Photo Tour of the Points of Contact for Five Spin Serves

Slice Serve Point of Contact

(C)2006 Jeff Cooper licensed to About.com, Inc.

• Grip: A Continental grip works best for most players, but you can shift a bit toward the Eastern backhand for more spin.
• Point of contact: Meet the ball 1-2 feet below the full upward extension of your reach, roughly 2 feet to your right, and barely in front of yourself, as measured by where your head is at the time of contact.
• Striking the ball: To hit pure slice, try to brush across the right side of the ball, at what would be 3:00 on its face if it were a clock. Your racquet face will naturally turn toward the net and brush across the back of the ball from its center outward toward that 3:00 point, making the ball spin around a vertical axis, like a perfectly balanced top. If you keep your wrist too tight and force the racquet to stay in its initial edge-forward position, you will hit the ball much too far to your left (if you hit it at all).

• Topspin Slice Serve Point of Contact
• Topspin Serve Point of Contact
• Slice Serve Point of Contact
• Twist Serve Point of Contact
• Underhand Sidespin Serve Point of Contact