[thefan]

HI, new to the forum here and hope I could gain some info to improve my game.

Can anyone explain what are the purpose of top spin and slice & how I could proform it in a real tennis match.


Is a Slice when you hit the ball with your racket going downward?
(12 to 6 o clock?)
And a top spin when you hit the ball with your racket going up??
(6 to 12 o clock?)

Thanks

[thefan]

Anyone?
I went out to practice today and I think I kind of got the backhand slice down but im unsure about the forehand

[thefan]

100+ views, no replies. Sorry if I seem desperate but can anyone help me?

[Johnny Groove]

yes, thats right. Slice is when you strike the ball with the racquet moving down, topspin with the racquet going up

[uglyamerican]

When you slice the ball you are putting backwards spin on it. It's easier for most beginners to hit a backhand slice because the motion is more natural.

When hitting a backhand slice you can open your stance more...meaning your belt-buckle can be facing the net. With a forehand slice you need to stand more perpedicular to the net...meaning your belt-buckle would be facing the side-line. As you hit the shot, keep your toes facing the side-line but alow your trunk to turn so that your belt-buckle is turning back toward the net

Second, you might notice that you end up slicing the ball accidentally when you have to make a long reach for a low ball. This is because the point of contact on this shot is way out in front of your body. So, to hit with slice (intentionally) think about making earlier contact with the ball--in front of your body.

Thirdly--on a forehand slice you need to keep the ball further out away from your body, than on a backhand slice (to give your arm enough range of motion).

Sooo...start with your toes and trunk pointed to the sideline in a base-ball player stance; reach out to make contact with the ball further in front of you and a little further away from your body; and as you make your slicing motion turn your trunk back toward the net, but keep your feet relatively still.

Let me know if that helps.

P.S. your thread may be moved to a different area. Don't worry if it's not where you originally posted it.

[uglyamerican]

Regarding hitting with top-spin: if you're playing just to have long rallies and get exercise top-spin is not that important. If you're trying to become the best player you can be it is important to start working on hitting with top-spin early in your learning schedule.

[Neely]

there are lots of different purposes for these shots:
you can use a topspin to add security to your game because a topspin stroke flies higher over the net, thus less risky for you
or a long topspin that bounces near the baseline on a surface which adapts the spin well is good to try forcing your opponent further back
you can play good and aggressive short angles with short topspin shots

a slice is mostly used if you are under pressure and can't execute an offensive shots anymore good enough due to the lack of time
or a slice is a good weapon to make the game slower to allow you recovering your position on the court
often some opponents find it harder to accelerate a slice shot than if you give them power

both shots can be important part of your game to vary and change the rhythm and pace of the game to make you less calculable what you're doing next

and if you are a beginner you must pay attention that you are using the right grips, a forehand topspin with a (or an almost) backhand grip is not working well try to search a bit in the internet if you're not familiar with the different grips yet, you might find some instructions and pictures

[thefan]

Thanks for the replies and I find them very informative.
I practiced to day my backhand and forehand slices were pretty good but I have having trouble with the top spin. I tried searching but couldnt find any videos on how to conduct a top spin. Anyone have any video of the top spin?

[Neely]

Here are a few animated pictures showing a bit how some pros hit a topspin.
http://www.hi-techtennis.com/forehand/topspin.cfm

It could be a good illustration of how to hit the ball at the contact with your racket, although the complete swing is not always shown. The key for a heavy topspin is certainly to figure that you have the racket head speed while brushing the ball with an upwards motion from -to simplify- low toto high.

Also on youtube.com I have already seen some very good and detailed super slow motion videos of Federer's forehands. Go there, try to search for them with some key terms and see if you find them. Maybe you also find a topspin stroke being showed in one of them.

[thefan]

Neely, thanks for the site, I checked out all of the section that were free of charged and I'll try to imply them to my game. I wished all oft he section were open for free to the public...
THanks