It was once considered a desperate shot, but experts say it can give players an edge. Coco Gauff and Carlos Alcaraz use it.
Tennis players commonly hit three types of backhands — topspin, flat and slice — yet on the forehand, they have, in the modern game, traditionally limited their arsenal of shots to just the first two.
The forehand slice — which involves sliding the racket beneath the ball to create backspin or sliding it to the left or right of the ball to create side spin — is used for drop shots but has long been frowned upon as a desperate play in an extreme situation. Yet while many players still view the shot with disdain, it is starting to get some respect as a shot that, when used strategically, can give players an edge.
“There are a handful of players who use it as a tactic and who do it well,” says Madison Keys, a power player ranked as the world No. 11, who said she did not practice the shot much.
Pam Shriver, a former Top 10 player who is now an ESPN commentator, used the forehand slice extensively during her playing career. She would like to see more players take the shot seriously.
“It has become a really important specialty shot to have,” Shriver said, adding that it is particularly effective on fast, low-bouncing surfaces like indoor courts such as the Dickies Arena in Fort Worth, which will host this year’s WTA Finals. (The slice is less effective on clay.)
The slice is most frequently used as a defensive shot when a player is stretched wide, but Shriver noted that it could also be effective to disrupt an opponent’s rhythm and keep the ball extra low, especially on the offensive approach shot.
“Serena Williams introduced a generation of really dynamic and powerful players, but now you see the new generation getting more creative,” said Wim Fissette, a coach who has worked with several world No. 1-ranked women, including Simona Halep and Naomi Osaka. “It started a few years ago in men’s tennis, and now it’s happening in women’s tennis. With all that power, you need to develop ways to defend; you need creative solutions.”
He, like many others, credits Roger Federer’s occasional “squash shots” — in which he would chop down on a ball to create a fast, low, hard-spinning shot — with giving the forehand slice momentum among modern players including Coco Gauff, Ons Jabeur and Carlos Alcaraz.
“If you only hit powerful shots from the baseline, your opponent only has to run left and right,” Fissette said. “Federer started using his slice to bring the opponent into the court, taking them away from the baseline to where they weren’t as confident. The forehand slice is a way to find ways to break the rhythm of your opponent and to make the court bigger.”
Additionally, he noted that when a player “does not have their A game, they need a Plan B” and that using slices on defense can allow a player to fight their way into a match.
Many players still think of the forehand slice as something to be used grudgingly and only when pulled wide, but Shriver points out that today’s open stances, combined with the ability to slide into shots even on hard courts, allow players extra reach, enabling them to flick a slice back even if they cannot get their full body into a shot for a flat or topspin ball.
“More players are using the forehand slice, but as a defensive shot,” said eighth-ranked Daria Kasatkina, who, like Keys, does not practice the shot. She said she did not think about it tactically, employing it only when cornered by a hard-hit ball that forces her into a defensive play.
Keys said she used the forehand slice only on the run and “when absolutely necessary.”
Even top-ranked Iga Swiatek, who has a diverse array of weapons, said that while the shot “can really reset a rally,” it was not a priority for her. “I use it only when I can’t make another shot.”
Fissette, the coach who worked with Halep and Osaka, said that it was worth doing speed training drills to practice those forehands on the run because it extends points, and that opponents who are not comfortable attacking the net will feel compelled to hit riskier groundstrokes closer to the lines, causing them to make more errors.
He said Swiatek was adept at using the shot defensively but added that she, like Gauff, gripped the racket in a way that could make hitting low forehands difficult, especially when coming forward, and that the slice could be helpful there.
“Players should be practicing the slice and practicing how to defend against that spin,” Shriver, the former player and commentator, said, citing Ons Jabeur as a player who uses the slice well defensively and offensively.
Shriver and Fissette said it was an ideal approach shot, especially to an opponent’s forehand, because it kept the ball low and allowed the attacker to hit while moving through the ball, getting her to the net quicker. “Karolina Pliskova has an excellent down-the-line approach slice,” Fissette added. “I’d like to see more women develop that.”
Fissette said that since WTA players were generally less comfortable at the net than men, the slice could also be effective to open the court and draw opponents to short shots that might be trickier for them to handle.
That is especially worth trying on balls to your opponent’s forehand, Shriver said. If you slice to players’ backhands, they might just slice it back and then you would not gain an edge. But on the forehand, you want to keep the ball out of the main strike zone where players can really drive the ball, and lower shots are tougher for many players.
“And the slice often has more than underspin, it also has a bit of side spin, which adds another element for them to deal with,” Shriver said.
Neither Shriver nor Fissette thinks the shot will, or should become, as common as the backhand slice.
“You have to pick the right ball and the right moment,” Fissette said,
The backhand slice is a more natural shot, Shriver said, and “it can get really messy” when a player cannot find the feel for the forehand slice. Additionally, switching grips back and forth too much can throw a player’s power forehand out of sync.
Still, “while the forehand slice is a gamble, it can be well worth it,” she said. “And it makes tennis more interesting to watch.”
Source: Tennis - nytimes.com
