A while ago we had an interesting thread on the components of fast serves that many players were missing and many suggested that it is common for players to lose out on racquet head drop. I have been trying to think about what contributes to achieving a decent 'head drop' and have come up with the following:
1. Lose grip and relaxed arm. A lose grip not only drops the racquet head a couple of inches compared to a tight grip but also makes for a more relaxed wrist and arm which will allow gravity to pull it down further.
2. Supination. This is rotating the hand palm up from the elbow joint. It does not involve shoulder joint rotation. I reckon most mortals have about a 180 degree range of movement between full supination (palm up) and full pronation (palm down) and the elbew joint pretty much locks out at those extremes. So for maximum head drop you need to get your hand fully supinated in the wind-up. If you relax it gravity should do the trick.
3. Shoulder rotation. I reckon this is a hard one to fathom as it is tricky to separate from supination. The best way I can desribe what I mean to to imagine your upper arm straight out from your side (in the horizontal plane) with your elbow bent at 90 degrees so the you forearm is in the vertical plane. From this position the rotation to get the racquet head to drop is to rotate the upper arm backwards using the shoulder joint so that the forearm drops behind you. I think this is the one which varies greatky from player to player and where some big servers with super flexible shoulders (such as Roddick) get that extra drop. I think for most players it is probably dangerous to try to force this rotation during the wind-up as you could easily damage your shoulder. Best to work on flexibility and rotator cuff strength off court and left gravity and the movement of the body create the rotation naturally on a relaxed arm.
4. Leg bend - an easier one to fathom as the pushing forward of the front hip and bending of the legs will cause the hitting shoulder to drop lower than the non-hitting shoulder.
5. Arm position - this is one I struggle with and have been told I get wrong and am working on. I got too wrapped up in the backscratch visualisation and ended up fully closing the elbow joint (so my forearm was against my bicep) in order to get the racquet head as low as I could in the windup. But this seems wrong as it results in poor mechanics and an inefficeient throwing motion. I think it is best to keep the forearm at about 90 degrees to the upper arm. What do others think?
6. What have I missed?
Working on the above together with tossing more into the court and concentrating on full pronation and extension into the court has certainly zipped up my serve and it all looks a lot more relaxed and classic. And despite having a shoulder problem I can serve noticeably harder and more consistantly (I am not forcing it so much) than I could before I damaged my shoulder.
1. Lose grip and relaxed arm. A lose grip not only drops the racquet head a couple of inches compared to a tight grip but also makes for a more relaxed wrist and arm which will allow gravity to pull it down further.
2. Supination. This is rotating the hand palm up from the elbow joint. It does not involve shoulder joint rotation. I reckon most mortals have about a 180 degree range of movement between full supination (palm up) and full pronation (palm down) and the elbew joint pretty much locks out at those extremes. So for maximum head drop you need to get your hand fully supinated in the wind-up. If you relax it gravity should do the trick.
3. Shoulder rotation. I reckon this is a hard one to fathom as it is tricky to separate from supination. The best way I can desribe what I mean to to imagine your upper arm straight out from your side (in the horizontal plane) with your elbow bent at 90 degrees so the you forearm is in the vertical plane. From this position the rotation to get the racquet head to drop is to rotate the upper arm backwards using the shoulder joint so that the forearm drops behind you. I think this is the one which varies greatky from player to player and where some big servers with super flexible shoulders (such as Roddick) get that extra drop. I think for most players it is probably dangerous to try to force this rotation during the wind-up as you could easily damage your shoulder. Best to work on flexibility and rotator cuff strength off court and left gravity and the movement of the body create the rotation naturally on a relaxed arm.
4. Leg bend - an easier one to fathom as the pushing forward of the front hip and bending of the legs will cause the hitting shoulder to drop lower than the non-hitting shoulder.
5. Arm position - this is one I struggle with and have been told I get wrong and am working on. I got too wrapped up in the backscratch visualisation and ended up fully closing the elbow joint (so my forearm was against my bicep) in order to get the racquet head as low as I could in the windup. But this seems wrong as it results in poor mechanics and an inefficeient throwing motion. I think it is best to keep the forearm at about 90 degrees to the upper arm. What do others think?
6. What have I missed?
Working on the above together with tossing more into the court and concentrating on full pronation and extension into the court has certainly zipped up my serve and it all looks a lot more relaxed and classic. And despite having a shoulder problem I can serve noticeably harder and more consistantly (I am not forcing it so much) than I could before I damaged my shoulder.
