Tennis Shots
The game of tennis has several different shots that have not really changed over the years except for some different techniques! In tennis history, eras may have been characterized by different play styles which means in each decades some of these shots may have been used more than others by the professional players along with players adapting their game sometimes to different court surfaces
SERVE
This shot starts every game and involves the ball being "tossed" in the air and hit by the player before it reaches the ground. There are different types of serve that give different spin to the ball: Flat serve, usually the first serve and second serve usually a slice serve or a kick serve.
FOREHAND
The forehand is the most used shot in open play. It is usually hit with topspin either cross court or down the line. The forehand can also be used to "lob" opponents who are close to the net
BACKHAND
Up until the 1970s the backhand was mainly hit with one hand but now most professionals use a 2 handed backhand technique. The backhand is used slightly less than the forehand in open play and is hit mostly with topspin and sometimes with slice
SLICE
In the early days of tennis, the slice was the standard way of hitting a backhand. Hitting under the ball on the backhand is still used in the modern game, but not so much as before.
Forehand slice is even rarer than a slice backhand and is only really used in dropshots in the professional game
VOLLEY
Serving and then volleying was an effective style of play in the 70s, 80s and even 90s although since then has not been used so much in the modern game. A volley can be made as a forehand or a backhand and only usually when the player is relatively close to the net as the ball cannot touch the court for this shot. A volley can be powerful, and even a "smash" or can be soft if a "drop shot"
DROPSHOT
A dropshot can be played as a groundstroke or from a volley. It involves softly making contact with the tennis ball or adding spin so that the ball bounces very low once it lands just over the net on the opponents court. Modern players such as Carlos Alcaraz are reviving this shot in the modern game as used by greats in tennis history like Pete Sampras!