Increasing My Serve Power (Videos)

[Moz]

Hi All

I believe I should be generating a lot more power on my serve than I currently am. I don't seem to get the "heaviness" or penetration that others do.

I have taken some video (front, side and back) and was hoping some of the experts here could take a look at it for me.

I was pretty sore that day so focused on technique and hit these at about 80% which in hindsight may have been a mistake because I am looking a bit casual.

Anyway, here is the video.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=258mVAw3Gzs

Thanks in advance for any feedback.

[eagle]

Wow. Impressive.

Nice technique.

Good motion and balance.

Thanks,
eagle

[drakulie]

Moz, from seeing you first hand at nationals, and returning a few of your serves, I thought you had excellent pace. Your serve was very strong. Perhaps work on your placement/spin to get a heavier serve???

Good luck!

[Solat]

looks pretty good, hard to tell when it says 80% power and you are asking how to generate more power.

on occasions i thought that you were a little late in your leg drive so weren't maximising your height and and therefore your power

[Moz]

Originally Posted by Solat

looks pretty good, hard to tell when it says 80% power and you are asking how to generate more power.

on occasions i thought that you were a little late in your leg drive so weren't maximising your height and and therefore your power

Yes, that's a good point!!! I suppose I'm looking for technical flaws above all else.

I do seem to have some problems timing the leg drive and actually making it convincing. I've got bad knees which doesn't help much. Thanks.

[Jonnyf]

Hi, First thing I noticed, Your non-hitting arm. When your non-hitting arm is lowering you really need to tuck it into the body. Your non-hitting arm seems to be abit too far out-thus decreasing rotation (here is federer, notice how his arm is tucked into his body http://english.chosun.com/media/phot...1220015_02.jpg )
. Also, when you land your non-hitting arm can extend outwards to balance you.

pic (http://www.sportphotogallery.com/con...205-search.jpg
and also http://www.tennisserver.com/images/c...IMG_1237sm.jpg )

Another thing is, that maybe you'd benefit from "sliding" your front hip more towards the net (Jeff talks about this on his site hi-techtennis as a method of storing energy.
Notice how sampras's hips have slip in towards the court http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/image...sampras270.jpg
However, Saying that, you've obviously got a solid serve and I'm just nitpicking!

Hope I've helped

PS. THE SHORTS MAN! They're terrible
and wow...I should really learn to hyperlink

[ZPTennis]

Moz, have you had that racquet for very long?

That particular racquet your using is fairly light. I've always like heavier racquets because I notice a huge difference in serve power.

[Moz]

Originally Posted by Jonnyf

Hi, First thing I noticed, Your non-hitting arm. When your non-hitting arm is lowering you really need to tuck it into the body. Your non-hitting arm seems to be abit too far out-thus decreasing rotation (here is federer, notice how his arm is tucked into his body

Another thing is, that maybe you'd benefit from "sliding" your front hip more towards the net (Jeff talks about this on his site hi-techtennis as a method of storing energy.
Notice how sampras's hips have slip in towards the court [url]However, Saying that, you've obviously got a solid serve and I'm just nitpicking!

Hope I've helped

PS. THE SHORTS MAN! They're terrible
and wow...I should really learn to hyperlink

Hey stop nitpicking!

Thanks for the feedback. The non-hitting arm is interesting - I'll give it a shot. I joined Jeff's site and have been trying the slide into the court more. Unfortunately with my flexibility my hip doesn't bend any further into the court without dragging my foot with it!

Oh, and leave the shorts alone!

[Moz]

Originally Posted by ZPTennis

Moz, have you had that racquet for very long?

That particular racquet your using is fairly light. I've always like heavier racquets because I notice a huge difference in serve power.

I started using it last August. I have been thinking about adding some lead for a number of reasons and have been reading the threads on here about it. If you've noticed a huge difference then it soudns worth pursuing.

[kairosntx]

Very nice service motion Moz. You really torque your hips/shoulders into it. I belive you can generate excellent pace with this motion. Since you are spending so much time working on your game, I would really work on placement. If you can get a good angle to the outside you don't need to generate more power than it appears you have. Then if you can consistantly hit a serve out wide with just decent pace, that will force the returner to stand a little bit further towards the outside thus opening up the serve down the middle. And let's not forget an occasional reminder right at the body to keep 'em guessing.

[Moz]

Originally Posted by kairosntx

Very nice service motion Moz. You really torque your hips/shoulders into it. I belive you can generate excellent pace with this motion. Since you are spending so much time working on your game, I would really work on placement. If you can get a good angle to the outside you don't need to generate more power than it appears you have. Then if you can consistantly hit a serve out wide with just decent pace, that will force the returner to stand a little bit further towards the outside thus opening up the serve down the middle. And let's not forget an occasional reminder right at the body to keep 'em guessing.

Thanks. What you wrote is definitely good advice. What I was hoping to do was get any technical wrinkles ironed out and then start concentrating on placement. Then concentrating on placement with spin. I just need some confidence that I won't be fiddling round with basic technique still in 6 months time. I want to nail that now and move on.

[tricky]

Assuming that's 80%, I'm thinking you got a 105-ish serve? Pretty smooth , easy motion

See if you work on the takeback to get the trophy position where the hand is roughly shoulder level rather than at head level. This might help: When you initiate the takeback, have a slight bend at the elbow and try to preserve that bend (i.e. without straightening out the arm) while you take the racquet back.

And don't forget DJoker!!

[Moz]

Originally Posted by tricky

Assuming that's 80%, I'm thinking you got a 105-ish serve? Pretty smooth , easy motion

See if you work on the takeback to get the trophy position where the hand is roughly shoulder level rather than at head level. This might help: When you initiate the takeback, have a slight bend at the elbow and try to preserve that bend (i.e. without straightening out the arm) while you take the racquet back.

And don't forget DJoker!!

Haven't had it measured for quite a while but that figure sounds about right.

Thanks for the tip - I'll try that takeback. Is the reason for this to extend the range of motion, increase the distance between racquet start and ball so speed of racquet can be increased?

[tricky]

s the reason for this to extend the range of motion, increase the distance between racquet start and ball so speed of racquet can be increased?

You'd think so, but actually it isn't. It's a "quality assurance" trophy position (i.e. trophy position with hand at shoulder level)that says you're loading the shoulder in the takeback and that you're setting up your arm to pronate big on the follow through. Not every pro has it (for example, Federer has his "trophy hand" at about head level), but those who do generally can crank on the ball. You'll also notice your tossing arm will be tucked, that your body will be coiled, and your racquet drop should be lower. It all works together.

BTW, caught your FH video, it looks like you did set up a lower non-hitting arm. Were you killing the ball?

[Moz]

Ok, thanks for the explanation. I'll give it a crack.

Yes thanks, the forehand is going really well at the moment. More penetration as well as consistency. For a while my backhand was more reliable.

I'll owe you a few beers at some point!

[SalParadise17]

Who wears short shorts? MOZ WEARS SHORT SHORTS!
Sorry... had to do it.

[Sup2Dresq]

Originally Posted by SalParadise17

Who wears short shorts? MOZ WEARS SHORT SHORTS!
Sorry... had to do it.

Small world. I just wrote that about someone else on another thread. Must be something "nair" in the air. (end bad pun)

Yes, Moz does wear them short. Please try to imagine the restraint i had with Moz and his short shorts, and Drakulie and his big shorts on the same court. I should be awarded something?

[Sup2Dresq]

You know Moz. Youtube wont allow me to slow your serve stroke down to analysis one major thing. I suspect.. and I suspected it in Florida.. but with my serve gone, it wasn't my place to talk.. that it appears you dont pronate too much on the serve. You just open the face and pull down.

I believe you signed up for Hitechtennis. There is a great article on pronation. Which I know helps me with power.

P.S. I lost a bit of my ability to hit with substantial pronation when i went to the APDC. Ironically now back to the K90, I noticed my pronation naturally returned, which in turn increased my power and control.

Just a thought and something to investigate.

[Nellie]

I had a couple of thoughts in looking at your serve (and these are really minor, but I think you could get 10mph+ from little tweeks):

1) I think you could get more pace/spin with more shoulder rotation; I notice you usually end with your shoulders open to the court, and I like to end with my right shoulder (I am right handed) turned to the net. You do this on some serves, but not most

2) You could get more pace with more/earlier wrist snap; when I slow down the video, it looks like the energy is coming from shoulder/arms with the wrist pronation occuring after the contact.

3) On some of the serves, it looks like you are dropping your head prior to contact and running through the serve, rather than hitting up and into the balll; I don't know if you serve and volley, but if you look at the great servers, it is a almost as if they coil and then explode in a single quick motion; you look more like long, continuous motion that prevents a maximum force at contact. On a related matter, on several of the serves, it looks like you are not getting good pace because you have run through ball prior to contact, causing the contact point to be over/behind your head.

4) You look too tense - like your ball bounce is very forceful; it looks that you could get more loose, for example by dropping the ball instead of pushing it to the ground. It may seem like a minor thing, but overall, if you can be looser and relaxed, your serve will be much faster due to a more efficient whipping motion on a kenetic chain (kind of like watching Pedro Martinez pitch with a rubbery arm/body, instead a muscling the ball); Similarly, you could relay the right hand when holding the racquet.

Again, these are really minor tweaking suggestion. The elements are all there, and some of these suggestions may not work for your game.

[SalParadise17]

Originally Posted by Sup2Dresq

Small world. I just wrote that about someone else on another thread. Must be something "nair" in the air. (end bad pun)

Yes, Moz does wear them short. Please try to imagine the restraint i had with Moz and his short shorts, and Drakulie and his big shorts on the same court. I should be awarded something?

It's ok, if I ever post a video everyone can pick on my headband, which makes me look doofy as all get out.
Keep rocking the short shorts, Moz.