Awesome. Thanks for dispelling the need for the non-dominant hand to do the single backhanded thing. I was about to get into that habit from watching other vids even though I wasn't sure it felt right.
Jeff, you are right on again with the evolution of this stroke, etc. I’m a retired PTR pro and I respect teaching pros like you because you didn’t get stuck with old methodology and practices, I wish you keep up the great passion.
Dude I so wish you'd start a national certification for coaches. My friend just paid 60 bucks to be taught the wrong way. I tried to tell him but he believed the hype
Thank you, I appreciate your nice comment. I've got a comprehensive course for every single stroke in tennis, plus fitness, nutrition, singles and doubles strategy, and mindset. If you want to learn more details, click on this link tennisevolution.com/online-courses/
Thank you sir. God bless you. Your lessons are masterclass and helping my 9 years daughter immensely. High quality coaching. You never know, may be one day my daughter might talk about you on podium.
Jeff, I use this shot a lot but not always. This shot is very effective going down the line as the side spin will slice away from opponent. When the ball is high or I’m a little late I will slice it forwards, the conventional way. The ball will skid low and forward. I think one needs both techniques depending on court position and how the ball is coming to you.
Great! First time someone refers the micro adjustment to the continental grip that I also found necessary. Another thing that I also found important is the point of contact - compared to regular one backhand, the point of contact it is slightly later, more in line with your body.
Totally agree with this technique. Doing the shot this way creates a lot of havoc for your opponents because they are not expecting the ball to bounce with side spin. Also, I think this translates well to the backhand volley. Thanks!
If you turn the racquet toward the eastern forehand, doesn’t that open up the racquet face to much which causes the ball to float??? You are correct, no video I’ve seen suggest using a grip between the continental and eastern forehand. I’ve seen some suggesting between the continental and eastern backhand which makes more since.
Whenever you shift the grip, the racquet face and contact point will always change. If you shift from Continental towards forehand, the racquet face will be more open. It is true. So you must take care to also shift the contact point later so racquet face is not too open.
I have seen Stefan Edberg playing such longline and it is great. the ball was bouncing by the sidespin aside and going out of the court like in ping-pong. 👍 thanks Jeff.
Tennis Evolution - Online Tennis Lessons Get a free membership inside Tennis Evolution that you can access online or inside our Tennis Evolution App with no credit card details required. All you have to do is click on this link to register for the free course. bit.ly/3fnMFgz
Very interesting. I am also left handed and use the traditional method of hitting the sliced backhand, but often get some natural sidespin on the ball. So now you have me wondering if I actually sometimes use your suggested stroke pattern and finish on the sliced BH, especially when I get too close to the ball an have to pull off of the ball.
Hey Lynn, I have had some shots that I sliced beautifully too at times, with real sidespin. But I later realized that it was when I swung a little late and had to side swipe the ball. Didn't know what I had done or was I able to do it again. That changed once I started to let the ball get closer to me, swing across my body and did the little grip change that Jeff suggested. This definitely works, so much easier to slice but with real penetration and spin. It does translate well into the backhand volley too.
You mention that the backhand slice grip can be shifted slightly from the continental to the forehand side. My problem with that is that for me if I use the continental grip, the racquet face is too open at contact and the ball tends to float unless the contact point is farther back. Why then would you shift toward the forehand side which would open the racquet face more? I have seen other pros recommend that for recreational players, the continental grip should be shifted slightly toward the backhand grip which would close the racquet face more at contact thereby promoting a more penetrating slice. Can you comment?
If you choose to shift Continental grip slightly towards forehand side,the contact point will be closer to you. If you choose to shift Continental grip slightly towards backhand side,the contact point will be farther in front of you.
05:35 "I'm not here to tell you to do it this way. I'm telling you to go out and try it and then tell me if it works." ⭐ This is why Jeff is a brilliant coach. 🎾
best tips so far to fix my floaters... What if I want to slice down the line, then I should position my body differently? I see pros having just under spin but not side spin, so is it a different shot? "twice on Sunday" lol
@@TennisEvolution yeah the reason is your strings are behind the ball longer as the ball spins left to right toward u. And the downward swing creates lift. Such an awesome shot. One of my favorite strokes.
thank you for the instructions, slicing across the body and not out front is the only way to hit a good slice, at least in my experience. but i have a question: what about the angle between the arm and the racket? usually what you see is kind of 90-degree angle from start to finish, what if you make it smaller at the beginning, say 7ß or even 60, and bigger at the end? you would have to loosen your grip, that's for sure, but you would have more leverage and more racket acceleration. and certainly more sidespin. i don't see it often, but i tried it and it works really nicely. what are your thoughts?
I will give this a try and see what difference it makes... I do teach the slice towards the net, dip shoulder into shot and start motion with shoulder. I watch your videos to see different ways of teaching, the one tip I think was great was slow down your swing... I personally state to my players the slice should almost feel effortless, do you agree? Please continue to make the videos, I find them always to be a good learning experience. We can never stop learning. ..
Please try it!. Wait for the ball, come inside it in a smooth way without swinging too fast and see what happens. Feel free to send a video if you want me to take a look.
interesting point about the a slightly turned grip to the forehand. I'll try it! i definitely agree about slicing across the body vs toward. How would you classify Steffi graf slice backhand?
It’s always taught differently because this is a more advanced slice most coaches just want to teach the simpler push slice. But I have a question. Should I use the more push slice that my local coaches teach on a defensive shot. On an approach shot I love doing it the way you’re teaching it now. But when it comes really fast at me should I do the pushy slice? It seems more solid while the way you’re teaching is more aggressive
Hey can I ask you a question? I can see that the style that you are teaching is different than club coaches that teach the more pushy slice. This one that your teaching is this similar to how federer slices? Does he slice with slight side spin a lot?
The techniques work for both styles but if you want to look like the pros todat Jeff is the way to go. And Jeff is right most players exaggerate when they slice. They swing too fast, they throw there hand too far back, and they open to early. If you go to the side the way Jeff is showing. You will get good side spin and underspin. If you go under and forward you just get pure underspin. Also if you go under and forward while having bad technique the ball floats up more. It is easier to return a pure underspin ball, but its harder to return the ball with side spin. The reason why is because you have to move around to hit the ball on the strings of your racket. Im just putting that out there. The old pros use to play with the forward underspin but the game of tennis has changed a lot since those days. Also just be open minded Jeff has worked really hard in his life time as a Pro and he is giving us some great tips like always.
A slight forehand grip is key. For the perfect slice backhand watch Federer. His swing path is similar and often finishes deep and slightly lateral of the body keeping a firm wrist. So 100% agreement with your approach, Jeff 👍👍👍 PS: You have proven to be a successful ATP Pro but (and that is not warranted just by being a pro) you are very good teacher as well.
yes, i have a similar question, too: what about the low backhands for that you have to reach out? but thanks anyway for the video, one of the "wrong slicers" 😂
Damn. Ran across this video in my feeds.. Met you years ago. We hit at Peachtree Battle in Atlanta. My young student and I played king of the court with you. You were out there serving. So, we asked you if you wanted to join us. (You looked bored)Of course, as player who loves the sport, you did. Good times around. Looks like you are doing well and healthy! Best part. My student returned your serve(he was 12), was super excited!!! Hahaha. He talked about that for a long time. Take care!
I’m not sure Federer separates his hands on purpose. The momentum of his body just pushes it back and if your body doesn’t work that way it won’t go all the way back like wawrinka. I think forcing it back is not a good thing and increases randomness
Here is a court level video someone posted of Fed's slice. Its a recent video, so you may not have seen it yet. Its proof that you are right and the old-school coaches are wrong about the path and finish. Notice the amount of banana side spin he gets each time. Maybe in match play he lets his left hand fly, but here he keeps it firmly by his pocket. My big take away from this video is how still Fed keeps his head and upper body from start to finish. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-b5nN1AvS57k.html
If you watch Federer this is the swing path he has...and he has a nasty slice. Its just so important to stay sideways with the body in my opinion as well as making sure to get onto the front foot.
Thanks for sharing your feedback. Feel free to record a video of yourself doing it and send it to support@tennisevolution.com. We'll be happy to have a look at it.
All Tennis starters won’t get that side spin right. Out of my perspective as trainer and active player. I see your point but for 80% of all tennis player the butterfly movement of the arms is better.
Thank you for watching Moritz. Appreciate your comment. I definitely Believe 80.% of those players should not do the butterfly move. I believe it completely messes them up Jeff.
Tennis Evolution - Online Tennis Lessons First I wanna say I love how we can have a discussion about tennis via this media. I tried it today on court. It didn’t work for me but two of my students got good results when I told them to do it like u supposed. Nice video. Keep up the great work.
Thank you for video. But one note, at least 75% tennis players are righthanded. Whom do you make video, only for the rest 25% lefthanded? Otherwise I can't understand your explanation. You hold a racket in the left hand and explain the grip. And what the listener should do when listening to you - turn it a little to the right side, because you couch it, to the left side because tries to mirror it. Or, after failing to understand, try to find a new more clearly couched video?
@@TennisEvolution First off... great video!!! Second, I'd like to know how to make the forehand slice a weapon... if that's realistic. I'd like to know how to knife it and keep it low. I've found myself using it in doubles to come into the net if the other cross court player is back, but I don't think I hit it aggressively enough. Thanks!
Hi Jeff, THANKS! I went on the court and practiced “your” slice. I feel that I’m squeezing the racquet grip too much. If I don’t then the racquet points to the side fence instead of the net. Why?
