Slice Groove
Ball machineNTRP 3.0–4.010 minbackhand
Why this drill
A dependable slice backhand is the cheapest upgrade in club tennis — it defends wide balls, changes rhythm, and skids low against net rushers. The machine supplies the hundred repetitions a rally never will.
Setup
Machine feeding waist-high balls to the backhand at moderate pace. Deep crosscourt cone zone.
The drill
Forty slices in sets of ten: high-to-low knife through the ball, finish long toward the target, ball skidding — not floating — into the deep zone. Count zone hits; a floater that sits up counts zero even if it lands in. Judge your own floaters honestly; that judgment is part of the skill.
One thought to take on court
Cut down and through the outside of the ball with a firm wrist — a slice is a controlled strike, not a chop.