How about this form?

[Mike Cottrill]

http://img136.imageshack.us/img136/5117/dsc005106ya.jpg

What is good and what is bad.

[looseswing]

There is nothing really wrong with that form in the picture. The racquet head is at an odd angle but its not wrong.

[safin_protege]

Unless you're doing something odd with your feet, you should move closer to the baseline. I have no idea what you are doing with your right arm- a video would help diagnose any problems.

[EclipseRydr97]

Looks like you're choking up quite a bit

[jackson vile]

That is how Sagin does it

[LowProfile]

That is how Sagin does it

Do you mean Safin?

[Amone]

I don't see how you could swing a racquet from that racquet-arm position, but if you can, that's fine. The rest of the form is about as good as I can tell from that photo.

[JCo872]

Wow! He is several inches behind the baseline with no way of moving forward. He looks like he is going to trip over his feet with the back foot actually touching the front foot. The racket is at the most extreme takeback position I have ever seen. Maybe not a continental grip?

Just not a bio-mechanically sounds serve. The biggest servers in the world typicall have the simplest form.

The good is that the tossing arm is completely extended which is nice. There is a delay between tossing arm and takeback which is good as well.

So...Move up to the baseline. Get the feet separated in a firm foundation. Have the racket head pointing up to the sky rather than the back fence.

[ericwong]

Looks like you are trying to do a slice-serve. Beware of your right foot sliding in. You might clamp your left foot and trip over it.

[siber222000]

wow dude tahts a sick form o_O

[Mike Cottrill]

Wow! He is several inches behind the baseline with no way of moving forward. He looks like he is going to trip over his feet with the back foot actually touching the front foot. The racket is at the most extreme takeback position I have ever seen. Maybe not a continental grip?

Just not a bio-mechanically sounds serve. The biggest servers in the world typicall have the simplest form.

The good is that the tossing arm is completely extended which is nice. There is a delay between tossing arm and takeback which is good as well.

So...Move up to the baseline. Get the feet separated in a firm foundation. Have the racket head pointing up to the sky rather than the back fence.

Jeff,
That is exactly what I thought. Looks like he is going to lose his balance. The arm position looks painful. At first I thought maybe he ran back to retrieve a lob, but now I think it is a serve. Maybe he is messing around during a warm-up??
Jeff knows this is not me. It was not my intensions to lead anyone to believe so. This is a picture of Zack Fleishman who won a challenger tournament this year.

[JCo872]

Jeff,
That is exactly what I thought. Looks like he is going to lose his balance. The arm position looks painful. At first I thought maybe he ran back to retrieve a lob, but now I think it is a serve. Maybe he is messing around during a warm-up??
Jeff knows this is not me. It was not my intensions to lead anyone to believe so. This is a picture of Zack Fleishman who won a challenger tournament this year.

Wow! He won a challenger. That picture is something else. I just can't believe that is a serve. The feet are so far back from the baseline. But he must be doing something right! Great picture!

[RiosTheGenius]

you seem to be trying to do the right things, but though I wish I could see the entire thing, we can identify certain things to point out.
- you get a funny grip on that racquet, perhaps you're losing about an inch or more of reach. when serving you want to use every inch of your body.
- your footwork on serve is a bit sloppy, not only that but it doesn't look like you have a solid step. and again you're losing height by not getting closer to the baseline. mind you , you're about to trip
I bet you have one of those odd looking serves that might be good, but I would consider the few things people are saying here .
if you grab that racquet right and move closer to the baseline you will grow about 4 inches taller, I swear

[Duzza]

That guy is on the Challenger Circuit or at least used to be you know...

[Amone]

The footwork, it's not a style I liked, but it is one that some pros do use, such as: Martina Hingis, Lindsay Davenport, Dokic, Hantuchova... Maybe not in that exact way he does it, but it looks like he's loading the muscles in his back leg, and prepared to straighten it into the ball.

The arm... I don't know. I have no. idea. how he does that.

And that's my thoughts in full extent.

[Mike Cottrill]

Wow! He won a challenger. That picture is something else. I just can't believe that is a serve. The feet are so far back from the baseline. But he must be doing something right! Great picture!

Jeff,
TennisPro responded with my questions. Yep, that is his service motion and apparently the rest of his game is just as odd. It is amazing he is getting those results. He is around 180 in the rankings.
He grabs the throat of the racket with his two handed backhand.

TennisPro has taken some very good pictures. Has some of Sampras’ wonderful motion. Great pics.
See them here. Zacks pictures are on page 4.
http://tt.tennis-warehouse.com/showthread.php?t=105243&page=4 (http://tt.tennis-warehouse.com/showthread.php?t=105243&page=4)

Mike

[JCo872]

Here is a pic of me serving :)

http://www.hi-techtennis.com/jeff_serve_large.jpg

[Duzza]

ahh the old i. Radical. Still got one of these babies :D must go test it out again.

[JCo872]

ahh the old i. Radical. Still got one of these babies :D must go test it out again.

Heck yeah!! I'll never give that racket up. You can get them for under a hundred bucks now :)

[Duzza]

Have you customised it at all? It just doesnt seem the kind of racquet that a player of your standard would use stock.

[JCo872]

Have you customised it at all? It just doesnt seem the kind of racquet that a player of your standard would use stock.

I put lead tape on the frame. I probably should try the newer radicals. I'm sure they are more powerful.

How about you. What did you do to customize it? And what are you playing with now?

[Duzza]

Ok, Well a few years back when i was no good i had the i radical. But then switched to tweener frames for ages, then went back to the radical and then to Flexpoint Radical (dissapointment IMO), now I'm playing with PC600's and POG's

I never customised the i. Radical don't know why.

[JCo872]

Jeff,
TennisPro responded with my questions. Yep, that is his service motion and apparently the rest of his game is just as odd. It is amazing he is getting those results. He is around 180 in the rankings.
He grabs the throat of the racket with his two handed backhand.

TennisPro has taken some very good pictures. Has some of Sampras’ wonderful motion. Great pics.
See them here. Zacks pictures are on page 4.
http://tt.tennis-warehouse.com/showthread.php?t=105243&page=4 (http://tt.tennis-warehouse.com/showthread.php?t=105243&page=4)

Mike

Hey Mike,

Thanks for the link! Yes those pics are awesome. I have to see that guy in person. I might be able to catch him in the qualifiers of a major. I just can't see how he can serve like that. But to be top 200 in the world is extraordinary.

Hey i'm looking for that video camera of yours. What is the exact model number? Seems that only Sony has that super slo-mo feature. It's not an HD camera is it?

Jeff

[Mike Cottrill]

Hey Mike,

Thanks for the link! Yes those pics are awesome. I have to see that guy in person. I might be able to catch him in the qualifiers of a major. I just can't see how he can serve like that. But to be top 200 in the world is extraordinary.

Hey i'm looking for that video camera of yours. What is the exact model number? Seems that only Sony has that super slo-mo feature. It's not an HD camera is it?

Jeff

Jeff,
I have the
DCR-DVD505 DVD Handycam® Camcorder DCR-DVD505. http://www.sonystyle.com/is-bin/INTERSHOP.enfinity/eCS/Store/en/-/USD/SY_DisplayProductInformation-Start?CategoryName=dcc_DICamcorders_DVDHandycamCam corders&ProductSKU=DCRDVD505&Dept=cameras&INT=sstyle-dcc_DICamcorders-deptfeature-DCRDVD505|sstyle:sy_cat_content_p:dcc_dicamcorders (http://www.sonystyle.com/is-bin/INTERSHOP.enfinity/eCS/Store/en/-/USD/SY_DisplayProductInformation-Start?CategoryName=dcc_DICamcorders_DVDHandycamCam corders&ProductSKU=DCRDVD505&Dept=cameras&INT=sstyle-dcc_DICamcorders-deptfeature-DCRDVD505|sstyle:sy_cat_content_p:dcc_dicamcorders )

If you get one, Sony has a Bluetooth microphone mail in thing.
This is not a HD camera. The two I have seen that have the 240 frames/sec for three second clips are this one and the HD camera HDR-HC3 HDV 1080i Handycam® Camcorder HDR-HC3. I took a video disk from the 505 into the high end video store and they played it on a DVD player that has some HD converter hardware built in to it and played it on a HD plasma TV. The video looked incredible. Something similar to this:
http://www.pioneerelectronics.com/pna/v3/pg/product/details/0,,2076_123927469_34679,00.html (http://www.pioneerelectronics.com/pna/v3/pg/product/details/0,,2076_123927469_34679,00.html)

He said there is some card you can buy for around $800 that does something similar. Unfortunately he said the movie business has put so many restrictions on this stuff that you can have problems. He told me some of the horror stories about the lockout mechanisms that are built into the hardware.

Mike

[Mike Cottrill]

Here is a pic of me serving :)

http://www.hi-techtennis.com/jeff_serve_large.jpg

Okay, we should create a thread for kevhen (http://tt.tennis-warehouse.com/member.php?find=lastposter&t=99528) since he asked for non-pro form on serves. At 6-4, that guy could have a big serve with some changes.
Mike

[JCo872]

Jeff,
I have the
DCR-DVD505 DVD Handycam® Camcorder DCR-DVD505. http://www.sonystyle.com/is-bin/INTERSHOP.enfinity/eCS/Store/en/-/USD/SY_DisplayProductInformation-Start?CategoryName=dcc_DICamcorders_DVDHandycamCam corders&ProductSKU=DCRDVD505&Dept=cameras&INT=sstyle-dcc_DICamcorders-deptfeature-DCRDVD505|sstyle:sy_cat_content_p:dcc_dicamcorders (http://www.sonystyle.com/is-bin/INTERSHOP.enfinity/eCS/Store/en/-/USD/SY_DisplayProductInformation-Start?CategoryName=dcc_DICamcorders_DVDHandycamCam corders&ProductSKU=DCRDVD505&Dept=cameras&INT=sstyle-dcc_DICamcorders-deptfeature-DCRDVD505|sstyle:sy_cat_content_p:dcc_dicamcorders )

If you get one, Sony has a Bluetooth microphone mail in thing.
This is not a HD camera. The two I have seen that have the 240 frames/sec for three second clips are this one and the HD camera HDR-HC3 HDV 1080i Handycam® Camcorder HDR-HC3. I took a video disk from the 505 into the high end video store and they played it on a DVD player that has some HD converter hardware built in to it and played it on a HD plasma TV. The video looked incredible. Something similar to this:
http://www.pioneerelectronics.com/pna/v3/pg/product/details/0,,2076_123927469_34679,00.html (http://www.pioneerelectronics.com/pna/v3/pg/product/details/0,,2076_123927469_34679,00.html)

He said there is some card you can buy for around $800 that does something similar. Unfortunately he said the movie business has put so many restrictions on this stuff that you can have problems. He told me some of the horror stories about the lockout mechanisms that are built into the hardware.

Mike

Thanks! I found your camera for 700 bucks. I am going to get it. On the site it said you could only get 20min on one DVD at top quality. Is that right?

I'm excited about this video camera!

[Mike Cottrill]

Thanks! I found your camera for 700 bucks. I am going to get it. On the site it said you could only get 20min on one DVD at top quality. Is that right?

I'm excited about this video camera!

Yes, about 20 min on HQ. Were are you getting it? There are lots of places out there that are not trust worthy. Make sure you check their resellers rating. I got mine for 800 from a good place.
Mike

[JCo872]

Yes, about 20 min on HQ. Were are you getting it? There are lots of places out there that are not trust worthy. Make sure you check their resellers rating. I got mine for 800 from a good place.
Mike

Good point. I just found the cheapest site. But you are right, that could be a disaster. Where did you go? Did you get an extended warranty?

[Mike Cottrill]

[quote=JCo872] get 20min on one DVD at top quality. Is that right?
quote]

Oh, it takes mini-dvds and that is why you only get 20min. With the slow-mo, it is a disk hog.
Mike

[Mike Cottrill]

Good point. I just found the cheapest site. But you are right, that could be a disaster. Where did you go? Did you get an extended warranty?

I got mine from Beach Camera. I have had very good results with them. For some reason they do not have the camera listed now. You might want to call them to see if they are still selling it. Always check with http://www.resellerratings.com/seller1936.html

No, I did not get the extended warranty.
Mike

[Mike Cottrill]

Jeff,
Is the picture quality good enough for what you want to do? In the slow mo mode, I think it is a little fuzzy.
Mike

[JCo872]

Jeff,
Is the picture quality good enough for what you want to do? In the slow mo mode, I think it is a little fuzzy.
Mike

Yeah I'm rethinking this whole thing.

I just liked that super slow motion. But I don't think I could use it for my site because the file size would be too large and yes, it is a little fuzzy. I've been researching the super slow motion, and it seems that 240 fields per second translates to 120 frames per second, which is still twice what I can get. I am going to read more on the fields per second...

[Mike Cottrill]

Yeah I'm rethinking this whole thing.

I just liked that super slow motion. But I don't think I could use it for my site because the file size would be too large and yes, it is a little fuzzy. I've been researching the super slow motion, and it seems that 240 fields per second translates to 120 frames per second, which is still twice what I can get. I am going to read more on the fields per second...

Let me know what you find out. 120/240, it depends on the interlacing?? I thought maybe your software sharpens it up.

[Mike Cottrill]

Jeff,
Each 3 sec clip in HQ mode is about 7.4 meg. It most likely is 240 fps. They most likely take the odd 120 fps and even 120fps and process it to get the 240fps. That would explain the fuzzy picture. Still pretty good. Also, you may be able to compress it down for web.
Mike