{"id":1352,"date":"2026-11-09T11:24:45","date_gmt":"2026-11-09T11:24:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thedropdrive.com\/?p=1352"},"modified":"2026-11-09T11:24:45","modified_gmt":"2026-11-09T11:24:45","slug":"backhand-slice-dont-swing-down-open-the-face-and-let-the-paddle-create-12-to-6-backspin","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thedropdrive.com\/?p=1352","title":{"rendered":"Backhand Slice: Don\u2019t Swing Down \u2014 Open the Face and Let the Paddle Create 12-to-6 Backspin"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><iframe title=\"Stop Swinging Down on Your Pickleball Backhand Slice! #pickleball #pickleballtips\" width=\"563\" height=\"1000\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/3otcNbb-NiI?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<h2>Summary<\/h2>\n<p>Universal Rackets says the number-one misconception on the backhand slice is that you have to swing down. Slice is backspin \u2014 think 12-to-6 \u2014 but that downward action happens with the paddle, not with a downward swing of the arm.<\/p>\n<p>If you open the paddle face as you swing, you automatically get the back of the ball. You don\u2019t have to chop downward; you adjust the paddle (and the grip) so the face creates the backspin. That\u2019s what keeps the slice low without the miss that comes from trying to hit down.<\/p>\n<h2>Key takeaways<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>Backspin is 12-to-6 on the paddle, not a downward arm swing<\/li>\n<li>Open the paddle face so you get the back of the ball<\/li>\n<li>Adjust the grip and face rather than swinging down \u2014 that\u2019s what keeps the slice low<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Action items<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>Shadow 10 backhand slices with an open face and a level-to-forward swing, no chop-down<\/li>\n<li>Hit 15 backhand slices and watch whether \u201chitting down\u201d was what missed them<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<div class=\"tdd-newsletter\">\n<p><strong>Get the 5 best pickleball tips every week<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/subscribe-forms.beehiiv.com\/v3\/loader.js\" data-beehiiv-form=\"0e5f3fe0-e4d3-4036-8d7f-c33b311980b2\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/thedropdrive.beehiiv.com\/subscribe\">Subscribe free<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Universal Rackets says the number-one misconception on the backhand slice is that you have to swing down. Slice is backspin \u2014 think 12-to-6 \u2014 but that downward action happens with the paddle, not with a downward swing of the arm.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":737,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_kad_post_transparent":"","_kad_post_title":"","_kad_post_layout":"","_kad_post_sidebar_id":"","_kad_post_content_style":"","_kad_post_vertical_padding":"","_kad_post_feature":"","_kad_post_feature_position":"","_kad_post_header":false,"_kad_post_footer":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_hide_featured_image":false,"_jetpack_featured_image_duplicate_dismissed":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[374,381],"tags":[1152,71,93,41,76],"class_list":["post-1352","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-backhand","category-technique","tag-backhand-slice","tag-backspin","tag-grip","tag-paddle-face","tag-universal-rackets"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/thedropdrive.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/09-ready-position-closeup-scaled.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thedropdrive.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1352","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thedropdrive.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thedropdrive.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedropdrive.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedropdrive.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1352"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/thedropdrive.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1352\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedropdrive.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/737"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thedropdrive.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1352"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedropdrive.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1352"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedropdrive.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1352"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}