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By Richard Pagliaro | Thursday, January 14, 2016

 
Andy Murray

"When the ball's coming at you off the serve sometimes 135 miles per hour, you have a half a second to react," says Andy Murray.

Photo credit: Corleve/Mark Peterson

When opportunity arrives on the ATP Tour, the ball is blurring so fast there's no time to read the label.

"When the ball's coming at you off the serve sometimes 135 miles per hour, you have a half a second to react," Andy Murray says. "That's not enough time to think."

Video: Dimitrov's Slash & Smash

Prescient court-positioning, soft hands and freakish body control on the stretch make Murray one of the game's best returners.

The world No. 2 has wielded his variety—mixing a crunching two-hander and diving one-handed slice backhand—in reaching four Australian Open finals.

Before returning to Melbourne, Murray hit the studio at Wimbledon to shoot some instructional video.

Murray opens up his tennis toolbox to share the secrets to one of his signature shots, the slice backhand, in these videos for Catching the Moment.

With the help of the latest camera technology, impressive high-speed super slow-motion images have been created to catch the moment of Murray's slice along with his insight into the shot.

The two-time Grand Slam champion provides a pair of slice lesson; the first video features the slice down the line and the second focuses on the crosscourt slice.




Murray, whose mother Judy is a coach, offers clear directives for sharpening your slice.

1. Make sure your weight moves forward to your front leg as you strike the ball
2. Imagine you're using a sword to carve through the bottom of the ball
3. Maintain firm wrist throughout the shot; if your wrist breaks you lose control

In a fast-twitch sport, Murray preaches practicing a shot until committed to muscle memory to inspire instinctual tennis.

"So it just comes on instinct. And that's where all the practice and hours of preparation you do come into play, really," Murray says. "And there are the times in the match where you want to play your best tennis in those moments. And sort of be in the present, really. That would be catching the moment for me."

 

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