Passing from the drive to the only other ground strokes of major importance, we now take up the chop stroke and the slice shot. The only difference between the two is in the angle made by the racquet head’s hitting plane and the flight of the ball. In a chop, the angle made by the racquet head’s hitting plane and the flight of the ball if extended past the point of contact is greater than 45 degrees.
In a slice, that angle is less than 45 degrees. Since the technique of play is almost the same for both strokes, in this chapter I’ll use both terms indiscriminately, but it is my personal opinion that almost all such shots should be slices, and not chops.
In chopping or slicing, there should be a slight tendency to slant the racquet head backward, but do not exaggerate this, or you will “pop” the ball up in the air. The backspin on the ball, which comes from hitting down and under it, gives the hall a tendency to rise, so the added lift of trajectory is not needed, and it leads to error.
Whereas a drive is always hit through and up, with a tendency toward topspin, a slice is always hit through and down, with a tendency toward backspin. Just as a drive will hit and hop forward, owing to the forward motion of its spin, the slice, with its reverse rotation, has a tendency to stop and “drag” in its bound. The drive has a higher bound than a chop, from the same line of flight. It has been pointed out that the drive is an attacking shot that under certain conditions can be used in defence.
The slice is essentially a defensive stroke that in a few circumstances can be used in attack, and that attack is always one of subtle deception and finesse, never of sheer speed. The mechanics of the slice are very simple and much more flexible than those of the drive, because the wrist plays so great a part in the stroke. Although footwork is still important, if it isn’t perfect it does not completely ruin the shot, as is true of the drive.