I have timing problem on the serve

[toth]

I have improved my toss, so I feel there is a possibility to improve my serve.
I am usually late with my swing, mainly at the ball contact.
I tryed a higher toss, but I just can not accelerate the racket through the ball- I accelarate too early or too late.
My arms and body are loose I think,( if I could find the timing, it would be nice acceleration), and I could toss the ball differently if recquired.
The balls land with good percentage in the service box, even if I do not aim it – maybe the backhand grip or the loose arm helps on this point.
Schould I swing slower (I am afraid, so will be even more difficoult to find my serve rhitym), or is there any trick?

Thanks for any answer

toth

 

[Tight Lines]

This is the type of question that is impossible to answer without a video. The only thing I can say is you shouldn't swing slower.

If you want solutions that make sense, put up a video.

Harry

 

[LeeD]

The answer is practice and repetition.
Probably, you are basically new to tennis, and have not figured out how to toss and serve with consistency, both first fast serves and slower second serves. Takes most people about 3 years to figure out how to hit a good first serve, and then a high percentage second serve with spin and placement.

 

[gallen1999]

The fastest racket head speed you can control is best.

 

[fuzz nation]

Agree that without a video, it's impossible to know what's generally going on with your serve, but I have an idea for you to try.

Take a number of full practice serve motions without hitting a ball so that you get your best "serving tempo" happening - get comfortable with the feel of that best tempo before you start hitting balls.

Now when you hit your serves, look to duplicate that tempo. If your toss doesn't accommodate that tempo - this is the hard part - you need to learn to toss at a different time in your serving progression.

You may have another issue with your serve, but this problem isn't uncommon. If you like to use your legs to help with the lifting action that tosses the ball upward, that means that you still need to re-bend them to drive to contact - easy to be rushed or late with your swing that way. If the racquet takes a long progression before getting to its set position, that can also make us feel like we need to rush to contact. It could be that you need to essentially learn to toss at a later point in your windup so that you can still use a smooth, full release over the top.

Make sure that your toss fits your motion, not the other way around.

 

[SystemicAnomaly]

Try simplifying your serve motion to make the timing easier. The most important parts of the serve motion are the toss and the upward swing (from the drop position). The simplest thing to do would be to start your arm and racket in the drop position. Toss the ball and bend your knees (if desired). When the ball is close to the desired contact point, extend your legs and then execute your upward swing. This sequence should be very easy to time correctly. The next easiest serve to implement would be one where the arm and racket start in the trophy position (instead of the drop position). Take a look at McGraw's half-serve motion (in the vid below) to get an idea of the starting position of the arm and racket.

McGraw's serve exercise is an excellent one to try. You can progress to a full-grip (rather than the half-grip) and a full follow-thru (but use the same starting position for the racket arm). Todd Martin and Andre Agassi (for a while) used a starting motion similar to this. Here is one example of that (at 0:34 and 1:27)

youtube.com/watch?v=Z-5aycYgifs&t=34

The 3rd simplified serve motion is very similar to this. It is commonly known as the abbreviated serve (motion). Salzenstein and Brady display very good examples of this.

youtube.com/watch?v=HrU6C8eilkI&t=77s

 

[GuyClinch]

Brady's serve is great..but he doesn't REALLY get into trophy pose right away. He gets into position like Roddick with the racquet kinda pointing at side fence and the racquet face very closed. It doesn't matter if you hit abbreviated or full motion - you have to time it such that you can accelerate fully before hitting the ball..

For me personally - I have to wait till after the toss to really get the racquet up into a trophy position.. So its not down together up together - its toss - hit. Where the 'throw' motion comes not just after the toss but after the toss has reached close to peak..

this is similar to what Brady is doing in slow motion.. No one talks about this - but having a hitch is really bad. You don't want to hitch at some point past the trophy position..

A common drill to help with the hitch is a drill will you toss up a ball and then throw another ball at it..

 

[winstonlim8]

The abbreviated take back has helped me to get a better serve. I hadn't watched Brady's video before but I did realise that the two most important parts of the serve were the ball toss (my biggest problem) and the racquet swing path from trophy pose to the actual contact and follow through. So I decided to do as Brady says and just go straight to the trophy pose as I am tossing the ball up. The fewer extraneous motions in my serve, the easier it became for me to focus on getting my ball toss right.

Eventually I developed a simple and reliable serve sequence -
1. Toss the ball and take my racquet back into the trophy position straight away.

2. Bend my knees only after the ball has left my fingertips. This allows me to focus on getting a better, more relaxed knee bend that won't affect my toss (I can't bend my knees too much too often or too suddenly because of knee problems).

3. Drop the racquet behind my back and bring it up in one continuous motion. This allows me to make sure I get my racquet as far down behind my back as I can comfortably, and then bring it up again without a hitch in the most important part of the swing.

I discovered that this abbreviated motion also -
1.helped to disguise my serve since it is such a short sequence that it gives my opponent little time to read visual giveaways for flat, slice and topspin serves.

2.made it easier for me to serve different kinds of serve since I only have to concentrate on hitting the ball at the right angle without having to worry too much about balance, etc.

3.didn't reduce my serve speed substantially. In fact, I suspect I am actually serving a slightly heavier ball now because I am getting more of my body weight into the serve (I used to jackknife my upper body too much due to balance problems).

I hope this helps.