Steal This Drill: Peel the Orange for a Nasty Slice Serve

The slice serve is an often underutilized serve but one of the most effective. When juniors (and other developing players) see Isner, Roddick and Karlovic bombing aces at 145mph+ down the middle, it is easy to become mesmerized and forget about all the other serving possibilities. If, however, we put testosterone aside and analyze Roger Federer's serving pattern, we see that he is one of the best at exploting the slice serve.

As a matter of fact, Federer routinely starts his service games with the out-wide serve and uses it up to 2/3 of the time (on first serves) thoroughout the match (more on a faster surface than on a slower surface). The slice serve is effective because (a) it gets the opponent's momentum moving to the right (red arrow) and (b) even a well struck return doesn't compensate for an open court (sharp cross-court backhand or down the line forehand - both difficult to track down). On the ad-side of the court, the slice serve is a great way to start a wrong-foot play (i.e., hit behind the returner) as well as to "keep an opponent" honest (especially when she runs around your normal serves and pounds winners).

When practicing the slice serve, it is often tempting to just put a target out-wide in the service box (deuce side) and aim for it. A better way may, in fact, be to insert a broomstick or PVC pipe right through the center strap (red line) and aim for serves down-the-center. Try to get your slice serves to curve outwards (orange line) around the right side of the pipe. This may be a better way to practice than aiming straight for the wide serve because you will work on actually seeing the ball breaking around the pipe as opposed to merely hitting flat serves out-wide (i.e., "side-winder's" v. "throwing darts"). That is, you're working on the slide; the skid; the curve. As you get better, move the pipe 1 inch to your right (i.e., the opponent's ad-side - purple line above) and continue curving your serves around it down-the-T. Keep moving it inch-by-inch until the pipe is about 10 inches or a foot off-center (your right side). When you master 10 sliders around the pipe in this position, start shifting the pipe more and more to your left (i.e., towards the opponent's deuce side) until it reaches about half-way into the service box (opponent's deuce side). This is the point where the ball should to "break" left and slide out-wide.

One of the concepts to keep in mind when practicing the slice serve is to vizualize "peeling the orange". I first learned this from Guy Fritz when I was practicing at his and Kathy May's home in Rancho Santa Fe which was surrounded by orange groves. At first, I thought that he actually wanted me to quit my day job and start peeling oranges for a living but what he meant was that the string bed simulate an orange peel moving up and around the ball. Here's the interesting part: the red part of the arrow outlines the path of the string-bed BEFORE it makes contact with the ball. The blue part of the arrow outlines the general contact point. The RED zone is, however, the contact zone for a good kick or top-spin serve. This means that, from the opponent's point of view, it looks as if you're "kicking him" out wide.

Do this correctly, and you will bamboozle him into switching his grip to backhand and shifting his weight onto his left foot thereby making it more difficult to cover the slider. At the last second, you actually make contact with the ball ("up and around") curving the ball towards your left (his right). Sometimes, this may require two grip changes from the opponent (from forehand to backhand and back to forehand again). If this happens, your opponent - even one with a monster forehand - may be tripped up by a serve that looks as if it's going to the backhand and then breaks to his forehand. This may just enough of an edge to create a huge opening in you opponent's side of the court which you can exploit with your groundstrokes. So peel the orange for juicier points.

Steal This Drill: The Federer Dump

As you're watching the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals, see if you can spot this play (or variation) by Roger Federer: (1) deep inside-out forehand (pushing their opponent deep behind the line - red circle); (2) deep cross-court forehand (blue circle indicates positioning of the opponent); and (3) a soft and short down the line or sharp-angle cross-court. 

According to John Yandell, who uses high-speed footage to capture the top players' strokes, Federer has around 27 different forehands. If you ask us, he has 26 variations of the same forehand stroke which depend on (a) the opponent's shot and (b) his respective target. Nevertheless, the basic concept stands: neither Roger nor the other top pros hit the same shot over-and-over again. They vary their shots so as to get the opponent's off-balance and expose as much of their opponent's side of the court as possible. 

Too many juniors (and lesser-skilled players) fail to see the court in a three-dimensional format. Since they, presumably, have a hammer on their forehand side, every ball looks like a nail. By crushing every forehand you're only managing to make your opponent move side-to-side (i.e. parallel to the baseline). And what's the basic practice-pattern? You guessed it: side-to-side; so this is something that's not likely to faze them. Sometimes, it helps to push the opponent diagonally as well and use the momentum of her movement (off the court) to create an opening. 

To practice this "dump" forehand, it helps to have touch. This, however, is not a shot that requires a change of grips - as in a slice or drop shot. It is simply a topspin forehand that is "massaged" rather than thumped. For all practical purposes, the shot looks - from your opponent's point of view - like any regular forehand: from grip, to preparation and path of the racket. If you manage to deceive her with your looks, she will dig in her weight in the midfoot (for lateral movement) rather than forefoot (for forward movement). This will make her reaction to the ball a lot more labored and a split-second slower (may be sufficient for you to create a slight opening). 

Creating this touch takes practice, but this practice can be integrated into your basic cross-court rally drill. Try drilling 4-5 shots cross-court (or inside-out) followed by a "touch" topspin shot to the opposite side of the court or to the same side as your practice partner. In both situations, the ball should land around the service line. If executed correctly, the ball should bounce again one more time before reaching the baseline [KEY!!!]. Practice partners can alternate this play until they feel comfortable executing the play from any situation and irrespective of the pace/spin/placement of practice partner's shot. 

Steal This Drill: Ball Control

One of the key characteristics of a good tennis player is to have sublime control of the ball. However, one must master ball control in the context of a live point; not when it's fed from a basket. In doesn't matter how well you pound a stationary object because your opponent's primary responsibility is to deliver the ball in such a location, with such spin, height and pace, that you are unable to place your shot exactly as intended. Reference is hereby made to our prior tip where we are stressing juniors' need to practice more against other juniors with a can of balls as opposed of constantly being fed balls from a basket. Speaking of which, is it just me, or does your practice partner's missed feed cause a great deal of consternation?! I don't know about you, but one of my all-time greatest pet peeves is when a 15+ year old misses the feed. After hitting 1,000s of fed balls you'd think that they would have mastered making the first ball in the court. When a practices partner misses a feed, it's either a sign of incompetence or lack of concentration - both signs of disrespect for the nature of the situation. But I digress.

How do you know how good of a player you are if you never practice consistency and ball control?! This skill can only be properly practiced through a live-ball scenario. In this first drill (picture on the left), the players play cross-court backhands and/or forehands. This is a drill where the players can play up to 11. Initially, they both get to use one half of the court (within the red lines). After a player wins a point, the opponent's side of the court "shrinks". That is, the player who won a point now must hit within the opponent's "white" lines. If he wins another point, the player who won must hit the ball within the opponent's "blue" line. As the opponent's side of the court shrinks, the opponent will have a greater chance of winning the point; so, in theory, the opponent will be in a better position to win the point. Eventually, the players will play within the deep corners only. When this happens, the opposite corner "opens up". At this point, the players can play cross-court but may also hit down the line for the deep corner on the deuce side. Of course, if you miss, you lose the point so select your shot for going down the line carefully. If you hit it, the opponent can still chase it down and hit it back (either deep backhand corner or go for the risky shot cross-court in your deuce corner).

In the second drill, the partners play down the line but the court shrinks outwards towards the sideline. Same rules; play up to 11. Feel free to put zones in the deep corners on the other half of the court and use those targets similarly to the drill above. Again, the purpose of these drills is to practice controlling the ball in an intended area. Often times, juniors aim for one target and miss it by 15-20 feet. If they aim for the lines, chances are that they will miss the court by feet, not inches. Some juniors hit the ball incredibly hard but cannot master a simple 5-ball rally that should be basic for anyone within 1 or 2 years of playing experience. Remember, "you are only as good as your opponent allows you to be;" if you do not have an easy sitter, you will have to grind. Grinding entails adjustment to whatever your opponent throws your way without sacrificing positioning or granting an opening to the opponent. In addition, when your goal is to play in college, one additional thing to keep in mind is that you don't just have to win for the team, you also have to be a good practice partner for your team-mates. All workouts have a dual-benefit component where both players must benefit equally from the practice.

Steal This Drill: Minefield Tennis

Do you find yourself losing points because you're too far away from the ball?! Maybe you're too far away from the middle of the court? Perhaps your opponent has managed to yank you side-to-side and you find yourself in the proverbial vineyard inspecting next year's crops. This can be attributed to a number of factors (which can be independent of each other): you are slow; you are not good at reading your opponent's intentions; you are not comfortable recovering or don't know how to properly recover in the first place. Another possibility is that you have not develop a keen sense of court awareness. The top players - see Federer, for example - have spent so many hours on the court that the map of the court is ingrained in their psyche. In many ways, they are like ballroom dancers who feel their steps around the room without looking down. Similarly, the tennis players know exactly how far they are from the the center of the court and when they are getting dangerously close to overstepping their comfort zone. In other words, in their 10,000 hours of training they have covered so much ground that they are intimately familiar with every square inch of the court. Furthermore, they know that when they reach certain zones, they are likely to lose the point as their opponents are utterly ruthless; they punish poor positioning and actively work to create it one behalf of their opponents.

Besides spending 10,000 hours running side to side, up and back as well as diagonally, is there a quick way to learn proper court positioning?! Answer: come on! This is CAtennis.com! Quick-fixes and band-aid practices are for the DVD hucksters. What we can show you, however, is an effective way to learn. Take "minefield tennis" for example. At the higher levels, chances are that if you ever find yourself in one of the spots designated by the red "Xs", you will lose the point. If you're too deep, the opponent will hit a deft drop-shot. If you're too far to the side, the opponent will bomb the ball the other way - sometimes deep, other times with a short angle. So, like any good soldier, learn to read the lay of the land. Set up a parameter of "mines" around the court... 15ft deep; 5th away from the sidelines; all around the court in a half circle - even off-court and short. Play points where you lose the point automatically if you step on one of these mines. The key is to practice being "tethered" to the middle of the court - like Federer - so that you're never too far away from having a decent play on the next shot. Sometimes, this means scrambling; hitting shots from a deep lunge; moving low to the ground; maybe even jumping ala Marcelo Rios. Since your opponent is actively trying to get you out of the comfort zone, don't give him too many looks at an open court; hit and recover. If you spot an oncoming shot that you think may take you away from your center of gravity, figure out the most effective shot you can hit so that you remain close to your base...instead of backing up 15steps, maybe taking 5 steps in is a more effective and efficient strategy.

Give Yourself a Heart-Attack for Better Serves

OK, no, not really! This would be a terrible idea and you are advised against it. However, on a tennis-note, have you ever wondered why your serves always break down in a match but you're virtual maestro in practice? Well, let's think about it for a second...when do you practice your serves? In the middle of the workout? At the beginning? The end? Do you sprinkle serves throughout your practice? Of course not. If you're like the majority of players taking lessons, you will spend 52.5 minutes working on your ground-strokes and then finish your workout with a couple of minutes of serves. Even if you are extremely motivated and practice serves for 20-30 minutes at a time, you could still use some tweaking in your method in order to get the most out of your serves in a match.

Here's the deal: when you play points, you are likely to move... sometimes a lot. The movement takes a physical toll on your body. You will breathe harder and maybe even break a sweat. To keep up with a higher demand of your muscles and lungs, your heart will start beating more vigorously in order to supply more oxygenated blood and glucose (i.e. energy) to your cells (at least, this is what we remember from that one day we stayed awake during high-school Biology class). To summarize, when you're actually playing points your heart works hard(er).

Conversely, when you're working on your serves in practice, you are doing it at a relatively resting heart rate. You hit a serve... you walk back to baseline... you think about your motion... you bounce the ball... wait for an airplane to pass; etc. If you were getting ready for serving at a County Fair, this is the type of exercise that you would require. However, when you're playing a match, your opponent has something to say about the state of your cardiovascular system when you're executing the motion. Your opponent doesn't toss the ball for you or tell you where to hit the serve but if he's made you play a long, hard point beforehand, he will have a say regarding the quality of your serve... unless, of course, you practice hitting serves with a slightly elevated heart rate thereby training your system to respond better to stressful situations.

With this in mind, if you are committed to improving your serve under pressure, try this next time you work on your serves: incorporate some form of physical exercise between serves. For example, hit a serve and do 5 burpees; hit a serve and do 5 kangaroo jumps; hit two serves and then shadow-swing 8 side-to-sides; hit a serve a sprint to the service line and back; etc. The key is to train yourself to hit serves when you're tired; when you're winded; when your brain lacks sufficient oxygen to make smart decisions. By giving yourself these mini heart-attacks, you will be a lot more prepared for dealing with serving at a key point while your heart is pounding out of your chest. This skill is particularly important when the rest time between points is not sufficient to bring your heart rate back down to normal levels - which tends to happen quite often the higher level you play.