You have problems with opponents who use the slice against you all the time? Here you will find simple solutions to cope better with undercut balls.
You’ll be disappointed. This article does not contain a spell for you to recite on the court. You probably won’t read anything you don’t know or have heard anywhere. But one thing this article will do for you is to make sure that he will build you a mnemonic bridge, which will show you the right tactical path in your matches. Before we start to go over the tactics, we first have a look at the problems in the game against the “slice players”. These problems are as simple as the solution we will come to later.
If you juggle with two balls, you will do so at a regular pace. You throw the balls from hand to hand and both balls stay in the air, say four seconds. This creates a rhythm that makes it easier for you to juggle the balls. If you juggle the one ball slower or faster, a break in the rhythm would occur. On the tennis court the slice is this break. The slice disturbs your rhythm and makes it harder for you to react. You have to move and hit the ball differently. And that’s where the problem lies.
Often you want to play something special on your opponent’s slice – but this is not possible at all due to the current situation. For example, if the slice is very flat and simply well played, you want to play a forehand winner yourself, long into the opponent’s corner. This is the wrong way to answer the slice. The ball is located at an extremely unfavourable point to play fast and risky balls. Whoever tries to play a slice fast will despair. The own error rate increases in parallel to frustration. The “slice player” achieves one of his main goals in a match: he gets annoyed with the opponent.
In martial arts there is a saying:”When you are drawn, press. If you are pressed, pull”. You use the opponent’s movement to respond to their action. The flow of the opponent’s flow is not forced to break, but used for his own tactics. Unfortunately, this way of thinking is far too rare in tennis. On a high ball, they try to play a hardcore winner. The opponent’s throw-in, the second serve, is attacked mercilessly and in most cases is played out. And the slice? This is attempted with topspin. The result is that it stays stuck to the frame, does not get a chance or is simply no solution to the slice problem.
If your opponent plays a lot of slice, play a slice back. On the forehand and backhand. When you play back a slice, you have more possibilities to dissuade your opponent from a good slice. You can play the ball shorter more easily. A stop would also be an option. Your own game is not as error-prone anymore. You give your opponent more possibilities to make mistakes or not to play a good and mercilessly effective slice. This simple solution gives you much more options for your tactics than when you try to play something “special” on your opponent’s slice.
The psychological effect should also not be underestimated. You hardly have any mental exercise when your opponent plays slice. You’ll soon know what to do. Namely, to answer with a slice himself. This involves much less effort than dealing with which corner of the ball you want to bang into – which in most cases is impossible.
Instead of throwing the mental towel, you can easily accept the opponent’s eternal “face” and respond to it. Let the opponent play three or four effective slice balls one after the other in a single change of ball. With one of the balls, you may already have a chance to steer the rally in a different, more offensive direction. You can also control the change of balls with your slice by interspersing stops and short balls (on the T-field).
Keep your nerves calm and the solutions simple. Play a slice on the opponent’s forehand, even if this is sometimes difficult. You can work with your confidence. If you have high self-confidence, take more risk. But if you’re really insecure, just play a slice back. Sometimes, even on the tennis court, less is simply more.