Brad Pitt stars as crazy in new movie Bullett Train. He's Ladybug. A hitman who wants to get his next job done in a bullet train. But there are other contract killers on this train. The character played by the well-aged Brad is multifaceted. Because insane action and crazy story plots mix profound comments that don't want to fit into the picture. But they give the film the decisive spice. So Ladybug says in a wild action scene: "Hurt people hurt people....".

Your serve should be as rich in contrast and garnished with a decisive spice as the character Ladybug. Many club players serve to a schedule that is downright boring and that any opponent can adjust to within three service games:

1.First serve board through the middle

2. Second serve somehow to the backhand

This can work well some days. But just between us: You are dependent on a strong quota for the first. And who brings them to the square when your head is full of thoughts and your arm is full of pudding? In the following lines, let's see how you can improve your serve and thus your entire game. We start with the absolute basics.

What exactly is a slice serve?

The slice serve is played with a cut. When you serve, you stroke the ball from the side with your covering. If you are right-handed, stroke the right side of the felt ball. If you're left-handed, stroke the outside of your left hand. The slice serve, or the shot played as a slice itself, has a few properties that you should definitely include in your suitcase of knowledge as a tennis player:

* He is slower in the air, but gets faster when he arrives in the opponent's field

* he jumps flat away

* the ball rotates sideways

In addition to the straight, hard and fast serve, the plank, the slice serve offers completely different possibilities for you as a player. You can give your opponent completely different tasks on the return. More on that later. In one of his apt analyzes Boris Becker once said that a very good tennis player is able to set his opponent many tasks in the course of a match. Boris was probably not always right in his life. But he had hit the forehand on point.

With the know-how about the slice, we now look at how you can implement this knowledge on the court.

How do you play a good slice serve?

Do you know the technique tutorials on YouTube? If you watch two hours of videos there, you don't know how to hold the racket anymore. In terms of grip, I recommend the grip that you feel most comfortable with. Sure, the picture book of technique would recommend the backhand grip for your slice serve. But you are your own character, your own type of player. Never forget to question things in tennis. think for you Think about what works for YOU - and what doesn't.

In the next step you determine where you want to play your slice serve. Some particularly savvy tennis minds claim that Rafa's success comes from his ability to slice out big points on the advantage side. Whether these clever minds are right is irrelevant to us at this point. We pull out the know-how that is important. And here we can clearly state: The slice serve, played to the outside, is an excellent strategy. From a few years of experience as a mental trainer, I can give you a tip for your scratched self-confidence. Serve more with slice, especially at the beginning of a match. Gladly humorless, always outward. This gives you the chance to get a higher rate on your first serve. This higher rate gives you more security. This security gives you more self-confidence. Yep, that's quite a detour for more confidence. But tennis isn't easy, is it?!

Why is the slice so tricky for the opponent?

We already mentioned Boris a few lines above. And the tasks you should set your opponent. What are such tasks? If we swing into your opponent's body for a moment, we'll quickly determine a few facts on the return. On the one hand, your opponent quickly gets used to the monotonous serve pattern of a hard first serve and a lax second serve. In addition, because of this boring pattern, your opponent will almost always be in the same place for the return. You can give your opponent the task of moving forward or sideways with a simple slice serve through the middle. You know your slice serve is a tad slower.

A slice serve brings many more tasks for your opponent:

* he has to bend his knees more

* he has to look at the ball better because it is spinning

* he must master the art of making a slow ball fast

* he has to rethink and mentally adjust to each of your serves. He doesn't know what's coming next

We've put together a few points that give you a chance to improve your game with a slice serve. Finally, let's recap what you can take away from this article.

Summary for your serve

If you've made it this far, then you have a strong will to improve your game. So that you don't have to write everything down yourself, I would like to give you a small checklist, a summary of this article.

1) Your serves should be varied

2) A slice serve bounces flat, stays in the air longer, and that alone makes it a perfect alternative to a hard-played first serve

3) Like to play the slice serve often at the beginning of a match to gain security and confidence

4) A clever slice serve always presents your opponent with new tasks on the return

I wish you great serves, lots of return errors and lots of fun on the court!