do most players use a slice when they perform the drop shot or is it more of a "pickup" sort of shot.
is it both? pros and cons of each?


i've been playing tennis for a long time, as an amateur, and when i perform this shot i'm always in two minds. i feel like i can perform the drop shot better with the pickup method (meaning it will travel to the net fast and then die upon bouncing) vs. the slice method which has it's obvious advantages.

Slice is the preferred option clearly, since you take away speed from the shot and I don't see how a 'pickup' shot would work from around the baseline. Fly to the net fast and die upon bouncing without slice? Could you video that?

The backhand slice is possibly my favourite shot, it looks beautiful when you play it deep and low.

you're right, i didn't mean the baseline. at that spot the slice would be the only option.
let me clarify. i meant a situation in which you are returning a drop shot 5 odd feet out from the net, with your own (and hence the slice or flick)

Oh then you usually just flick if you're in a hurry and if you have time to hit it you would hit it deep and hard with a fast hit unless you see the opponent stays on the baseline so much that it's an easy dropshot win

do a slice.... The other shot is easier to error