Slice it up!

An excellent stroke for defense and offense is the backhand slice. Let's examine the technique.

First the grip. Hold the racket with a continental grip...like holding a hammer.
Bring the racket back about shoulder level.
Point your shoulder at the point where you should make contact with the ball (about a foot in front of your "racket leg").
Imagine that you are about to sweep everything off a table top with your racket.
The swing pattern should be as level as possible, but a slight U shape is normal.
The bottom edge of your racket should be slightly in front of the top edge.
Make sure you are in a "closed" stance.
Try to raise or lower your body with your legs to adjust to various ball heights.

Have you got all of that?! Why not learn by observing. Check out Novak Djokovic's backhand slice.