3 o'clock position slice serve question

[dannykl]

Originally Posted by GuyClinch

Pete absolutely hit kickers for his second serve - like almost all pros do.

For his first serve Pete would hit some slice winners from time to time but his "natural" serve motion on his flat serve had alot more top then the average players flat serve, IMHO. The key though is that any player who serves with a continental grip will get some spin on his serve. The only way to hit a REAL flat serve is to use a eastern grip and patty cake the ball.

An amateur can emulate some of this with ball toss placement. If you toss a ball almost behind your head and try to hit a kicker you will likely hit a pretty slow serve with alot of top. However toss the ball more onto the court while still swinging up at the ball and you will generate alot more pace but still have some top.

At least this is what I was taught and it seems to work for me. The different serves aren't like different punches - they are just varations of the same movement. I always think of serving much like pitching in baseball.

Mariano Rivera and Roger Clemens both threw 'fastballs" but Mariano throws a cutter that has some sidepsin on it whereas Roger throws a ball with backspin. Thus if you notice his ball would seem to "rise" and Rivera's will "move". Its pretty subtle though. They both look like very hard pitches from afar.

I think Pete's "secret" was that he had great mechanics and a great motion thus he had the kind of power needed to hit a hard serve that still had top. I have no doubt he could have tweaked his motion to hit with less top and more pace - and thus serve to close to Roddick speeds.


Pete

Thank you very much.

[Raul_SJ]

Originally Posted by GuyClinch

In a nutshell..

A generic spin serve (or a topspin slice serve) is when you swing up and across at the ball. This is a very natural motion and the default kind of ball you hit when you first hit a topspin serve IMHO. You contact the ball more on the right side of it.

I am having a bit of trouble with the clock analogy on sidespin and topspin serve.

For the flat serve, I think of the ball as having 3 clock faces:

1) A Center Clock
2) A "Center-Left Clock" (just slightly left of Center Clock)
3) A "Center-Right Clock" (just slightly right of Center Clock)

So from the deuce court, if I hit the Center Left Clock essentially straight on, the flat serve will go down the T. If I hit the Center Right Clock straight on, the flat serve will go wide. And if I hit the Center Clock flat on, the flat serve will go in between the T and the Alley.

Now, if I wish to hit a slice serve, am I still referencing those 3 clock
positions? i.e., if I want to slice wide, I would need to hit the "Center-Right Clock" and brush across from 9 to 3?

And if I want to kick wide to the deuce, I would need to hit the "Center-Right Clock" and brush across from 7 to 1?

[okaythen]

So you make contact at the side of the ball, 3 o'clock. now if you rotate the imaginary clock counterclockwise (from the top of the clock). Should you hit the ball from 9 to 3 o'clock or like 10: 30 to 4 30 o'clock?

[double barrels]

anybody got a picture

--visual learner jumping in--

[TennisCJC]

Originally Posted by Raul_SJ

I am having a bit of trouble with the clock analogy on sidespin and topspin serve.

For the flat serve, I think of the ball as having 3 clock faces:

1) A Center Clock
2) A "Center-Left Clock" (just slightly left of Center Clock)
3) A "Center-Right Clock" (just slightly right of Center Clock)

So from the deuce court, if I hit the Center Left Clock essentially straight on, the flat serve will go down the T. If I hit the Center Right Clock straight on, the flat serve will go wide. And if I hit the Center Clock flat on, the flat serve will go in between the T and the Alley.

Now, if I wish to hit a slice serve, am I still referencing those 3 clock
positions? i.e., if I want to slice wide, I would need to hit the "Center-Right Clock" and brush across from 9 to 3?

And if I want to kick wide to the deuce, I would need to hit the "Center-Right Clock" and brush across from 7 to 1?

It all depends on the current time. What time is it anyhow?