Golden Oldies: 
The Slice Backhand

by Ed Atkinson

Hitting the Slice

The grip should be the eastern backhand, with the wrist slightly cocked. The stance should be sideways to the net with the feet parallel at approximately shoulder width.

The swing is diagonal from high to low, ending with the racquet pointing toward the net. The ball should be struck as far in front of you as is comfortable. The angle of the swing varies depending upon the amount of underspin you wish to create.

A player such as Don Budge or Ken Rosewall could drive through the ball with slice, penetrate the court, and even, in Rosewall’s case, hit effective passing shots.  

The most essential element of the stroke is that there is no break in the wrist or forearm at contact. Starting from the cocked position on the backswing, the racquet is thrust forward until the arm is completely straight.  

Chip and Charge

When using the slice approach, it is critical to remain as still as possible when contacting the ball. Obviously to make an approach shot you must run forward toward the short ball. A prevalent mistake is to run up to the ball and hit without stopping. This error can be fatal. The momentum of your body combined with the speed of the oncoming ball turns an easy opportunity into a very difficult shot. So remember, run, plant (your feet), and hit.  

It is my belief that the chip and charge should be used virtually every time your opponent hits a second serve.  This tactic was a staple of the great serve and volley players like Kramer and Rod Laver, as well as many others in the golden age of grass court tennis.  

But the chip and charge is vastly under utilized in the modern game. Why? It is here that I must vent my spleen against what I consider the greatest disservice to men’s tennis in its history—the increasing dominance of the two-handed backhand.

Yes, the two-handed shot allows one to hit greater crosscourt angles and is, perhaps, more difficult to read.  So much for the good news.   

The bad news is that it reduces the players’ reach, a weakness that is graphically exposed in the return game. Worse, it keeps players from developing a natural slice backhand, which reduces the ability to play good defense, and virtually eliminates the ability to chip and charge or play serve and volley (See The Golden Age of Serve and Volley, by Ed Atkinson).

If the bad news exceeds the good so dramatically how did the two-handed backhand reach it’s present popularity?  

The answer is that children are introduced to the game at a far too early age. This phenomenon is exacerbated by the fact that present racquet construction makes racquets too heavy in the head. When an infant is required to hit a backhand drive with a head heavy racquet, the only alternative is to use two hands.

No child should commence playing tennis before the age of ten—at the earliest. There have been great champions who started playing in their teens. Once a player is strong enough to develop a one handed backhand, he can develop the serve and volley and the chip and charge tactics.

With the correct technique, the chip (slice backhand) is safe and effective, and the tactic puts enormous pressure on your opponent.   

This pressure only increases as the match wears on. Your opponent will attempt to hit his second serve harder and/or deeper, engendering double faults. To hold serve, he will be forced to hit the most difficult shot in tennis—the passing shot—on a repeated basis.  

To some this strategy may appear extreme, yet it was the preferred tactic of the greatest champions the game has ever seen. Use the slice backhand to create a relentless attacking style and you too will reap the benefits of the old adage: “Fortune favors the bold.”

The Kings of the Court historical video, produced by TennisONE contributing editor, Ed Atkinson, is the ultimate legacy for the tennis enthusiast, and a must for anyone who wants to understand the history of the game.  Kings of the court presents amazing, rare, and often, never before seen footage of the greatest champions in the history, from Little Bill Johnson and Big Bill Tilden to Don Budge, Jack Kramer, Lew Hoad, Pancho Gonzales, and Rod Laver. Narrated by John Forsythe with a highly evocative original musical score, it can be purchased in the TennisONE ProShop Click here to purchase!

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