Questions regarding the serves

[cukoo]

1- How important is it to have your weight on your back foot when you are tossing he ball? What is the point of this?

2- The Archer Bow...
I have a little understanding of this position, its when you sticks your hips out but thats basically it. Again, how important is this position? What is the point of it? And can anyone tell me how its done in more detailedly?

Thanks

[cukoo]

I know its a lot of questions but can anyone help me out with anything?
thanks

[Slazenger]

You don't toss the ball with your weight on your back foot. Your weight is beginning to move forward when you start your toss.

[WildVolley]

I completely agree with Slazenger. If my weight isn't moving forward on the toss, my timing is all off. Your weight might be on the back foot at the beginning of the toss, but it needs to come forward as your arm lifts.

[str33t]

I think this is what you're talking about when you say the "archer's bow".
http://i23.tinypic.com/nmyv77.gif


http://i24.tinypic.com/ir89p5.jpg

[ananda]

see this, davydenko serve:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ijuGLyt_DLw&mode=related&search=

there's also a sampras slow motion serve on the net.

[ananda]

You don't toss the ball with your weight on your back foot. Your weight is beginning to move forward when you start your toss.
uh oh, today when i tried hip-bending and arching a bit, (based on feedback on the serve acceleration drill thread) , it was funny - i was putting weight on backfoot. timing was certainly off - esp when i tossed the ball a bit in front.
after reading earlier 2 posts, i tried the action with weight moving forward and it certainly seems a lot more natural. will try that out tomorrow and report progress.

[cukoo]

Wow. I've always serve with the weight on my back foot. AFTER the ball leaves my hand, my weight is transfer to my front foot...

[wihamilton]

Slaz is right. Your weight needs to be moving forward when you toss the ball.

[cukoo]

Thanks for the pics, and yes , thats what I meant when I referred to "archer bow". But why is it used. Why is the hips sticking out?

Before the explode into the ball, should the weight be on the front leg, or equally distributed b/t both leg?

[wihamilton]

Before the explode into the ball, should the weight be on the front leg, or equally distributed b/t both leg?

Eh it sorta depends. If I was going to teach someone I would tell them to center their weight in the trophy pose, then push off. Just easier to learn / time / etc. But technically speaking, you can do it a bunch of ways, as long as you get to the "racket drop position" at the same time you fully push off your legs. That's what all the pros do (at least the ones with good serves :) ). But I wouldn't teach the weight transfer with that concept as the focal point.

[ananda]

Wow. I've always serve with the weight on my back foot. AFTER the ball leaves my hand, my weight is transfer to my front foot...
today i went to court, and began practicing this way, weight on front foot as i toss up. and it certainly helped a LOT. (earlier i was trying back, and getting timing wrong). i still need to practice this a bit. was framing a few serves.

(but i still find i am tending to slice too much, not getting the pronation, prhaps need to work one at a time on these things).

[volusiano]

I used to throw the ball up when my weight was on the back foot, too, and I wasn't getting a good ball toss because 1) the ball tends to end up more over my head as opposed to be into the court a little bit like I wanted, and 2) it tends to pull my tossing arm back a little, causing the toss to travel in a small trajectory instead of straight path, making the toss inconsistent.

So I shortened the time it takes to do the weight transfer to my back foot, just enough to enable the knee bend, and delayed the toss a little so that it happens when the weight is on my left foot. The result is that the toss is more consistent and puts the ball more into the court like I want.

On the hip question, I never notice it until you pointed out. But I guess it's just a natural part of putting the weight on the front foot during the knee bend in the trophy position. Maybe it just looks more pronounced on some people than others. If I look at the 2 pictures str33t posted above, the guy in the bottom picture seems to have his hip stick out more, but the guy in the top picture seems to have fairly straight hip.