To bend or not to... ?

[blue03]

Recently i've changed from pinpoint to platform stance for my service and have greatly achieve consistent placement for both serves. i have 1 questions:

1) when tossing the ball, should i bend my back foot or straight it out?

i have knee pain when doing that, it's kinda like ljubicic motion (but not to that extreme style) when i toss the ball, and i have good ball toss with that motion, but the pain is bothering me these couple of days.

should i change to blakes style ? it seems like his back foot is straight when tossing the ball..or did he bend a bit?

[Koaske]

My serving motion is a bit like Ljubicic's too and I'm having knee problems if I bend too much. But usually it works out well when I bend them as much as I can without feeling pain.

[papa]

Well, one of the basic questions would be are you balanced throughtout the serve?

I don't like the pain problem but realize that "pain" is a relative problem - what you think might be pain, others might not think much of. One of the problems that the medical people must face on a daily basis. I've been heavily involved with athletics my whole like and kinda thought "pain" was the price you paid.

[Rickson]

Recently i've changed from pinpoint to platform stance for my service and have greatly achieve consistent placement for both serves. i have 1 questions:

1) when tossing the ball, should i bend my back foot or straight it out?

i have knee pain when doing that, it's kinda like ljubicic motion (but not to that extreme style) when i toss the ball, and i have good ball toss with that motion, but the pain is bothering me these couple of days.

should i change to blakes style ? it seems like his back foot is straight when tossing the ball..or did he bend a bit?
Bend? Do you mean should you be on the balls of your feet? Of course you should be on the balls of your feet and not flat footed. Blake is not flat footed on his serve and I highly doubt any pro serves with flat feet. The closest I've seen to flat feet was Gaston Gaudio, but even he gets on the balls of his feet.

[blue03]

Well, one of the basic questions would be are you balanced throughtout the serve?

yes i'm pretty balanced throughout the serve.


Bend? Do you mean should you be on the balls of your feet? Of course you should be on the balls of your feet and not flat footed. Blake is not flat footed on his serve and I highly doubt any pro serves with flat feet. The closest I've seen to flat feet was Gaston Gaudio, but even he gets on the balls of his feet.

Yes i do bend my legs on the balls of my feet when i want to jump upwards to the ball...
here is my original question. should i bend my back foot when tossing the ball or straight it out?
I mean when i shifted my body weight to my back foot for tossing, which is the correct way of doing it?

[papa]

yes i'm pretty balanced throughout the serve.




Yes i do bend my legs on the balls of my feet when i want to jump upwards to the ball...
here is my original question. should i bend my back foot when tossing the ball or straight it out?
I mean when i shifted my body weight to my back foot for tossing, which is the correct way of doing it?

You bend you back leg (along with the front) as you toss the ball. Although everyone seems to have a slightly different style, the arch of your back foot slides into the heal of your front foot. There isn't enough time to bend your legs "after" the toss - basically its all one continuous motion.

[blue03]

Thanks. I have a tendency to bend my back leg a bit when tossing, and it's natural for me. I have no intention to do it though...i guess straight or bend both can be the correct way for different individuals.

[papa]

Thanks. I have a tendency to bend my back leg a bit when tossing, and it's natural for me. I have no intention to do it though...i guess straight or bend both can be the correct way for different individuals.

Pretty hard to jump with straingt legs. Often we do things that we're not really aware we're doing. However, if you can remain balanced, get good lift into the ball and do it consistently, I'd stay with it.