6 Ways to Use the SLICE Groundstroke to Your Advantage

6 Ways to Use the SLICE Groundstroke to Your Advantage

by | Tennis Training | 0 comments

In today’s game, dominating and finishing points with aggressive topspin groundstrokes is the norm for most tennis players. However, I would like to emphasize the many advantages of practicing slice (underspin) groundstrokes and using them more often in your matches.

Here are six reasons why you should add slice spin to your repertoire:

1. Slice groundstrokes keep the ball low to the ground, making it difficult for your opponent to attack you with an aggressive shot. This is especially effective when playing against players who have a big topspin forehand or backhand. 

2. Slice approaches keep you away from receiving balls down at your feet. This is because your opponent will be forced to hit up on the ball, which will give you more time to react and hit a good ‘high’ volley.

3. Slice groundstrokes are great for doubles play. When playing against a team that loves to lob, a slice approach will make it almost impossible for them to send the ball high over your head.

4. Slice groundstrokes add variety to your shots. Mixing up your shots with slice and topspin will help to disrupt your opponent’s timing and make it more difficult for them to read your next shot.

5. Slice groundstrokes can give you time to recover when you are pushed wide by an aggressively angled groundstroke or serve. The slower pace of the slice will give you more time to get back into position and be in balance for the next shot.

6. Slice spin is essential for hitting drop shots. The backspin on a slice shot will cause the ball to drop quickly and sharply, making it difficult for your opponent to reach.

Quick Technique Tip:
When executing a slice groundstroke, remember to begin the downward motion with the racquet high above the point of contact. This will help you to generate more underspin and keep the ball low to the ground.

Practice slice groundstrokes as often as possible. There will be times in the match when you will need them.

Cosmin Miholca

Cosmin Miholca

Certified Tennis Coach

Check out my work at WebTennis24 where I share with you my best video tennis lessons, drills and tips for players, coaches and tennis parents.

The Body Serve Is the Best – Here’s Why!

The Body Serve Is the Best – Here’s Why!

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In the quest for an effective start to a tennis point, it is crucial to explore various strategies and techniques.
One strategy that stands out as a game-changer is the body serve.
As I recently concluded shooting the videos for Strategic Serve Practice I realized the immense value of practicing, improving, and utilizing the body serve.
In this article, we will delve into the advantages and reasons why incorporating the body serve into your game can give you an edge on the court.

Jamming the Returner
When executed with sufficient pace, the body serve has the power to jam the returner, resulting in a floating return that lands in the middle of the court. This favorable outcome enables the server to take control and launch an aggressive attack, setting the tone for the point.

Eliminating Angle Opportunities
Unlike a wide serve that offers the opponent multiple options, the body serve restricts the returner from creating angles. By aiming directly at the opponent, you limit their ability to exploit open spaces on the court. This forces them to contend with a narrower target and reduces their chances of executing a precise return.

Challenging the Returner’s Movement
The body serve poses a unique challenge to the returner by requiring them to hit the ball while moving away from it. This situation often leads to weaker returns, as most players are accustomed to hitting balls while moving toward them. By creating this unfamiliar scenario, the server gains an advantage by forcing the returner into uncomfortable positions and potentially inducing errors.

Serve-and-Volley Advantage
Serve-and-volley players, in particular, benefit greatly from utilizing the body serve. The weak returns resulting from the aforementioned factors set up ideal conditions for an effective serve-and-volley strategy. With a weak return, the server can confidently approach the net, capitalizing on the opportunity to close out points swiftly.

Incorporating the body serve into your arsenal of tennis strategies can significantly enhance your game.
Its ability to jam the returner, restrict angle opportunities, challenge movement, and benefit serve-and-volley play make it a powerful weapon on the court.
Remember to practice and refine your body serve technique to maximize its effectiveness.
By mastering this strategic serve, you will gain a competitive edge and elevate your overall performance on the tennis court.

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Cosmin Miholca

Cosmin Miholca

Certified Tennis Coach

Check out my work at WebTennis24 where I share with you my best video tennis lessons, drills and tips for players, coaches and tennis parents.
How to Avoid Double Faults in Tennis

How to Avoid Double Faults in Tennis

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Are you tired of serving double faults and giving your opponents free points?

How frustrating is it to see the tennis ball in your hand, giving you total control of the beginning of the point yet… you fail to get one out of the two serves in?

The following tips will help you avoid missing your serves, and enjoy your tennis:

1. Use Spin
Imparting slice or topspin on your serves (the second attempt, in particular) will save you from giving points away, or being in a defensive position on your opponent’s return.
The spin brings the ball down due to the air friction, therefore you will not miss long… too often. 

2. Relax Your Arm
Begin your serving motion with your hands and arms relaxed, in front of your hips. Many times I notice people beginning their serve motion by holding the ball and racquet too high (chest level) before tossing the ball – this action tightens the shoulders and arms.
Keep a loose grip on the racquet at all times.

3. Breath
Your breathing should be slow and deep before you begin the service motion.
Inhale as you toss the ball up, then exhale as you swing up to hit it. 

4. Toss It Right
One way that will improve your toss consistency (and as a result, your serve) is to always “push” the ball up with as little spin as possible. That action will relax your arm and your toss will not affect your body balance.

5. Visualization
Before you toss the ball up, visualize the racquet hitting it, the ball going over the net, and landing in the desired spot inside the opposite service box.
This is probably the most powerful aspect of your serve – seeing and believing what you want to happen. 

Try these pieces of advice, not in the match, but in your practice first. Then, as they become habits, you will carry them into your matches.

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Cosmin Miholca

Cosmin Miholca

Certified Tennis Coach

Check out my work at WebTennis24 where I share with you my best video tennis lessons, drills and tips for players, coaches and tennis parents.

How to Get the Most Out of Your Tennis Practice

How to Get the Most Out of Your Tennis Practice

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As I watch the U.S. Open (Grand Slam) tennis tournament I can’t help but feel the urge to go out on the tennis court and practice.

I am sure you might feel the same. But before you do it, I’d like to share with you some tips that can help you get the most out of your time on the practice court:

1. Serve Practice:
– Hit the ball with a loose arm: begin at a slow pace then after about 10 serves increase the power on your serve.
– Practice with targets (use cones): place one target in the corner of the singles line and service line, one just inside the service line and about halfway between the singles line and center line, and one target at the corner of the center line and service line. Aim for them one at a time and do not move on to the next one until you get the serve within 6 inches close to it.
– Practice consistency: serve 10 balls in a row and see how many go in; then do it again and try to better the previous exercise. Do not cheat on the pace – if you practice your first serve, hit it at the speed you would in a match.

2. Return of Serve Practice:
If you can find a player willing to practice their serve then you are in luck.
Regardless if the player hits their serves hard or slow you can always practice returning them to certain areas in the opposite court.
Your targets should be cross-court, down-the-middle, or down-the-line – but they should always be DEEP – that is unless you would play to a serve-and-volley player…

3. Groundstrokes Practice:
– Consistency is key on every shot in tennis, especially on groundstrokes.
Regardless of the level of skill that your partner possesses, you should always try to out-rally them in practice. Counting your good strokes in a row is a great way to rally practice – that gives you great feedback on how consistent you are and it also helps you relax as you play.
– Placement: Invite your partner to play some pattern drills like cross-court or down-the-line rallies; or rally deep and stop if the ball lands inside the service line (or better yet, if the ball lands inside the service line to have the player move up and attack at the net).
– Experiment with new shots: While you might be tentative about using your weak slice backhand in a match, the practice is the time to use those strokes that you need more improvement on.
But you don’t want to upset your practice partner by missing a lot of balls when using your weaker shots, therefore, you should do it on every 3rd or 4th shot.

4. Net Game Practice (volleys and overheads):
– Practice good court positioning and feel for the ball.
Considering that the ball comes to you a lot sooner when at the net, you will have to develop good habits of positioning to take the ball quickly and closer to the net as possible.
– Do not try to put the volleys away in practice, instead try to feel the ball and control the placement of every shot without the intent of finishing the rally right away (even if you could). Going for winners in practice will not win you anything besides frustrating your partner – save those shots for the match.

5. Match Play:
– If you play against a better player, that is the time to push yourself and see what areas of your game need improvement. Do not worry about the score too much; play to improve your strokes and quickness on the court instead.
– If you play against a weaker player, then you shouldn’t worry about the score either. This is the time for you to focus on new shots (maybe drop-shots, slices, etc.) and tactics (e.g. serve-and-volley). Avoid playing the same game that you find comfortable only for the sake of a win against your weaker opponent. Be okay to lose a match as long as you try different things in your practice match (I know it is hard to do so… :))
– Play pressure situation kind of games: begin every game with the server at 0-30, or play a game where the server loses two points instead of one when making a double fault, etc. These kinds of games teach you how to handle pressure situations.

Above all, make sure that your tennis practice is a positive experience and that you always learn something from your time on the court.

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Cosmin Miholca

Cosmin Miholca

Certified Tennis Coach

Check out my work at WebTennis24 where I share with you my best video tennis lessons, drills and tips for players, coaches and tennis parents.

Practice Ad Court Serves More Often – Here’s Why…

Practice Ad Court Serves More Often – Here’s Why…

by | Tennis Training | 0 comments

Like most people, you probably prefer to begin your serve practice from the right (deuce) side. After all, this is where the game starts… right?

For many years I did this in my serve practice sessions and when working with my private tennis clients too.

But not anymore!

You will discover that it is important to develop a good serve from the ad court for the following strong reason:

Most of the pressure points are played serving from the ad court: 15-30, 30-15, 30-40, 40-30, 0-40, ad-in, ad-out…
You must have a reliable serve when you have to execute this shot at these scores.

Make your life easier and master the serve to the ad side. You will be getting a good head start and be in control of the point especially when pressure is on.

Cosmin Miholca

Cosmin Miholca

Certified Tennis Coach

Check out my work at WebTennis24 where I share with you my best video tennis lessons, drills and tips for players, coaches and tennis parents.

Knuckles Up!

Knuckles Up!

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One way you can create more topspin on groundstrokes and more power on your serves or overheads is to prepare for the stroke (take the racquet back) with your dominant palm (that holds the racquet) facing down; or, as I like to call it to my students: “knuckles up!”
I do not, by any means, imply that this is the key to creating topspin or power on those strokes. It just helps.

Often, beginning players have a tendency to open the racquet face on the forehand ground-stroke (palm forward or up) backswing. That results in flat strokes or slice, and when they swing low to high the ball sails too deep.

Below you see two pictures – the wrong and the right way of taking the racquet back on the forehand groundstroke.

knuckles up in tennis

The same happens on the serve racquet take-back (regardless of your grip) – when the palm is facing up or to the side (see picture below), the wrist is stretched and that slows down your pronating action (at contact) very necessary to create power and spin.

The right way for you to take the racquet back when preparing for the serve would be to have your palm facing down (knuckles up) – see the picture below:

knuckles up in tennis

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Cosmin Miholca

Cosmin Miholca

Certified Tennis Coach

Check out my work at WebTennis24 where I share with you my best video tennis lessons, drills and tips for players, coaches and tennis parents.

7 Ways to Maximize Your Return of Serve in Tennis

7 Ways to Maximize Your Return of Serve in Tennis

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At the recreational level, the serve return is one of the most overlooked tennis strokes.
It is one of the least practiced strokes and most of the time, unfortunately, it is treated as a regular groundstroke… but it’s far from that – when returning a serve, the ball comes from a higher level, it is faster and the spin is most of the time different than the one of a regular groundstroke.

The following pieces of advice will focus on maximizing your chances for a better serve return and eventually being in control of the point from the first shot:

1. First thing that a player must do is analyze the type of serve the opponent likes to hit: flat, slice, or kick?
Once you have that established, you will have to consider your position on the court of where you should stand to wait for the serve.
If you favor one side more than the other, position yourself so that you leave more room on your stronger side. By doing this, you will invite the server to go toward the bigger opening and in the same time give them a narrow path to your weak side.

2. Be sneaky!
As your opponent tosses the ball, feel free to change your position – again, favoring your strong side.
Let’s say that your opponent likes to pick on your backhand (assuming this is your weak side). As the server tosses the ball, move a little toward the backhand side and prepare to attack the incoming ball with your forehand.
Avoid moving too early though. That would allow your opponent to change their tactic. Make your move while they toss the ball and look up to hit it – then it will be too late for them to change their intention.

3. Racquet control is key for a successful return of serve.
When expecting flat serves, get low and shorten your backswing. Plan to meet the ball out in front without taking the racquet too far back and hitting it hard.
I have always imagined returning fast serves with a wall/fence behind me (see picture below). This analogy helps me make contact with fast serves way out in front (otherwise, on the backswing, I would be hitting the imaginary wall behind me).

short backswing when returing serve in tennis

If you are returning kick serves, stand more upright and prepare to attack the spin of the ball.
Oftentimes, inexperienced players tend to block heavy spin serves, when in reality the returner should swing through the ball since it’s hard to counteract the heavy spin.

4. Most of the time, you should look to just return high over the net and deep.
An exception is when your opponent serve-and-volleys – in this situation consider aiming for the service line (at the opponent’s feet).

5. Be bold.
Sometimes, I like to surprise my serve opponents by standing well inside the baseline.
For that, I use a continental grip and prepare to slice the return deep, or chip it and move closer to the net.
But you should be careful when you do it – try it only when you have a clear advantage: 40-0 or 40-15 in the game.

6. If you return against a serve-and-volley opponent, consider the play as a 2-3 shot sequence: a return followed by at least one more shot.
Often club players want to win the point too quickly and they panic when they see the ball coming back after the first passing shot attempt. But when playing against a serve-and-volley player you must consider hitting at least two shots before you have the opportunity for a clean winner.
Also after you return against an approaching opponent quickly cover the open court because most likely that’s where the first opposing volley will go to.

7. Your serve return practice will count.
I will leave you with one more piece of advice on how to improve your return of serve:
– Have a practice partner serve to you from about halfway between the service line and baseline (opposite side of the net, of course). This will force you to react quicker, shorten the backswing, and practice making contact more in front of the body.
This kind of practice will pay off big time later on in a match when you will feel like you have so much more time to hit the ball out in front.

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Cosmin Miholca

Cosmin Miholca

Certified Tennis Coach

Check out my work at WebTennis24 where I share with you my best video tennis lessons, drills and tips for players, coaches and tennis parents.