Serve Doctor's Spring-loaded technique...

[sureshs]

I don't see most pros do the right leg forward bend that she is doing

[Roy125]

Her serve motion looks like a dance move. O.O

[SystemicAnomaly]

Originally Posted by yellowoctopus

From waist down, the motion looks almost identical to that of Navratilova...

Good catch. Never noticed that

Originally Posted by Ross K

So one or two pro's have been name-checked thus far, but any more who use this technique?

It's a variation on a theme. With many elite servers, you will notice that the hips start to unwind ahead of the torso. This creates that spring-loaded tension in the core. In the Serve Doctor's serve, the hip are pre-set to create that hip torso differential -- hence the spring-loaded tension in the core muscles.

Abbreviated and hybrid takebacks are used by many current pro players.

[SystemicAnomaly]

Originally Posted by sureshs

I don't see most pros do the right leg forward bend that she is doing

Perhaps we will see more of the next generation doing so.

[Ross K]

Going to give it another try out today.

Thus far I've been mainly focussed on that sharp planting step of the toes on the r/foot with the very raised arch (I normally push down with much more of my whole foot, in a platform stance), and trying to get that stretch across the chest and elbow extension (think I'll focus more on 'archer firing an arrow' kind of analogy today.) Funny and interesting though how a few bits of tuning up your mechanics can really effect your serve.

As I said before, from the session on Monday, I thought I got more energy release and improved rhythm and fluidity (the above comment about being reminded of a dance move is spot on - and I don't consider this a negative actually, quite the contrary...) Where I struggled a bit was with the takeback/arm... my timing here seemed to be affected somewhat... and btw, I've noted too, as other posters have, the girl in the vid's unusual take-back, although my own is semi-abbreviated (ie, at the start I don't drop/swing racket head down low, but it's kind of like I pick the frame up off a table.) Anyhow, look forward to lots of practise, a bit of experimentation, and some slight tweaking to personal requirements.

Would welcome any feedback from ppl who've tried this (Bud, for one), just a few tips or thoughts on how to best make this work.

Thx,

R.

[Stroke]

It may be easier to get a feel for this serve if you take the "dance step" out of it and just go ahead a set your feet in the position Pat's student ends up in after the step forward with her right foot.

[gameboy]

I tried this out last night and I found it to be MUCH easier than my old serve since it is so much simpler and puts my hips in a better spot.

The power seemed to be equal or better to my previous serve.

[AJB]

From the video, it's impossible to reach any conclusion about how effective this motion is because it never shows the flight of the ball, whether the serves are in or not, or how much spin and action/kick they have after the bounce.

[SystemicAnomaly]

Originally Posted by AJB

From the video, it's impossible to reach any conclusion about how effective this motion is because it never shows the flight of the ball, whether the serves are in or not, or how much spin and action/kick they have after the bounce.

Doesn't do any good to just speculate about it. You gotta try it for yourself if you want to draw any conclusions that are pertinent to you. It works for me and several others in this thread that have tried it.

[AJB]

Yes - didn't mean to imply the motion is no good, just that the video would be a lot more effective if it also showed the result (the flight of the ball.) I'm in favor of experimenting to find what works best for you.

[sureshs]

Tried it yesterday. Couldn't do it. Will try again.

[SystemicAnomaly]

I have a student who has an elbow issue in her service motion. The serving arm elbow goes very high as she tosses the ball and starts to drop the racket head. She never does really achieve a proper trophy. She performs a proper service action when shadow swinging but as soon as she tosses an actual ball for a real serve, the elbow sneaks upward (way up) much too early.

It seems that she had been doing this action so long before she came to me, that it is difficult for her to change this ingrained habit. Even if we start her racket head in dropped position (close to a scratch position), the elbow almost always rises significantly as she tosses the ball.

AS an experiment, I decided to have her try a completely different motion. Her normal service action employs a platform stance with a full (Sampras-esque) windup. I showed her the spring-loaded service action with its abbreviated takeback and pinpoint variation). Surprisingly, she picked up the new motion after just a few tries.

Her elbow position at the trophy is somewhat better, but still far from ideal. I'll have her watch the video to see if that doesn't help her with the elbow dilemma. Any other ideas on how to break her of her old habit?

[NLBwell]

I did check on youtube and it does appear that Margaret Court's service motion was very similar to this.

[In D Zone]

Tried this serving motion yesterday - I went thru the entire serving motion without analyzing it from the get go. I found it to be very simple and fluid. I had a blast smacking the ball - flat, slice, topspin and kick.

I noticed that is very important not to over think the movement; that's what I did after few serves and it messed me up. I stepped back reset my position and just let it flow. Ahh much better!
One other plus I noticed is the consistency of the ball toss.

I'm sold and introduced this to my wife. She's fairly new to the game. Still working on learning about this serve so far so good. I noticed big improvement on the pace and the depth of her serve. She bought in to this serving motion as well.

[user92626]

It seems like there's a lot of twisting at mid body. Is that really an efficient way to generating power?

Does anyone here use a motion similar to one of the Bryans brothers? He gets the power from stepping forward exxageratedly which is far different from twisting the body.

[Bobby Jr]

Ha ha, the first part of her serve reminds me a little of Agassi's ******** service motion at Wimbledon in 1993.

[Bud]

Originally Posted by user92626

It seems like there's a lot of twisting at mid body. Is that really an efficient way to generating power?

Does anyone here use a motion similar to one of the Bryans brothers? He gets the power from stepping forward exxageratedly which is far different from twisting the body.

It's part of the kinetic chain. If you don't wind up you lose potential power.

[SystemicAnomaly]

Originally Posted by user92626

It seems like there's a lot of twisting at mid body. Is that really an efficient way to generating power?

Does anyone here use a motion similar to one of the Bryans brothers? He gets the power from stepping forward exxageratedly which is far different from twisting the body.

Yes, I believe that it is a very efficient and effective way to generate power. The twist temporarily stores energy, potential energy in the muscles of the core (and pecs). Quite a lot of power can be derived by offsetting the hips and torso. In more conventional serves, the hips start to uncoil a bit before the torso does. This offset has a similar effect.

In open stance groundstrokes we often see the hips preset with an offset from the torso with open stance strokes -- the torso is often coiled more than the hips to produce this (spring-loaded) offset.

[Power Player]

I am trying it out since my serve consistency has been horrible. Seems like the motion is real basic and starts at the toss. You toss while you pull the racquet back and torque your hips. Then just hit your racquet drop and swing through. I have to get my tosses a little higher then usual to get the timing right, but that is probably a good thing.

[bad_call]

also trying this one in the hopes that the shoulder/back ache (probably old age) diminishes a bit. if not then...