balance

[dozu]

I think balance are well taught by tennis teachers.... Mr. Clement explains the 'why' of balance.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MNbhPZc8PxA

[SweetH2O]

Your magic pills haven't helped my tennis game, but my golf handicap has gone down by 5 since you started posting here.

[dozu]

hm... I wonder why.... it's the same motion, except the tennis ball is a little higher up

[SuperDuy]

Balance is very important on serves, being off balance you land in a direction not forward, no foreward movement to hit the next shot.

[maxplymac]

meh...just get one of these:
http://www.google.com/images?hl=en&c...w=1680&bih=857

[Roy125]

Originally Posted by SuperDuy

Balance is very important on serves, being off balance you land in a direction not forward, no foreward movement to hit the next shot.

I don't understand how you can be off-balanced on serves (except if you had a really bad toss). I can understand being off-balanced for groundstrokes before you're being rushed, but you can put your body in perfect position with a serve.

[LeeD]

You CAN, but most people don't.
For instance, going for a big fast serve, most people lean into the court with a toss maybe a foot inside the baseline.
Then, missing that, and fear creeping from within, they toss right at the baseline to dink the second serve, but their body forgot to make the adjustment. I see that happenning all the time in lower levels of tennis. It happens to me quite often, actually, me going for a certain serve without the mechanics needed for that serve, my mechanics still lagging behind with the previous serve.
Like an up the center stripe serve missed, so you decide to go wide, but your mind forgot to tell your body somehow, and you hit off balance.
Substitute the "you" for ME... Had a discombobulated day today.

[phnx90]

Originally Posted by LeeD

You CAN, but most people don't.
For instance, going for a big fast serve, most people lean into the court with a toss maybe a foot inside the baseline.
Then, missing that, and fear creeping from within, they toss right at the baseline to dink the second serve, but their body forgot to make the adjustment. I see that happenning all the time in lower levels of tennis. It happens to me quite often, actually, me going for a certain serve without the mechanics needed for that serve, my mechanics still lagging behind with the previous serve.
Like an up the center stripe serve missed, so you decide to go wide, but your mind forgot to tell your body somehow, and you hit off balance.
Substitute the "you" for ME... Had a discombobulated day today.

This reminds me: for my first, flat serve, I do a very short toss, slightly forwards. It gives me a lot of power, but...

a) it gives me shoulder pains (I used to play volleyball, and I got injured at one point, so it makes my shoulder go *crunch* even with adequate warmups/stretching); but most importantly
b) it's too easy to read, though I do some wicked slice serves with that same toss (it hits the edge of the tramline, halfway up the length of the service box before spinning off the court and hitting the wall)

I find tossing the ball higher and slightly backwards produces much weaker but more consistent twists and kickers serves...any tips?

I want to record myself playing but I haven't had the opportunity to play at all in recent weeks...

(sorry for hijacking your thread)

[LeeD]

Yes, toss farther back, but still inside the baseline for most players, can allow for good twist/kick serves.
You say your low toss in predictable. Maybe hit it wide left, then wide right, then straight at the opponent to confuse him. But each direction takes a different preparation, so don't confuse one with the other, or you're "
off balanced"..

[phnx90]

Originally Posted by LeeD

Yes, toss farther back, but still inside the baseline for most players, can allow for good twist/kick serves.
You say your low toss in predictable. Maybe hit it wide left, then wide right, then straight at the opponent to confuse him. But each direction takes a different preparation, so don't confuse one with the other, or you're "
off balanced"..

Thanks for your help! Though, what I meant about predictable was that if I tossed the ball low, my opponent will know I will be serving either flat or slice, and definitely not a kicker or a twist.

Wouldn't it be ideal to toss the same way regardless of the type of serve I want to achieve? (How on earth do you hit a flat serve with the same toss as a kicker??)

[LeeD]

Most pro's cannot disquise the flat first serve from their heavy twists.
But you don't have to! The flat first, used in conjunction with a moderate bouncing topspin serve, and a slower, much bouncier twist, is used at DIFFERENT times for different situations.
And if you still insist on BobbyRiggs shenanigans, you can toss the same, then move your body under the serve in different ways to achieve the different tosses required for each serve.
Opponent is watching from the front, can't see in 3D and delineate the difference. And he's watching the BALL.

[shindemac]

Balance is very important for my topspin serves. It's one of the things I look for when I practice my serve. Without changing anything in my motion, having all my momentum moving up at the ball gives me more pace and spin. It's such an easy thing to fix too.

Balance is everywhere in groundstrokes. If you don't split step to unweight yourself, you could be wrong footed if somebody hits behind you. You could hit with your weight on your backfoot, or you could be backpedaling while hitting. Leaning and reaching for balls is bad if you can avoid it. Hitting on the run is all about balance. Not only do you have to hit balanced, but then you have to stop, recover, and move back to the center. Someone who stays low will be able to react faster, move faster, and change directions faster.