Slice in Tennis: How the Underspin Shot Works and When to Use It

A slice in tennis is a shot hit with backspin, created by swinging the racket from high to low across the back of the ball with a slightly open face; the backspin keeps the ball low and makes it skid rather than kick up after the bounce. It is one of the core entries among the types of tennis shots every player eventually needs, alongside the flat drive and the topspin groundstroke, and it shows up constantly in singles and doubles at every level of the game.

What a Slice Actually Does to the Ball

Backspin, or underspin, changes how a tennis ball behaves in two distinct phases. In the air, a sliced ball flies flatter and floats more than a topspin shot, because the backward rotation reduces the aerodynamic dip that topspin creates. Off the bounce, that same backspin fights against the court surface, so the ball skids forward low and fast instead of kicking up into a comfortable strike zone.

That low, skidding bounce is the entire point of the shot. An opponent facing a slice usually has to bend low and hit up on the ball just to clear the net, which strips away their ability to generate pace or heavy topspin in return. Against a slice, big babies are hard to hit; against topspin, the opposite is true.

How to Hit a Slice: Grip, Swing Path, and Racket Face

Three technical pieces define a clean slice, and they apply whether you are hitting it off the forehand or backhand wing.

• Grip: The continental grip is the standard choice for slice on both sides. It sits the racket face naturally open at contact without any wrist manipulation, and it is the same grip used for volleys and serves, which is part of why slice fits so naturally into net-rushing tennis.
• Swing path: The racket travels from high to low, brushing down and slightly under the back of the ball. The steeper that downward path, the more backspin and the more the ball floats; a flatter path produces a “slice drive” that stays lower and faster through the air.
• Contact and body position: Good slice technique keeps the body relatively sideways through contact rather than rotating the hips and shoulders open the way a topspin groundstroke does. Rotating too early is the single most common cause of a slice that floats short instead of skidding through the court.

The Slice Backhand

The backhand slice is the more common and, for most players, the easier of the two to execute well. That is largely a matter of geometry: the natural swing path of a one-handed backhand already moves from high to low, so producing backspin requires less manipulation than it does on the forehand side, where slice has to be deliberately engineered against a swing that more naturally wants to go low to high.

For a full breakdown of grip, footwork, and the one-handed versus two-handed decision on that side, see our dedicated guide on the tennis backhand explained. Even players who use a two-handed backhand for their primary groundstroke typically switch to a one-handed grip specifically to hit slice, because two hands make the shot’s compact, sideways swing far harder to control.

The Slice Approach Shot

A slice approach shot is a slice hit while moving forward, most often down the line, as the launching pad for a trip to the net. Because the ball stays low and skids, the opponent is forced to hit up and defensively, which limits their passing-shot options and sets the net player up for an easier first volley or put-away.

This is the connective tissue between groundstrokes and the rest of a player’s racket sports toolkit at net, since a well-placed slice approach buys the time and court position needed to close in behind it. Serve-and-volley specialists and doubles teams lean on the slice approach constantly, because it is a lower-risk way to advance than trying to out-hit an opponent from the baseline.

When and Why to Use a Slice Tactically

Beyond the approach shot, players reach for slice in several recurring situations:

• Changing pace and rhythm: A slower, flatter slice breaks up a rally built on heavy topspin exchanges, disrupting an opponent who has settled into a rhythm.
• Defense under pressure: When stretched wide or rushed, a slice can be produced with a shorter, simpler swing than a full topspin stroke, buying time to recover court position.
• Neutralizing high, heavy balls: A slice is an effective way to handle a shot that bounces above shoulder height, since driving through a high ball with topspin is far harder than blocking it back with backspin.
• Return of serve: A chipped slice return keeps the ball low against a big server, taking away the free strike that a full swing would otherwise offer.
• Setting up the drop shot: The same low-to-the-net feel used in slice also underpins the drop shot in tennis, which is essentially an extreme, deliberately short slice designed to die rather than skid through.

Slice vs. Topspin: Quick Comparison

Element	Slice (backspin)	Topspin
Swing path	High to low	Low to high
Racket face	Open	Closed / vertical
Ball flight	Flatter, floats	Dips down into the court
Bounce behavior	Stays low, skids	Kicks up higher and faster
Typical grip	Continental	Semi-western / western
Common uses	Approach shots, defense, pace change	Baseline power, aggressive groundstrokes

Common Slice Mistakes to Avoid

Most weak slices trace back to the same handful of errors. Over-rotating the hips and shoulders through contact, a habit carried over from two-handed groundstrokes, causes the shot to float short instead of penetrating. Swinging on too flat a path removes the backspin that makes the shot effective in the first place, while an overly steep, chopping swing produces a slice with so much loft that it sits up and invites an easy attack. Watching the shot too early also pulls the shoulders open prematurely, cutting the swing short before the racket has finished its downward path through the ball.

The Bottom Line on the Slice

The tennis slice is a backspin shot built on a high-to-low swing, an open continental-grip racket face, and a body that stays sideways through contact. It stays low and skids off the bounce rather than kicking up, which makes it a genuine tactical weapon rather than just a defensive fallback: pros use it to approach the net, change the pace of a rally, and neutralize heavy topspin, not only to survive being pulled out of position. Once the technique clicks, it becomes one of the most versatile shots in the sport.