Slicing and Dicing the Backhand

Tom Downs

I've always been fascinated by how tennis technique has evolved over time. When I think of slice backhands, I instantly think of the past masters of this stroke — Rosewall, Rafter, Ashe, Laver, Edberg, Cash, Sampras, in fact, most of the dominant Australian and American players of the 60's and before come to mind.

Those players from previous generations mostly had fairly classic styled games and used the slice more to approach the net or as a driving forceful shot to dictate play. Ken Rosewall is a perfect example of a player who could dominate a point with his slice backhand.

Today’s players use the slice more as a change of pace or direction, or to bring opponents forward and out of their comfort zones, therefore, the ability to to use different paces, speeds, and depths is a must..

Many players also use the slice backhand to set up their forehands. Yet I see very few players drive slice backhands deep and hard through the court and even fewer who approach the net with this shot. This is partly because the modern game is played on slower courts and with slower balls. Modern racquets and strings are vastly different and designed to give players more pop on their hard topspin groundstrokes. However, since many of the top players use the slice effectively, it is obviously an important shot to have in the repertoire. Let's take a look at the slice backhand in detail.

Grip and Backswing

As with the volleys, a grip that is within the parameters of continental, is acceptable. Most players use a true continental. Some may use a warm continental, which means the base index knuckle of the hitting hand is slightly positioned toward the eastern forehand grip.

A unit turn is critical, which means that players must take the racquet back with their hips and shoulders and pivot on the outside foot at the same time. As is the case with the backhand volley, I like the non-dominant hand to adjust the height of the racquet according to the flight and the bounce of the incoming ball and  players should not change the angle of the wrist and racquet during the take back. In other words, the racquet and the hitting arm should not move independently during the unit turn. I understand that advanced players will often lay the wrist back slightly to get a little more pop on their slices, as Andy Murray does, but that should be reserved for advanced club level players and beyond.

Judging the flight and bounce of the ball is extremely important as it is with every tennis shot. With a lot of the great slice backhands, Sampras, Murray, Gasquet, and Rafter come to mind, the take back will typically end with the racquet behind and higher than the non-dominant shoulder with the body weight loaded on the outside leg.

In today's game, especially on the WTA tour, we often see players with two-handed slice backhands. These players, for the most part do not take the racquet back as high players with one-handed slice backhands, because for the one-handed players, the slice is often more natural and they can take the racquet back further and generate more pace. For two-handed players, the slice is usually a shot used to change pace off of lower balls, whereas one-handed backhand players use their slice on higher balls also. The height of the take back for the two-handed slice backhand is usually somewhere between head and waist high depending on the height of the incoming ball and how much slice they intend to put on it.

Forward Swing, Contact, and Finish

The structure of the forward swing, if you want to hit more of a traditional driving slice backhand, is high-low-high towards your intended target, with the body weight shifting forward from the back leg onto the front leg as the player steps and swings.

I am a big believer in having players understand which part of the ball to hit for certain shots. For any crosscourt slice, the key is hitting the outside part of the ball. To hit a short low slice, hit the outside of the ball, but also come underneath it. I call this hitting the "bottom left quarter of the ball."

For a down the line slice off of a low ball, hit more underneath or even the inside of the ball so that the ball will hit the opponents side of the court and move away from the them. Make sure your hitting hand goes through the contact zone toward your target. As with the backhand volley, I tell my players to get the hand through the contact zone towards the target along with the knuckles of the hitting hand. I always preach to my players to get both the hand and racquet traveling toward the intended hitting target.

For those single handed players who want to hit a slice down the line off of a higher ball, hit the outside of the ball but keep the racquet more on the dominant side of your body and extend the racquet through the contact zone towards the target.

The forward swing will vary depending on a players' intention. If a player hits a short, low slice backhand, the racquet will travel in a slightly more downward swing path, as the player will come under the ball more to impart underspin and the finish won't be as high as a more driving slice backhand finish would be. In this case, the racquet will probably finish about waist high or slightly lower. The player will still swing aggressively, which is a key to hitting any slice successfully, but he will try and absorb the ball onto their strings more as opposed to really hitting through the ball.

If a player hits a floating or deeper slice from a defensive position, the racquet will travel in a downward path but contact will be made out in front of the body and the length of the swing through the contact zone will be slightly longer than that swing of a short low slice backhand. The finish will be slightly higher than that for a short low slice but usually not as high as that of a slice backhand that has been driven.

One important thing to remember is that the wrist cannot collapse at contact. I often see this with club players of all levels. When players slice incoming balls which are low, the racquet will travel below the wrist after contact, and sometimes during contact, but the wrist itself cannot collapse.

As coaches, we often study finishes and we know that the finish is just the natural flow that the arm and the racquet take after contact. This means that a player will have different finishes depending on what their intentions are with a slice backhand. If a player adds more underspin, the finish will naturally be lower. Players should have a clear understanding of swing paths and further, they should have a clear understanding of how the entire structure of the swing should look.

When I look at Andy Murray's different slice backhands, his racquet will finish about shoulder high when he hits through the ball more and around waist high if he adds more underspin to the short and wants to hit it shorter and lower.

For those players with two-handed slice backhands, the finish is usually around the same areas, as mentioned. We see some two-handed slice backhands where the non-dominant hand will come off the racquet just before or after contact, and will continue to follow the path of the dominant hand. I do not force all of my players to slice with the single hand, unless I believe it is the best option for them. I strongly believe in teaching what will work best for each individual, as everyone's mechanics are different.

The Defensive Slice

I like my players to think of the slice as an offensive stroke, even when they are in a seemingly defensive situation. A good time to hit the slice is when a player is pulled out wide on the backhand side, however, I do not like to see this shot being used because players are too lazy to put the work in with their feet and cannot be bothered getting over to that wide ball and hitting an open stance two-handed backhand.

Players must have the goal of making this shot a reliable tool. one they can use to use to neutralize a point or even take control of the point, as Federer and Murray do so well.

To execute this shot effectively and consistently, a player must cut off the angle and make sure the body weight is centered and low to the ground. When pulled wide, many players and coaches talk about the importance of getting the back knee down and low to the ground for low slices. The player must hit the outside part of the ball when hitting crosscourt and to come under the bottom of the ball more when hitting down the line.

I know that many coaches prefer most defensive shots to be hit crosscourt, and I am not saying they are wrong, but if we watch the likes of Andy Murray and others, it is evident they play their defensive shots to various locations and with different trajectories, spins, and pace. The thing I like about this shot is the options it affords a player. It can be hit short or deep and to any part of the court depending on a variety of factors including the opponents game style, strengths, and weaknesses, along with environmental factors.

Return of Serve

In the modern pro game, we see players like Gasquet and Federer return serve with various types of slice backhands. They often use this shot to draw opponents forward and out of their comfort zone. Today's men's game is largely based around a big first and heavy second serve, followed by a first strike capability (usually a forehand) to take control of a point.

Time and time again we see Nadal serve to Federer's backhand, Federer chips the backhand or hits it low and short, and Nadal takes control of the point with his forehand. So if you choose to hit the short, low one-handed slice return, placing it well and making sure it doesn't sit up are key. Against a lot of players, Federer can use this shot to neutralize an opponent's big first serve then work his way into the point and eventually take control. He did this with great success against Andy Roddick. Andy, particularly in the latter stages of his career, was not very comfortable coming forwards and playing the net. Nadal looks to take control of points off of the first ball and is very comfortable finishing at net.

One of the keys to returning well with the slice is to split step and move forwards to the ball. Many players have a defensive mentality when using the slice return, this often causes them to wait too long for the ball forcing them to make contact behind the body. Federer is a great example of a player who judges the ball very well and times his slice returns impeccably. He gets a tremendous amount of body weight going into the shot.

Common mistakes

I often see club players open their bodies too soon during the forward part of the swing. The legendary coach, Ray Ruffels, would always talk about staying sideways through contact. Ray was a preacher of getting the back knee down and low to the ground (as I have mentioned a few times throughout this article), hitting the outside of the ball, and finishing with your body weight forwards toward your intended target. If you do not stay sideways long enough, your body and racquet will tend to pull off of the ball and you will not be able to hit a penetrating slice.

Legendary coach, Ray Ruffels always talk about staying sideways through contact and getting the back knee down and low to the ground.

I also see club players trying to hit their slice backhands too hard. Maintaining constant racquet speed is very important from the start of the forward swing until the finish, but the swing has to be one of controlled aggression.

When players try to hit too hard, they often pull off of the ball and control is lost. I have also observed that players regularly swing downward too much on the forward swing and as a result, contact is often too close to the body. This can cause the ball to travel too high and sit up too much. Lack of knee bend can also cause players to swing downward too much. Getting the right amount of knee bend in each slice backhand is very important in order to avoid this. As is the case with any shot in tennis, power and penetration come from technique.

Drills

My favorite drill is the "non-dominant hand behind the back drill' and it can be used to work on many aspects of the slice backhand. However, the main idea of this drill is to work on making the structure of the swing with your dominant hand more solid.

Start from the service line and have your coach or partner feed you balls. With your non dominant hand behind your back, work on turning as a unit, loading the weight on the outside leg, and hitting the outside part of the ball with the racquet traveling in the high-low-high swing pattern, while making sure your body weight stays sideways. Then, freeze your finish and have someone observe your stroke for corrections.

I find that most of my students tend to open up too soon. I constantly remind them to face the side fence through contact, which may be a bit extreme, but going from one extreme to the other often solves the problems when it comes to bettering a players technique.

If you find yourself swinging downward too much, you may need to use your legs more and make contact farther out in front and focus on getting your back knee down and low to the ground. Using your legs more will help eliminate too much downward racquet work.

I use this drill to work on the defensive slice when pulled out wide to the backhand side. I also use this drill to work on a players two handed slice. I find that when these players put their no-dominant hand behind their back, the structure of their swing improves, and when they put their non-dominant hand back on the racquet, their swing feels more solid.

Drop Feed Drill

The other drill I like is very simple. You can do this yourself. Hold the ball in the non-dominant hand and drop it in front of you. Then go ahead and execute a slice backhand. Start from the service line and move your way back. Most players I have done this drill with are amazed at how difficult it is to hit a solid slice backhand off of a dropped ball. In order to do this drill really well, you have to execute the slice with solid fundamentals. Or all sorts of things may happen — the ball could float too much, it may have too much underspin, or it may shank off the side of the racquet. But at least you will have a more clear understanding of the problems with your own slice backhand, if you previously did not.

With the return of serve, I recommend putting a triangle on the servers side of the court. The triangle can be about 4 feet inside the baseline and 3 feet inside the singles line. Work on hitting various slice returns outside the triangle and focus on the important aspects of the slice backhand mentioned in this article.

A great way to improve technique is to compare your strokes to that of a role model professional. You may have different role models for different strokes. For the slice backhand, I would suggest looking at Federer, Gasquet or even someone from previous generations like Rafter or Edberg. Or if you have a two-handed backhand and one handed slice, look at Murray. Santoro had a great two handed backhand slice.

Good luck in your quest to make the slice backhand an important part of your repertoire.

Your comments are welcome. Let us know what you think about Tom Downs' article by emailing us here at TennisOne.

Tom Downs

Tom has and extensive coaching background, and has been a member of the Institute team for several years. He has served as our Head Staff Professional, and is currently the Traveling Coach for Institute players. He has traveled with several of our Tour players including Laura Granville and Carly Gullickson, who won the US Open Mixed Doubles title in 2009.

Tom has worked with junior and other professional players, including Sam Stosur and Rennae Stubbs, at all 4 Grand Slam events, as well as other major tournaments around the world. Tom graduated from the University of South Florida in 2005 with a degree in communications. As a successful junior player, Tom represented Australia, and was consistently ranked in the top 10 in all age groups in Australia. He played college tennis at South Carolina State University and was a member of their conference championship team in 2004.