Backhand Slice Style vs Fundamentals | Federer, Djokovic & Nadal Examples

Nowadays Dimitrov took slice to a new art form; he combines very well the BH slice (80% of the time) with full flat BH when passing.

Tried the Roger slice and it was great (aka my opponents hated it). It had a lot of spin and it landed kind of short in my case, also had side spin on it in some cases. It was no so good for defending as I did not manage to get depth on it. About the "U" style I'm trying right now I have mixed feelings. I feel it more controllable and has more depth (as I push the ball a little) but not that much spin as the Fed slice. Also sometimes I do the "U" part of the swing too early and hit it quite high ...

I'm no pro but I firmly believe slice is just a product of the weakness of the players stroke. Why hit slice when I can hit a proper backhand? With that in mind it's not like I can hit three different slices at will unless I'm a slice specialist. There are exception where it makes sense to over slice but that's still the same slice. From a demonstrative point this video is good but it's not a guide to how to hit a specific type of slice unless I'm trying to become a slice specialist.

👏🏽👏🏽💯

The J slice is acceptable for ONLY ball at your knees or low. I totally disagree with how you described the U-shaped slice. You didn’t Sturbridge your shoulders and coiled to hit it and by definition, if you do it wrong. It will look wrong and travel across the net poorly. Further, the U-shaped stroke if done correctly DOES NOT float through the court. Rather, it travels sharply across the court, hits the surface and keeps going.

In summary, the J-shaped stroke has a purpose. But you grossly misrepresented and feminist rated the proper use of the U-shape stroke. Last, Ken Rosewall is NOT a good example of the use of the U-shape stroke.

Good Lesson!! BTW, the most hard slice to deal with I think is the slice looks floating on the air then dropping down toward the baseline nearby.And once the ball touch the ground, it will go slipping fast. So how to slice a floating feeling ball. thx

The Steffi Graf cross court backhand slice with lateral spin to the right, was specially agressive

I prefer the J slice.

The examples in this video all had quite a bit of sidespin. I can see the occasional advantage of this when going down the line, but in most cases wouldn't it be better to have a slice that goes more through the court?

This is amazing presentation and great lesson even for somebody that doesn't play tennis.

Nice presentation, thank you.

You need to be careful giving slice advice I developed tendonitis because of my very effective but tennis elbow inducing slice.

I use my wrist a lot more and my hand goes out in the direction of the shot.

I remember listening to McEnroe during a Wimbledon match and he was complaining that a players BH slice wasn't going forward (linear) enough. I knew then time had passed him!😂 Your interpretations were excellent! Some people maintain that Roger's slice has the most head speed because he holds the racquet primarily with his left hand and the right hand has tension on it snapping it away from the left. (if that makes sense).

Excellent analysis. I was taught the Nadal slice, it leads to the faster ball of the three but is surely not the easier to play. Love the J of Fed, but finally often play the safer U in matches...

Shifted to S H I F T - nice😎

As a former Top Ten ATP Player I would use all various slices in different situations with different goals. Height of contact, distance from body, court position, even surface and weight of the ball etc all impacted the angle racquet head trajectory. Body type and amount of opening of shoulders also impact the type of swing path and finish.

I am a beginner tennis player, and my understanding is once the ball leaves the string or racket, any extra follow through motion is wasteful. If both strokes produce the same spin, why bother to do the U shape stroke with more recovery time?

Yea, I understand that the U and J are style but they use completely different muscle though. I wouldn't say style is bad, style is part of the fundamentals, I would say it is an artifact of the fundamentals + body limitations and other preferences. So ignoring style and not looking at matching body style or swing thoughts would not be good. Someone stubby with short arm or inflexible waist, legs probably and impossible to learn Federer's slides even though they know the fundamentals.

Federer's slice is used on high balls to the backhand where you can come down on the ball to make it nose dive over the net. It's a totally different slice and is not that hard, especially against club players that have a lot of top spin but little pace. On low balls, you will always use the U slice motion.

love the slice explanation and examples among fav pros!

I thought I was doing Roger slice,
Until I saw my own video.
Mine is more similar to Rafas

I love slice because it throws the rhythm of my opponent off...and also it gives me some time to recover if I'm at a disadvantageous position on the court.

Great video! But, I'd rather learn Steffi's slice. Such an amazing shot.

Excelent explanation.

Exactly what I needed! My slice has been off for quite some time. Will try U slice as soon as tomorrow.
Hvala Nikola😁

Ah just learning the Fed J slice 😅 how can it go so deep if he's just cutting it sideways ?

Great lesson. Could you talk about the slice as an offensive weapon next time?
Also, the function/importance of the non racquet hand when slicing.

Thanks in Advance

General speaking, to me, if the coming ball is
Low & Slow > U
Low & Fast > J
High & Slow > a more forward J
High & Fast > a more downward J

Doesn't the finish depend on the incoming ball? A high slice will finish low, a low slice will finish high

Nik, based on your observation of those different follow throughs can it be said that Federer and Djokovic swing but Nadal sorta punches through the ball?

So I'm guessing there'll be no video on the Jensen Brooksby 2-handed slice. What if we want to learn to hit the ugliest shot in tennis?

I was just trying to teach my girlfriends the slice last week. I'm a pretty trash coach but all your videos help me to help her. (and my own strokes as well of course) Thanks :)

Thank you for video, what about Steffi Graf slice, could you comment quickly please

Actually Nadal on his slices and volleys changes his grip on the throat of the racket. Still continental but grip the throat much higher from the butt cap.
I personally use something between J and U slice, but most of the time the top of my racket still faces down like Roger.
I use the "clear the table" on short balls that I want to run forwards get quite low myself, hit the slice old-school and then wait ti hit a volley on the next shot.
Still many coached teach this "clear the table" method, but I've never seen any pro hitting the slice that way from the baseline.

sorry but this is absolute bull. if one is 150cm short, one cannot do a J slice. in general, every player does the slice movement which feels the most natural to his natural movement. this is why every player has a different-looking serve and not everyone has a isner serve. there is some point in trying to adopt the isner serve or the federer slice but eventually they will end up doing their own variant of a serve and slice. namely their intuitive serve and slice.

is that a wilson shift?

I think the main point is that you use different types of slices based on where you're impacting the ball. If you're hitting the ball below the net you have to hit a U type, closing forward. All pros do this since it's much harder to generate a topspin shot that will clear the net. A U-slice will give the ball more air, meaning it will clear the net.
If on the other hand the ball is above the net, you can slice more aggressively (i.e. Federer style). The shot then has a downward trajectory, more spin and speed. Federer used this all the time by slicing down the line at fast pace.

What is the significance of the racket movement after the impact point?

I found that very vertical movement works when there’s pace on that incoming ball. If there’s little pace, the reduced forward movement of the racket can lend a ball short.

Surprised u didn't mention Ash Barty's slice. Great video tho. I have no idea if I J or U... I just lead with the elbow

So in a magical way the movement of the racket after(!) the point of contact influences the outcome ;) ...

In this video you talked about the different slices, but I actually learned from one of your earlier videos where you only talked about going from high to low. So as a one handed BH player, I naturally did the J slice simply for disguise, as I want the preparation to look the same whether I hit slice or top spin. Maybe that's the same reason for Federer and other one hander.

Could you briefly point out the one or two main reasons that makes a slice float up and long. Sometimes my slice sails on me unexpectedly.

is that the shift you are playing with? do you like it?

Starting to doubt the Ana 2nd match will ever happen 😢

Excellent as always. Thanks so much

Very good!