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.

Insights: Nitty Gritty With Matt Holt

Matt Holt was kind enough to share his nitty gritty insights on the Da Vinci Code of American Tennis.  Matt Holt was formerly a top US junior, earned a scholarship to Pepperdine and Arizona, and currently shares his teachings with his students in the San Francisco area.  Very thought provoking and entertaining at the very least.  

I believe today's coaches as a general rule are extremely skilled in developing players and are very passionate. Having grown up in the 70's and 80's playing, practice sessions were amazing but coaching was relatively mediocre. I had some really wonderful coaching, but I think technology and information sharing has lead to many instructors and coaches having access to effective and accurate info. 

That being said, practices today are mediocre at best. I feel coaches are incredibly limited due to parents that can micro-manage, children that are totally overscheduled, and practice regimens that in no way represent tournament scenarios. I have parents ask me all the time what path I recommend for their child's development based on their skill level, desire, and academic/life goals. I always evaluate and give them my opinion, but in my mind I am in a state of shock. 

Growing up in the 70's/80's when tennis was at a peak (like it is hopefully growing at the moment), the path to success hit you smack in the face. There were no clinics and large group lessons. If you were lucky, you had a private lesson each week, and then you got out on the courts and played your ass off against the best players you could every week! You played kids and adults alike, and you had exposure to every style of play. The pecking order was across all players... men, women, boys, girls. You had to beat player x before player y would play you. It was incredibly competitive, but at the same time there was a ton of comraderie. We always cheered for all of the players from our club, kind of like an unofficial team. The competition built respect for one another. It was never hard to prepare for a tournament because you were playing several matches per week. Mental toughness was far more developed than is seen currently among American players. 

As a coach who obviously relies on some degree of group lessons in order to drive profitability for a department, I have always advocated for juniors to go out and play as much as possible and not attend all clinics. Save a buck and call your friends to set up matches. It is incredible to see how many of these players go take a lesson from another coach or come back to a clinic rather than going out to practice and compete against anyone. The culture is really lacking when it comes to that. I wish I could identify the root cause for this, but I know it's not the players' fault. Maybe it's that there is so much overall focus with school and sports that the clinics provide a much needed social forum. I think this is partially true, but there has to be some grit out there that can only be attained through rigorous competition. 

Sitting on boards and committees, I have heard all of the arguments for lack of American champions in recent years. While I can't deny that, I can say that almost all of the traditional countries who have dominated the sport face the same fate. It is too much hard work relative to other things to excel at the sport. In countries where standards of living are slightly lower to definitely lower, the work to aspire in any profession is significant. Hence, the drive to succeed is on par with that of many career choices. 

It will take some unique individuals to put American tennis back in the limelight. There is some really nice talent out there at the moment, and I think there will be a much deeper pool over the next 6-8 years. In any case, we are a global society and there is some awesome tennis being played out there at the moment! I haven't seen a 4-pack of men hanging in the top since Borg, Mac, Connors, Vilas. I hope we get another 2 years out of this foursome. On the ladies' side, I have been excited at all of the new faces and I feel the level of play has improved drastically over the past 18 months. WTA needs a more targeted marketing campaign. They need a top rivalry, but the product is much better than they are getting credit for.

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.