Faster serve

[tennisaddict1]

What Can a person do to increase the speed of the serve when the person already knows how to pronate and has good form?

[THSBOI]

My guess is swing faster? or practice more to swing faster >.> Probably add more body motion plus i try to bend more to add more power or speed it up

[RoddickAce]

Build strong legs, and power your motion from there. Increase elasticity in your shoulders? Not sure how to do that though...

[dacrymn]

Careful when you hear "swing faster." Do not try harder, just swing faster. IF you try to muscle the ball, you won't get really good leverage (you'll feel it) and the power won't come. You still have to get that fluidity to get anything out of your serve.

But otherwise, yeah, swing faster.

[fuzz nation]

When you're on the practice court working on your serve, take an occasional full practice motion without hitting a ball. Keep it as loose and fluid as you can for the most racquet head speed - that timing is what you want to gain an instinct for when you play. If you rush your motion, you won't get the best energy out of it, but that loose, fast "whup" through the ball is repeatable if you can stick with the right timing. Without having to hit a ball, it's a lot easier to analyze your motion and make sure everything is contributing.

[tennisaddict1]

Well guys I can hit my first serve at around 80-100 mph. I just want it faster cause plenty of people can return my serve.

[racquet_jedi]

Well guys I can hit my first serve at around 80-100 mph. I just want it faster cause plenty of people can return my serve.

I'd say try working on placement...

Can you place your serves to the different parts of the box well or do you just hit it to the same spot every time?

If you can place them well with variety, then I'd say it'd be time to go to the gym or something...

[LuckyR]

Lead Tape...

[stormholloway]

Saying swing faster is like telling a sprinter to run faster for better times. It's synonymous and redundant.

Start with the legs and stay loose. Work on flexibility. Don't let doubt creep into the motion, which can cause hitches and reduce power.

Placement and consistency are the parts that elude me. I can't seem to get my toss in the same place.

[tennisaddict1]

thanks a bunch. Lead tape. I tried that long ago but that was when I sucked. How do I use lead tape correctly.

[stormholloway]

So the one piece of advice you take is the one piece where you don't have to actually work?

Lead tape isn't going to help your cause. If you're not getting enough pace with your racquet as it is now, lead tape won't magically solve your problem.

[LuckyR]

thanks a bunch. Lead tape. I tried that long ago but that was when I sucked. How do I use lead tape correctly.

Assuming you have a player's stick and have good form, using a SW2 setup gave me a lot more power (with a racquet not really known for serve speed).

I haven't posted in the equipment Forum for some time, but do a search for SW2.

[10s talk]

move your contact point forward.......... this allows you to use your legs and weight transfer for power

[Fedace]

What Can a person do to increase the speed of the serve when the person already knows how to pronate and has good form?

work out with machines to improve your leg strength and shoulder strength to get the racket speed to go up

[SlapShot]

Saying swing faster is like telling a sprinter to run faster for better times. It's synonymous and redundant.

Start with the legs and stay loose. Work on flexibility. Don't let doubt creep into the motion, which can cause hitches and reduce power.



Indeed.

If your serves are coming back, you need to work on adding spin and placement along with power. I've played guys who have serves clocked at 115-120, but they serve flat and don't move it around, so it's really not that hard. I'd rather return a 100 mph flat serve to my forehand than an 80 mph kick serve to my backhand.

[the_flying_wallaby]

Build strong legs, and power your motion from there. Increase elasticity in your shoulders? Not sure how to do that though...

I agree with the leg part, when you serve putting your legs into it and pushing off definately helps with the pace and spin.

[Nellie]

You should also look to the timing of your swing. You can do every thing perfectly, but still loose a lot if the timing is off. Also, you may need to work on tossing further into the court and getting more mass forward.

[mucat]

Well guys I can hit my first serve at around 80-100 mph. I just want it faster cause plenty of people can return my serve.

If you are already hitting 80-100, add some spin (actions) to the ball will work. Assuming you are serving very flat of course.

[Koaske]

While it might seem like you have a good overall motion, there are a lot of small things that will increase your serve speed a few mph, and if you apply them all to your service motion, your serve will get quite a bit faster.

Are you gripping the racket so that your pinky finger is almost out of the handle?
Are you turning your upper body enough? By the way, all pinpoint stance servers should watch Safin's serve and how well he turns his upper body!
Are you tossing far enough in to the court and leaning well? Watch how well Roddick does this.
Are you getting ~90 degree knee bend and rising up on your toes?
And keeping a loose arm is important too. Your arm should be like a whip that gets its power from the other body parts and shoulder.

[Djokovicfan4life]

Yeah, "swing harder" can be very misleading. Sure, in the end a more powerful serve will be a result of swinging harder, but this can only be achieved through many other factors, such as better leg drive and shoulder rotation.

[Ghosting]

Does anybody know the link at hitechtennis where Tim Henman serves?
Please write.:)

[Djokovicfan4life]

Does anybody know the link at hitechtennis where Tim Henman serves?
Please write.:)

Sorry, I could only find forehand and backhands. :confused:

Shame that they only have those shots available for a S&V player. :(

[Ghosting]

Doesn't mind. Tim was my tennis hero, his style was awesome, true gentleman on and off court. Shame he retired.

[Djokovicfan4life]

Doesn't mind. Tim was my tennis hero, his style was awesome, true gentleman on and off court. Shame he retired.

Oh well, everybody's time comes at one point or another. Just look at Agassi. The guy took out Baghdatis, one of my favorite players, at the US Open and just couldn't take it any more.

[Djokovicfan4life]

Found it. :)

http://www.hi-techtennis.com/serve/henman_serve.php

[Ghosting]

Oh, thanks a lot! It's great to see him again.:)

[drakulie]

Although having a strong base (legs)helps, it doesn't necessarily add much more power to a serve. I belive it adds approx 3 mph.

If your serve motion is good, all things being equal, to serve fast you have to have fast racquet speed, and make sure all that racquet speed is actually going into the impact of the ball.

Make sure your energy is going up, rather than forward. A simple way to find this out is serving without a ball. When you serve, do you hear the "swoosh" your racquet makes loudest in front of you, or above you?

If you hear it in front of you, then most of your racquet speed is happening after contact. If this is the case, then make sure most of your racquet speed is happening immediately before impact, which should be above you, and not out in front of you.

Good luck!

[tricky]

Service motion has so many elements, so it's hard to pinpoint what about somebody's specific form needs to be improved without actually seeing it. Even if you think you have good form, you may not.

Some things to look for:

1a) In your trophy pose, is your hand in a relatively low position? Is it at least below the bottom of your head?
1b) At point where the ball leaves the hand, is your left and right shoulder aligned in almost a straight line?

2) Do you initiate your windup from the lower body, or do you initiate your windup with your arms?

3) When you shift your weight between your feet, does your center of mass remain forward and toward the net? At end of windup, is your hip pointing at the net?

4) Is your windup into the forward swing continuous or is there a pronounced pause?

5) Is your leg push synced up with your windup?

6) Do you swing shoulder over shoulder?

7) Is your spine "extended" as you swing up?

8) At end of follow-through, do you find that you're leaning over the left side of body, with your right foot kicked up?

9) How is your ball toss?

[tennisaddict1]

Service motion has so many elements, so it's hard to pinpoint what about somebody's specific form needs to be improved without actually seeing it. Even if you think you have good form, you may not.

Some things to look for:

1a) In your trophy pose, is your hand in a relatively low position? Is it at least below the bottom of your head?
1b) At point where the ball leaves the hand, is your left and right shoulder aligned in almost a straight line?

2) Do you initiate your windup from the lower body, or do you initiate your windup with your arms?

3) When you shift your weight between your feet, does your center of mass remain forward and toward the net? At end of windup, is your hip pointing at the net?

4) Is your windup into the forward swing continuous or is there a pronounced pause?

5) Is your leg push synced up with your windup?

6) Do you swing shoulder over shoulder?

7) Is your spine "extended" as you swing up?

8) At end of follow-through, do you find that you're leaning over the left side of body, with your right foot kicked up?

9) How is your ball toss?

1)a yes
b almost

2) dont understand:-?

3)it shifts from back to forward. Im righty so at the end of my windup yes my hip is pointing there

4) when I hit the ball i dont feel a pause but when I hit air (practice I can't really go through smoothly. there is sorta of a pause

5) Idk

6)yup

7) on my first yea. Second sometimes

8)yea but it doesn't kick up that much. I take like a small hop on my left foot

9) My toss sometimes varies. Umm most of the time it goes in the right place but I can't really tell. I just toss.

Thanks

[WBF]

I don't know why, but for some reason in the past two weeks or so (including that video) I have been 'rocking' before my serve. I hadn't really noticed or thought it made a difference, but when my fiancee pointed it out, I decided to be very still as I started my motion. The result felt like a good 5-10MPH and far, far better accuracy at max velocity. I was very, very happy (I had been serving at low speed to keep things in, but now can go back to getting all my big serves in!).

Pronation is obviously important. Using your body and your legs is as well, although you can get huge speed while kneeling with the proper form, so the legs aren't exactly a major factor.

[mordecai]

Make sure your energy is going up, rather than forward. A simple way to find this out is serving without a ball. When you serve, do you hear the "swoosh" your racquet makes loudest in front of you, or above you?

If you hear it in front of you, then most of your racquet speed is happening after contact. If this is the case, then make sure most of your racquet speed is happening immediately before impact, which should be above you, and not out in front of you.



Way to totally steal from Sonic Serve :)

[shwetty[tennis]balls]

What Can a person do to increase the speed of the serve when the person already knows how to pronate and has good form?

It's actually pretty simple to assess... Swing faster=faster serves. In other words- hit the ball harder.

That said, a pointer on the side: a ball w/ curve or spin on it travels slower than one with no spin on it. If you can serve it flatter, yet inside the service line, you should see an increase in your speed.

[tricky]

1)a yes
b almost

Is it like this? Just checking

http://i17.tinypic.com/6o2uzns.jpg

Also, when you set the trophy, is the angle between your upper arm and forearm less than 90 degrees?

3)it shifts from back to forward. Im righty so at the end of my windup yes my hip is pointing there

When you initiate the windup, you want the weight on the front foot (or the back foot pushing off a little) and your left hip bent forward. At the beginning of windup, the center of mass is slightly in front of you. It's already forward.

As you shift the weight off the front foot, your front hip starts to straighten and lean toward the court. As this happen, this causes your hips and upper torso to twist. The center of mass, which was already slightly in front of you, moves further into the court.

The windup is like doing a cartwheel in a clockwise direction, where the center of your weight is always in front of you.

At the end of windup, two things are noticeable. First, your knees will be leaning into the court, setting you up to push off in a forward direction. Second, there's a strong lean backwards.

2) dont understand

Just checking the sequencing of your chain in the windup.

1) Turning of the upper torso takes the arm back.
2) The leaning of hips toward the court (i.e. center of mass well forward) turns the upper torso and enables you to aim up
3) The shifting of weight off the front font causes the hips to lean forward, and set up the cartwheel-like motion
4) The raising of the tossing arm helps to set up the weight shift of the feet

And, so, if it's connected like this, the tossing motion helps to kick off the windup. Using a relaxed windup, you allow each stage to "coil", from tossing arm to feet to hips to upper torso to hitting arm to racquet.

[tennisaddict1]

thanks ill try to do all of that