a backhand slice analysis and what i want to do is i want to let the sequence here run through
with a little slower pace
and then i want to start with the best one out of the lot because we'll go from there what some
of the very small things are that you want to tweak to get that consistent really good result
so we'll come up to the one that i think is the best out of the bunch in a second here
and then we'll start breaking it down in details
the reason why i'm picking this one here is you see the outcome it stays the lowest it has
good bite and it really looks great how it's coming off your strings without much
effort so let's take the components of how you can hit that and then we see the variations when your
result varies a little bit so number one is the grip you have your continental grip so i do see
that your the underside of your index finger knuckle there is on bevel
two perfect then i like the take back here there's a slight bend in your elbow
let's go with another color so we see that better here slight bend in your elbow your left hand
is on the throat of the racket takes it back and is actively helping here
and then we're seeing that you're loading here off your back foot you can transfer your body
weight into the ball and what's really important is that you're stepping forward we'll see that
in a few other examples that on some you're stepping across and that lets your contact
point be a little too far out and then you have to pull the ball back in but this one is a good
weight transfer into the ball racket face still is open here but as you're coming up to contact point
it closes just like it's supposed to and you don't have to work on that consciously that just happens
when you're hitting a slice i like the contact point it could potentially be a little closer
to you about here and further out and we'll look at that um in detail then when we look at it from
the side but to my mind this is definitely the best one here and then you're extending through
you're staying sideways and really using your left arm here as a counter balance tool
yes you do come across your body with your hitting arm as you have to because you're out of your
range of motion there and what i do like is that your racket face here stays
closed you have some balls where the racket face here turns open a little bit
and that tells me that you hit the ball a little too late now i want to go into the nitty gritties
with your timing so we'll look at a few other balls and i'll pick one i'll be mean where you
actually say it yourself because you hit it late so this one goes up we see that
that's the one here so you hit that late and actually if we had the audio on you would hear
that you're saying oops so you know that you hit it late and it has something to do with your
preparation so what i want you to look at is where your racket is and your turn as the ball bounces
so we're scrolling this forward so the ball is making contact with the ground right here
this is good preparation if you were now to start your forward swing you would catch
that ball in a good position but you're seeing that you're still taking the racket back still
taking the racket back still taking it back now you start your forward swing and that's just a
milli milli millisecond too late because now you're seeing
that i think you're making contact almost to the side of your body instead of
further out in front and that is the most variations that you're getting now if i'm
putting to my mind one of the best slice players in the world next to you we see what her timing is
so we got ash barty next to you or below you um and you see how she's prepping
and is basically set with her racket preparation when the ball is bouncing
there is a little movement still into the turn direction but it's not as long as yours
and you see that she is hitting a ball right here so ball is bouncing here and now we want to
look at how much the racket is still traveling in that turn before she starts her forward motion so
nothing changes here the body changes of course because she's getting in position she also has her
outside leg behind the ball a little bit more and is almost hitting an open a semi-open slice
so again the racket is not moving a whole lot more a little bit but now she starts her forward swing
and comes at the ball so she's catching the ball further out in front so if we look at this again
ball bounces here and if i'm scrolling back to yours and now we're looking at the comparison here
there's a lot more racket head movement and you're still moving back
whereas ash is already about to make contact here
of course the ball comes with a different pace off kvitova's racket there rather
than the ball machine but i think you do see the difference here so it's turning
sooner and then starting your forward motion a little bit sooner to catch the racket
clearer in front of your body we're talking about quarters of inches here mike so it's not like
i'm going like oh my god i'm going crazy because you're reaching for the ball you're very clearly
well balanced you're not reaching you're not having tip over on your hips to reach the ball but
there certainly is a little bit of a difference now the next thing that i do want to point out is
the left hip now we're always teaching when we're talking about the slice stay sideways and you do
want to stay sideways however you don't want to lock your left hip so even though ash is hitting
a semi open slice which i want to say it's because she's warming up and she's not really moving as
effectively and as aggressively as she would when she's playing a match but do see how the left hip
releases around a little bit whereas her upper body stays sideways so there is a distinction
you don't want to block your left hip because most of the time as coaches were saying stay sideways
so your hip can open a little bit so even though her back leg moves back here the hip releases a
little bit and that just makes for more effective and a smoother stroke so if we're looking at
your slices up here i do know that you really want to stay sideways but every now and then
it looks like you're consciously holding this part back so do let this
rotate in a little bit and you do see that then if you have more sideways uh
movement you also see that that you're really trying to hold that side and thereby blocking
yourself so i'm looking at this one here this is footwork not at its most effective so you'd
clearly see that in the preparation of this ball you have to step across and it's the
first ball out of the sequence so maybe you didn't know where the ball is going exactly
from the feet of the ball machine but this is one of the variations that you want to work on
try to get your outside leg behind the ball so that you can move in instead of
stepping across and then it comes into play when we say hold your side that
you are actually blocking yourself right and you see how far away from your body you are
and that's when they go up so the result here is it goes off your racket and this is where
how we see clearly that you want to rotate you are rotating with your upper body but you're really
fighting to keep that left side back so let that left side in this case when you're that far around
let that left side swing around as if your body basically acts as a hinge so let's take a look
at your slices from the side and for everybody who's watching this this is ideal footage so
thank you mike for providing me with great shots from the back and then also from the side so
we see that here same thing the preparation i really like that racket face is above the wrist
the left hand helps actively to pull back and let's see if we can time this a little bit better
so ideally as we see the ball bounce here i would like for the preparation to be almost
done so no more huge motion here with the racket so if i time that here let's see how
much further it's moving so this is at point of the ball making contact with the ground
now you start your forward swing and that to my mind is just a smidgen too late so
ideally as the ball comes off the bounce the first third off the bounce that is when
you're starting your forward swing there and it will probably feel when you're working on that
as if you're having to stretch a little bit but that is then also when you move forward with your
legs and that really is where your bite is coming from right if you get your entire body weight
into the ball with a great contact point so i would like that contact point to be
a little bit further in front so we don't have quite as many frames but i'm thinking you probably
then in the next frame you're gonna make contact here and it's not quite far enough out of in
front for it to stay really knifey and bitey so that's why some of your balls float a little bit
grip is great preparation is great it's the timing of the take back and then the forward swing
and here again we see that that you're really leaving that left side back which is great
use your left arm to maintain the side on position longer with your upper body
but allow your left hip and then every now and then depending on how much movement you have
out to the side let your left foot swing around as well to make for a really smooth transition
of your body weight and it does help if you're being pulled out wide then also
for great recovery if your left hip swings around because then it's you would be side
on basically this here is your left foot and then you have an easy crossover for recovery
so but all in all i think it's very minuscule changes there this looks like a really good slice
and i'm looking forward to seeing what you're working on and that result then