chops the ball, creates backspin and makes their shots land in very, very low and skid

a lot. If they hit it hard they skid and a slice that's hit softly tends to bounce and

stop.

So how do you beat a slicer? The main thing, and the most important thing is that you're

going to have to bend a lot because that ball is going to be very, very low. So you have

to bend your knees and get under that ball to make sure you don't hit it in the net.

The other thing that you have to remember to try to beat a slicer is that you want to

give them a shot they're not able to slice too well. What is that? A good shot to hit

against a slicer is a tremendous top spin shot, something high and soft and deep. That

means that the ball's going to be bouncing up here and it's much harder to hit a slice

when the ball is high than when it's low. A slicer likes the ball low, so you want to

keep that ball at a slicer's eyeball so that now the slice is a softer, not as effective

shot. Okay?

The other thing about a slicer is generally they don't like pace. If you can hit a lot

of pace, a slicer is going to have trouble handling that pace. But again, it has to be

with top spin, high, because then the slice has less effect. To be honest with you, thinking

about that, a slicer, when the pace is low, actually likes that because they take the

pace off the ball. So a lot of times by hitting the ball low and soft, the slicer has trouble.

The slicer likes pace but not pace that's high.

Kirk Moritz: Also the slicer typically is going to have a problem hitting a passing

shot. So if you are playing the ball a little high to the slicer's backhand and you follow

it in to the net, if he only has a slice he's going to have a hard time executing a particularly

good passing shot. Slicing shots are not typically nearly as fast as a top spin stroke so you'll

generally be in good position to handle the volley. Get your racquet on the volley. Attack

the slicer when you can.

Joe: I agree and the other thing that you have to be very careful about when playing

a slicer is that a slicer can disguise a drop shot. So they can hit a ball very short with

back spin and you're going to have to run up a lot. So you have to be careful to be

aware and anticipate when a slicer might want to hit a soft, short ball with back spin or

slice. Then you have to get up to the net, and again, play offensive and force that slicer

to try to hit a slice passing shot, which is again, like Kirk says, not a very hard

shot. That's how you beat a slicer.