets came along topspin just became easier to hit effectively from a young age and slice was more or less forgotten about. And you can't exactly belt a slice can you ? The average young player wants to do that - belt the ball I mean. Coaches follow fashion I suppose and impart that wisdom to their charges.

 

[TFBlogGuest]

Hartt writes:

I was catching up on some matches that I had missed but had on tape, and saw a couple of Lopez's recent matches. I was struck by how often, and how effectively, he used his BH slice.

 

[TFBlogGuest]

catherine writes:

Hartt - I'll be looking out for slice now, in men's and women's matches And what Scoop says about slice requiring opponents to generate their own pace is a really good tactic which I'd like to see applied more in some women's matches where the players sometimes seem to get mesmerised by their ability to keep rallies going at ferocious speed.

 

[scoop]

Scoop Malinowski writes:

Right Chazz, need to have a slice to return a big kick serve. If you don't have a block back slice you will have a very hard time getting good contact on a heavy slice. I beat a D1 player recently with a big serve and people watching said one of the keys of the match was my slice black back deep returns. If I kept going for topspin backhand returns it would have been a routine blowout loss no doubt.

 

[scoop]

Scoop Malinowski writes:

Lopez has the most aesthetic slice in pro tennis. And he uses it a lot. He is very accurate with it and can seemingly hit any target with it. Best slice in tennis is by Lopez.

 

[scoop]

Scoop Malinowski writes:

Catherine: Try to notice how many free points a slice provokes from the opponent. It's as good as hitting a winner.

 

[TFBlogGuest]

catherine writes:

Scoopo - I'll do that. And at W'don Venus Williams, if she's free from other worries this year, is Queen of the slice.

 

[scoop]

Scoop Malinowski writes:

Saurez Navarro has a nice slice as does Radwanska and Jabeur does too Catherine. On a sidenote: Djokovic is rumored to be adding Ancic to his team.

 

[TFBlogGuest]

Duke Carnoustie writes:

Hey guys, Here's an interesting pre-Wimbledon conference call you may not have seen... http://espnmediazone.com/us/press-r...erence-call-john-patrick-mcenroe-pam-shriver/

 

[TFBlogGuest]

catherine writes:

Djokovic has indeed added Ancic to his team. He looks a lot happier after his week in Eastbourne. It's that sea air ambience above the White Cliffs of Dover

 

[TFBlogGuest]

Andrew Miller writes:

Ancic eh. Funny. Ancic must've been bored on the sidelines of the game but just around it enough to want to dive back in. Ancic. A guy that seemed to injured to meet more of his potential. In some ways Vasek Pospisil is like this. Ancic was an understudy much as Vasek is, second fiddle to whoever is ahead of them. Wawrinka still is an understudy to Federer but he's found a champion niche.

 

[TFBlogGuest]

Andrew Miller writes:

Vasek has too.

 

[scoop]

Scoop Malinowski writes:

Ancic is Wall Street investment banker now lives in nyc. Came down to Sarasota Open in april to visit old coach and relax. Could be itching to get back into tennis.

 

[TFBlogGuest]

jg writes:

There's some good video of Ancic hitting with the Columbia u team when he was in law school there, djokovic is looking to the future being around 2 guys who are not one dimensional, and have accomplished much outside of tennis, but it seems like the tennis pulls you back, like Goldstein, etc.

 

[TFBlogGuest]

catherine writes:

Djokovic seems to like to have people around him who have interests beyond the game. Maybe he enjoys some stimulation. While he was in Eastbourne he went out and about and discussed where he'd been and how he felt etc. I've never heard any other player show similar awareness of their surroundings, let alone talk about them.

 

[TFBlogGuest]

catherine writes:

Change that 'never' to 'rarely' in the last line. Some players do show a little curiosity.

 

[TFBlogGuest]

jg writes:

I'm rooting for Djokovic, he has a lawyer on his team!