confusion with the serve spins

[lawrence]

few questions

1. a twist serve is pretty much a stronger slice isnt it? more spin and more bounce.. im having a hard time differing them ;o
2. slice, twist, topspin/slice.. they all bounce toward the players backhand right? so what type of serve would i need for it to bounce further toward the players forehand (say if im serving it down the line and trying to get it to curve out of reach)
3. if im not trying to produce any spin and just hitting it as hard as i can, is that going to naturally topspin or what?

right now im just practicing my twist serve but i dont really get the full mechanics/idea of it so im pretty clueless. so far ive just been slicing the ball kinda but i dont think thats what im meant to be doing haha.
im thinking twist serve for first and just a natural hit for 2nd to prevent mass double faulting from being unco hah

[mucat]

Assume all righthanded,

1. Twist serve curve to your opponent's FH before it bounces (like a slice) then bounces to your opponent's BH.

2. Slice serve curve to your opponent's FH before and after it bounces

3. Depends on your swingpath and where in your swingpath (where is your toss, where is your contact point, etc.) did you make contact with the ball.

[lawrence]

hmm, yeah dont really need to worry about my 2nd serve atm. but with the twist and slice
so the twist bounces toward the bh but slice bounces toward fh?
because both of them are hit from left of the ball to right in a sense, the slice is just more on the side of the ball kinda
how come the slice ends up bouncing the other way?

also is it better to use eastern or cont for a twist

[mucat]

The twist curve to your opponent's FH in the air then bounce the other way (opponent's BH), not the slice.

They behave differently because the racket brush at the ball at different location. Slice serve is a side spin serve. Twist serve is a off-center topsin serve.

I suggest you not try the twist serve first, it is a difficult serve to hit. However, eastern BH grip will make it a tiny bit easier. Learn topspin serve before the twist serve, they are more similiar.

[travlerajm]

What most people think of a topspin serve is really half-top, half-slice (with roughly a 7:30 to 1:30 swingpath) It bounces almost straight. If you hit more side spin than that, it will bounce more to the returner's fh (people call this a slice). If you hit more top than that, it will bounce more to the returner's bh side (people call this twist).

In other words, there is no magical off-axis spin to the twist serve, it's just that the spin grips the ground better when the axis of rotation is more parallel to the ground. So the twist serve grips the ground and bounces one way, but the slice serve doesn't grip the ground very well, so it continues in the direction that it was going before the bounce. A "topspin" serve is halfway between the twist and the slice serve, so it bounces straight ahead.

[mucat]

What most people think of a topspin serve is really half-top, half-slice (with roughly a 7:30 to 1:30 swingpath) It bounces almost straight. If you hit more side spin than that, it will bounce more to the returner's fh (people call this a slice). If you hit more top than that, it will bounce more to the returner's bh side (people call this twist).

In other words, there is no magical off-axis spin to the twist serve, it's just that the spin grips the ground better when the axis of rotation is more parallel to the ground. So the twist serve grips the ground and bounces one way, but the slice serve doesn't grip the ground very well, so it continues in the direction that it was going before the bounce. A "topspin" serve is halfway between the twist and the slice serve, so it bounces straight ahead.

I have to disagree. Slice serve continues to the opponent's FH not because of it doesn't grip the ground very well. In fact, a good slice serve will grip the ground and bounce even more to the opponent's FH.

A twist is quite a magical serve, the spiral spin allows the ball to curve like a slice in the air but when it hit the ground, the ball will still bounce in the direction of the spin. On top of this, it is a difficult serve to hit.

[kevhen]

From my experience the topspin serve is hit anywhere from 11-1 o'clock and the twist from 1-1:30 and the slice anywhere from 1:30-3. The topspin bounces high (5-6 feet up for me) and straight forward. The twist kicks to the server's right (4 foot kick with the ball going 2-3 feet to the side) after curving to the left through the air. The slice goes to the server's left (3-4 feet) and stays the lowest (1-3 feet off the ground). It also curves left through the air.

You also have to hit the American twist at the right velocity or you won't get the effect. It usually works best when hit with a lot of spin at a fairly slow speed to get the most sideways kick.

[eagle]

Hi,

Just wondering if there is a video or graphic of these serves someplace on the web with emphasis on how and where the balls are contacted ?

Thanks,
eagle