The Serve: Busting misconceptions once and for all

[sureshs]

Created due to popular demand from the forehand thread:

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Wegner
Rookie
Suresh, perhaps you'd like to start a thread on the serve. I'll be happy to participate. I am in the middle of moving, but next week I'll have more time.

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TheCheese
Semi-Pro

I'd love to see this happen. Suresh, go for it.
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[Ash_Smith]

Okay - so what misconceptions would you like to bust sureshs?

[sureshs]

The thread title was copied over

I guess posters have to create their own misconceptions and bust them.

[President]

The serve is the most important shot in the game. BUSTED..at least for amateur players. At the rec level until 5.0 or maybe even 5.5, you are never going to see a really good serve. Yeah if you have a horrendously bad serve it can be a big weakness but against good players I think the amount of free points one can get is vastly overstated for rec players. As long as your serve is serviceable I think time would be better spent working on groundstrokes or specifically returns.

[sureshs]

How does one keep all the body parts coordinated during serve?

[luvforty]

right, but that doesn't mean people shouldn't work on the serve as the highest priority, otherwise they will stay at lower levels...... it's the most complex shot, so development takes longer.

[Avles]

Originally Posted by sureshs

How does one keep all the body parts coordinated during serve?

The same way you get to Carnegie Hall, I think...

[sureshs]

Originally Posted by Avles

The same way you get to Carnegie Hall, I think...

By buying a ticket online?

[Avles]

Originally Posted by sureshs

By buying a ticket online?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carnegi...egie_Hall_joke

[sureshs]

There is a tennis related variant to this. A guy shows up in a tube station in London and asks how to get to Wimbledon. You know the rest of the joke.

[TCF]

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[tennisfan69]

You can have a very average serve ( spin + speed ) but as long as you can place them well, you have a good weapon to start your game with. Roddick is an example of great serve with not-so-great placement. Fed is an example of average serve with a super placement.

[anubis]

I think the serve gets more and more important as you move up in NTRP. At the 3.0 level, service games get broken all the time and it has little to do with predicting who will win. A 3.0 player that can easily break an opponent's serve is little indicator of superiority on the court, since it has absolutely nothing to do and is completely unrelated to his or her ability to hold serve.

It's almost completely random if a 3.0 will hold serve or not. Unforced errors on both sides makes it nearly impossible to predict.

Now, at the 4.0 level, serve is significantly more important. A 3.5 player with excellent strokes, extremely low UEs, very good court placement, but has a horrible serve is going to get pummeled every time vs. a 4.0. It won't even be close. The 4.0 will likely break the 3.5 on 80% of the service games. And, the 4.0, who likely possesses a much better serve, will very rarely be broken.


The service game dictates how the point will go. A weak serve is no better or worse than a typical groundstroke, and therefore adds no momentum to either party. It's a nonentity and derives more points from simple UE's due to a lack of skills on the court.

A moderate serve is slightly harder to hit back than a typical ground stroke, and so therefore can be an effective weapon if placed correctly. It can dictate a little bit of momentum.

A very strong serve with good placement will almost always produce a non-groundstroke return: a block of some sort. It often is a high percentage shot which is in the middle of the court, plenty of clearance over the net, and a good amount of pace has been absorbed. This can be a very easy shot to "put away" by the serving player. If it isn't a winner outright, it can continue to keep the receiver on the defensive, never quite gaining ground. Thus, the serve is truly dictating the point and therefore has a high probability to result in a win.

[sureshs]

How is a guy like Radek Stepanek, who seems to be so casual about his serve, no big motions, and not very physically endowed either, able to get in decent ATP-level serves? Is there some secret?

[treblings]

Originally Posted by sureshs

How is a guy like Radek Stepanek, who seems to be so casual about his serve, no big motions, and not very physically endowed either, able to get in decent ATP-level serves? Is there some secret?

excellent technique, perfect timing and intelligent placement.

what do you mean by physically endowed? Biceps like Nadal?
might be on to something here, a misconception

[sureshs]

Originally Posted by treblings

excellent technique, perfect timing and intelligent placement.

what do you mean by physically endowed? Biceps like Nadal?
might be on to something here, a misconception

Height..............

[Ash_Smith]

Originally Posted by sureshs

The thread title was copied over

I guess posters have to create their own misconceptions and bust them.

C'mon Sureshs, you can do better than that! You said you would love to start a serve misconceptions thread, so you must have something in mind!

[Nellie]

Swinging harder does not equal serving harder

[treblings]

Originally Posted by sureshs

Height..............

Olivier Rochus is able to perform a decent atp-level serve.
do you know Stepaneks height, btw?

[sureshs]

Originally Posted by treblings

Olivier Rochus is able to perform a decent atp-level serve.
do you know Stepaneks height, btw?

6'1"

Didn't realize that.

Olivier or Lleyton seem to be more relevant examples. But you can see Lleyton does seem to put a lot of effort.