Life of Slice

Marcus Paul Cootsona

The Full-Court Slice Overhead is an audacious scoring shot. Bolder and more unexpected than even a reverse-spinning dropshot or a thread-the-ashpalt laser, the FCSO is a crowd stunner and an opponent vanquisher. And it is a perfect thwart for the modern game. Players schooled to hit high-clearance top spin and loopy deep recovery shots and lobs expect that these shots will buy them time to recover. But when executed well, The Full-Court Slice Overhead buys them nothing but regret. Much like some of the racquets in the early '90's. Add the FCSO to your game and make more winners, get more respect and inspire more Spotify posts.

A Slice Overhead can be hit almost any time you’d hit a flat overhead.  In the air.  Off the bounce.  Short, mid-court or deep.  But it’s the deep-in-the-backcourt version we’re going to look at.  Here, the Slice Overhead will help you not only take control of a rally, it can turn a water-treading maintenance shot into a highlight reel winner.  And it allows you to exploit angles and combine them with pace that are hard if not impossible to get from a groundstroke; especially when the ball is above your head in your backcourt. 

The drastic movement of this shot surprises opponents and makes it the best offensive shot from the deep court since the ace out wide.  No longer will you have to play the ten-and-under loop-the-loop.  Now you can step up like an adult and control your match destiny with power, depth and angle.  Or at least hit a very impressive winner that makes the other guy stop lobbing so much.  Either way, it’s a win.  Fewer lobs from them or more putaways from you.

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But isn’t it difficult, foolhardy and dangerous?

Not really.  That’s opening a tennis store.  I know.  The FCSO seems risky, but it’s actually a high-percentage shot that is hard for your opponent to read accurately and easy for you to do.  If you relax.  But then again, so is hosting the Oscars.  If you relax.  Okay, it’s easier than that.  And once you do it, you’ll find reasons to use it.  Like a new nailgun.  Or a juicer.  Which, come to think of it, are both more entertaining than the Oscars.  And what’s even better about the FCSO is that you can keep hitting it worry-free.  Most opponents won’t get better at returning it no matter how many you launch at them.  And even if they do return it, their frantic adjustments can make their shots weak and gift you delicious follow-up closing shot chances.  What more could you want?  ATP points?

So When Exactly Do You Use It?

Use the FCSO any time a ball is lobbed or looped into your backcourt and you have time to set up and hit if off the bounce. Use it in place of the high forehand. Use it when you want a big, bombastic statement stroke. Or use it just to throw a monkey in the wrench. Yippy-Ki-Yay! Anyway, this is how you do the full-court slice overhead.

Identify It — Set the ball up away from your body at about the same distance as you would for a drive forehand groundstroke. At head height or above is best, though it can be hit from a lower bounce as well. Unlike a regular overhead, let the ball bounce back toward you so it is lined up not out in front of you, but across from your forehand side hip. The ball will begin to drop after the bounce, so bend your knees (very important on all overheads, by the way), get loose and get thee ready.

Acquire It — Next, as you bring the racquet up to hitting position, rotate your grip to hit a spin serve. Use a medium-light grip pressure for this shot. Just enough to hold the angle of the racquet face to create side spin, but not enough to rob you of distance. And as you get ready to hit, keep your feet light and active. Adjust your position as necessary as the ball drops so it is even with your body and out to your forehand side. Envision hitting the ball from the backside at about it's 2:00 position and then driving it deep into opposing territory. This is not a serve, so hitting the top corner of the ball will only cause it to descend netward too rapidly.

Blast It — You are shooting this shot corner to corner crosscourt, with an altitude-losing spin and about eighty-five feet of court to use, so let it rip. Keep your wrist loose, maintain just enough grip pressure and shoulder suppleness, and now, hit it really ! Extend the motion outward and stick a full follow through. The ball should break (curve) at least five to six feet from your forehand side to your backhand side while spinning aggressively sideways and losing altitude like a share of Zynga. Not only will you probably win the point, the way you win it will look really cool and may cause foe racquet flinging and loud and angry opponent agitation.

A Couple of Ways to Practice It

By Yourself — Like the serve, the FCSO can be practiced mano without other mano. Stand at three-quarters court, toss the ball up high and straight, adjust your position with micro-steps and commit shot. See how far you can get the ball to break right to left.

Mano A Mano — Start a rally and have your hitting partner add in loopy shots and lobs at random. Use your new sidewinding stinger to crush them. Remember to let the ball play you, hit from behind it on the outside edge and keep your upper body and grip loose and relaxed.

The Full-Court Slice Overhead is a very effective shot for turning defense into offense, and maintenance into mayhem.  It is a shot that forces your opponent to react and adjust to an oddly-timed, aggressive sliding missile on an occasion when they’re expecting a puff ball.  Use the FCSO and put some extra-duty back in your felt. 

And as always —

Practice Often. Play Well. Have Fun.

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Marcus Paul Cootsona

Marcus Paul Cootsona is a teaching professional and author of Occam’s Racquet – 12 Simple Steps To Smarter Tennis. Contact him at: marcuscootsona.com.