how to learn to hit a serve..

[samprasvsfederer123]

i want to hit a serve, but the thing i fond to be the most difficult is the arm pronation, i mean i always find to be very akward to hit it with the chopper grip, i hold it like that and when i hit it it goes spinning to the left, even to the next court, and when i hit it with semi western which is what i hit my punch serve with its so akward to pronate arm, it should be natural pronation but no...

[Bud]

i want to hit a serve, but the thing i fond to be the most difficult is the arm pronation, i mean i always find to be very akward to hit it with the chopper grip, i hold it like that and when i hit it it goes spinning to the left, even to the next court, and when i hit it with semi western which is what i hit my punch serve with its so akward to pronate arm, it should be natural pronation but no...

Can you post a video of you serving?

[Nonentity]

you should probably switch to continental grip while serving

[LeeD]

Practice.
Watch vids of good players.
Watch vids of yourself.
Notice the difference.

[Cenc]

Practice.
Watch vids of good players.
Watch vids of yourself.
Notice the difference.

and change grip

[trenzterra]

i finally managed to switch to conti grip after weeks of hard work. it seems daunting at first, but it pays off after a while. now i feel my serve has more power AND consistency.

for a start, maybe you could try moving bevel by bevel until u reach conti. at the trophy position maybe you could try pronating first for a start so that you dont have to remember to pronate right before you contact the ball

[fuzz nation]

There's a lot of talk going around these days concerning pronation on the serve, but the problem is that too many players seem to be worried about consciously doing it. Wrist pronation is pretty much the result of the right grip, set position with the racquet (before swinging at the ball), and swing path over the top. I honestly think that it's something that naturally happens in a simple throwing motion - no need to let go of that racquet though.

There are a number of mechanical components that contribute to a good serve and they need to be well synchronized to work together. In my opinion, there are maybe twice as many elements in a proper serve compared with a solid forehand stroke, so the serve is probably the one thing that you want to get a pro to help you develop. The right guidance should help you to establish productive fundamentals. A decent teacher will also help you to understand your mechanics so that you can maintain them more on your own.

The continental grip is also the neighborhood that you'll want to be in for your best serving down the road.

[LeeD]

No need to change grips when serving. Use conti for every serve.
Some of us use conti with a slight flavor towards EBH for EVERY serve, flats, slices, tops, and kick/slices.

[Cenc]

well u serve either with eastern backhand or with continental grip
many baseliners serve with east. bh grip because its a little easier to get spin that way
however, big servers usually use continental grip
try copying feds or sampras' serve motions, i think they're the easiest ones and most natural ones and their serves are awsome

[wngan9447]

I honestly think that it's something that naturally happens in a simple throwing motion - no need to let go of that racquet though.



I completely agree with you. When anyone asks my opinion onto learning how to serve, I always start out by playing catch. The natural motion of throwing a baseball is identical (almost) to serving. You will learn to build up arm speed as well. My serve is the best part of my game and I do think that playing baseball has much to do with the speed and accuracy.

[autumn_leaf]

i use continental. don't think about the pronation, it should happen on it's own. i would concentrate to toss the ball a few inches inside the service line. the problem i had was the toss was too close to my body (at or behind the service line) so i had to consciously pronate which screws things up.