The Value of the Slice
I must in the arsenal
For years I have taught all levels of players the slice and the value of the slice. Most club players, juniors and many collegiate players don’t hit them effectively nor their relatives, the chip return and penetrating volley. But I have to address this given once again Federer lost to Nadal when I think if he had made adjustments the outcome would have been different. Granted, while the conditions were the worst for Fed’s game and better suited for Nadal who has tons of shape and room in his game, if Fed had used a slice more strategically he would have done better. He doesn’t have to use it all the time but certainly in a few cases that will not only neutralize Nadal but set up Federer’s forehand.
Federer is my favorite all time but one thing I do not understand is why he insists on (as do others) pounding his backhand with top to Nadal’s forehand. Nadal WANTS it high. And whether one has a two hand or 1 hander if you are pulled wide by Nadal’s forehand and try to pound it back with your backhand, especially if closed stance trying to transfer the weight more, you will finish further out of the court and pay the price. Wrong strategy. If you can hit open stance that helps but just slice the darn thing and keep it low. The slice often is considered too defensive. No, not if you have a great slice like Federer actually has. His slice is a “knife” that just skids on the court. It can be taught and I work on it with players who have the aptitude. McEnroe had a penetrating slice as well (it involves closing the face a bit at impact). Numerous players have this but this blog is not so much on the technical aspect but to show you how effective the slice is strategically AND to plea with Fed to stop coming over the ball, unless he can punish players on the open court. Slice it to keep the ball low, force Nadal to hit up on it then Federer has his forehand ready to rip it. Below I will show several clips clearly demonstrating this with Thiem and Barty. Barty destroys opponents with this and Thiem took down Djokovic with it in the end. And remember, Nadal was destroyed by Djokovic in the last slam. Thiem is willing to knife in key times.
First let’s look at some examples then I will discuss when and why Fed and others should hit it. Here is a perfect example of what Barty did to just dismantle her opponent in route to winning the 2019 French Open women’s title. Men, take a lesson from her! Fed, and those who have the slice, should do to Nadal as Barty did to this lefty.
Also listen carefully to what John McEnroe says about Barty’s slice here. Again, this is one of the great advantages of a slice. It stays low in the wind, stays low on clay or most surfaces but especially fast hard, and checks up (slows down) on slower courts changing the pace whereby often throwing off opponents.
If you have a good slice it is a “skidder” and very difficult to deal with often resulting in a shot dumped in the net. With the extreme grips nowadays (western and semi-western) a good slice is tough to handle that low. Plus you can hold your shot a bit longer than a full swing top. In short you can run to a ball more quickly with a short backswing and almost wait for your opponent to commit then hit the slice to the best location. This is hard to do with a fuller backswing and committed fuller topspin swing.
Now here we have the last two points of Thiem when he took down Djokovic. It is no coincidence that he one these points. What Theim did to Djokovic on these points is identical to what Fed should have done to Nadal. The slice prevents Djokovic from going big on the the forehand and even just slicing back at times. Minimally he cannot step in aa crack the ball. So what does Thiem do? Run around the backhand and pound a forehand inside in for the match. In short, by using the slice it neutralizes the offense of Djokvoic or Nadal. You then anticipate this and run around and pound a forehand. The last two points of the match were set up by a slice.
Coincidentally, if you listen to my podcsat with Craig O’Shannessy (Djokovic’s strategy coach) this is exactly what they want for Novak. C to C engagement [Backhand or inside out forehands (C) to the opponents backhand (C)] then look for the D to A [Inside in forehand] or D to D angle [inside out]. Thiem used the backhand slice to achieve this and Fed has the best slice on tour to do this to Nadal.
So what can we summarize from this?
- I have been saying it for years, the slice is a nasty weapon and most players are underdeveloped in this area and coaches/teaching pros need to teach it more (and properly). I will provide slice instruction soon.
- It is not just for defense but can actually turn defense into offense. Don’t always get pulled wider trying to drive a backhand. Obviously at times that is the play and we have seen Fed, Nadal, Stan all hit amazing cross court angle backhand drives. But the point is Fed got hurt a lot in the last match trying to do that but instead got beat down the line from hit. Using a knife slice can turn defense into offense soon thereafter.
- Hitting a great slice gets the ball sliding low which is difficult for many of the bigger swings and extreme grips these days. You may get an error right off the back but minimally if you hit it well enough your opponent cannot take the offense as much as when you hit more top allowing the ball to sit up in the wheel house or sweet spot.
- If most people do not hit slices because they are errantly taught not to chances their slice is not very good so that is another reason to hit one to them. They will not be able to hit it well off of yours giving you the point outright or the ability to run around and dictate.
- In using your slice, it also sets up the occasional drop shot, slice approach (which if done right is very difficult to pass off of), and develops your chip return for bigger serves and your ability to stick a volley. Just watch Barty and Fed with all these shots. The only difference is Barty used the slice more to set up her forehand and neutralize opponents. Fed needed to use it more to Nadal’s Forehand so then he had his forehand ready to pound inside out (challenge Nadal’s forehand), inside in to get Nadal on the run, or mix it up to keep Nadal off balance on clay. As it turned out with Fed going for more on his backhand, not only did he tape too many, he did not recover as quickly as needed to offset the big backhand attempt. I.e. if he sliced he would be on balance better, recover faster and not be hurt by Nadal’s next shot.
Slice on folks!
Coach