In the last 30 years, the way the game is played has evolved dramatically. But one shot, the slice backhand, has made it through virtually unchanged. Ken Rosewall, a fixture in pro tennis until the mid ’70s, had one of the best slice backhands of all time. Tim Henman’s slice is in many ways identical. But if you look closely, you’ll see some subtle differences that separate Henman’s stroke, outstanding as it is, from Rosewall’s all-time weapon.

1 GRIP » Though Rosewall used a Continental grip for his slice backhand, as has virtually every high-level player, he placed his hand low on the handle. You’ll notice that the butt-cap of the racquet is not visible. Holding the racquet like this kept Rosewall’s wrist loose, enabling him to generate greater racquet-head speed and, therefore, more pace. Henman has a more conventional grip.

2 BACKSWING » Rosewall’s slice was the most penetrating I ever played against. It was always deep and the ball felt heavy when it struck my racquet. One key to this aspect of Rosewall’s backhand was that his take-back was not as high in relation to the ball as those of other players, including Henman. As a result, Rosewall’s slice backhand was flatter than most. Henman, who has a higher backswing than Rosewall does, produces more spin and less pace. Rosewall’s lower backswing also kept his racquet more in line with the ball, providing him with outstanding control.

3 RACQUET FACE » In addition to having a higher backswing, Henman also keeps his racquet face more open than Rosewall does, and there’s no doubt he’s going to put some heavy spin on the ball. Rosewall’s racquet face is not nearly as open. He’s still swinging from high to low but with an almost fl at, or perpendicular, face. That, combined with his lower backswing, gives him less spin but more pace.

4 SHOULDERS » A full shoulder turn is a critical component of a good one-handed backhand, slice or otherwise. Both Rosewall and Henman are exemplary in this regard. If we were to go back and view their preparation earlier in the stroke you would see both of them looking over their right shoulders before they begin their forward swings.

5 RIGHT ARM » Both bend their right arms slightly when they take them back, but then straighten them before impact. A common mistake I see with one-handed backhands is a bent arm at contact, which leads to inconsistency because the degree of bend can vary from shot to shot. Even worse, some believe hitting this way is a prime cause of tennis elbow.

6 LEFT ARM » Notice how both players use their nondominant arms for balance. Players with solid one-handed backhands always use their non-hitting arms as a counterbalance. On slices, their arms go up and back in a motion that mirrors their dominant arms.

7 STANCE » Even though both these guys are within milliseconds of contact, they’re still sideways to the ball. Players with one-handed backhands should have this image imprinted in their minds. They shouldn’t begin opening up with their shoulders and their stances until after they hit the ball or else they’ll tend to hit across the ball rather than through it, sacrificing power and depth.

Article by Cliff Drysdale, Photos by Russ Adams, Clive Rose/Getty Images – Tennis.com

1. Know your strengths.
When I started working with Tim Henman before the Paris Masters in 2003, I asked him, “Why don’t you tell me what you think your assets are?” While it might sound odd to say something like that to a world-class player, this simple question can lead to deeper discussions. Tim was one of the best volleyers in the world, he moved well, and he had solid ground strokes. But what we found out was that he didn’t spend much time thinking about how to use these strengths or how to avoid his weaknesses. On the serve, for instance, Tim often just started the point rather than concentrating on serving to a specific location each time. We worked on serving to targets, keeping score in practice (if he missed too much, he’d have to buy me dinner). We talked about using his serve to set up his strengths and to help him get to the net. No matter what level you are, you want to play to your strengths as early in a point as possible.

2. Commit to a style.
No player can succeed without what I call the three Cs: commitment, clarity, and confidence. Tim had a terrific year in 2004—he made the semifinals at Roland Garros and the U.S. Open, and the quarterfinals at Wimbledon—largely because he had a good understanding of his game and was committed to it. He was going to play his style, and that was that. Recreational players don’t usually have this kind of confidence, but there’s no reason why you can’t. If you know what you’re best at, whether it’s attacking or grinding from the baseline, stick to it and try to perfect it. Don’t ignore your weaknesses, of course, but don’t do what I once did in my playing days, when I spent six months working just on my ground strokes and neglecting my chip-and-charge game. My ranking dropped, and as my brother (and coach) said at the time, “You look much better losing now than you did before.” You need to work on what you do best.

3. Think about tactics, not results.
As I found out early on with Tim, the score can get in the way of your tennis. Tim and I used to talk a lot about being process-oriented rather than results-oriented. If you go into a match ready to fight and win points, you just might forget to think about what it is you should do to win those points. Tim really latched onto thinking more about tactics than the score. He learned to put patterns together in his mind for how he wanted to play points, rather than focusing on whether he won them or not. Perhaps the biggest benefit to learning to think like Tim: When you’ve committed to a strategy and tried your best to execute it, you’ll have no regrets.

Article by Paul Annacone – Tennis.com