As I see it, there's really two basic motions for the takeback. But, each service motion then has 4 diferent variants, and so you have a total of 8 different takeback styles. So, yeah, a lot of things can wrong.
I still feel I'm putting too much arm into the contact, as opposed to firing more from the shoulder, or pivoting and firing from the elbow..
Yeah, triggering an automatic racquet drop is the hardest part of the serve. Really, once you get that down, then everything else is just practice, working on ball toss and improving the windup. See if this works out for you (this is for a Henin-style abbreviated motion.)
1) First, hold a racquet with a continental-ish grip, holding it with just the 2nd, 4th, and 5th fingers. Also, make sure that your thumb is roughly in line or parallel with your forearm. You should see no crease on the left side of your wrist.
2) With the racquet facing down and parallel with the ground, start practicing windmill motions with the racquet in a counterclockwise direction. You want to feel and locate that stretch in your upper right pec.
At this point, you should have a pretty good "feel" for how your shoulder leads the takeback.
3a) Now, with the racquet face parallel with the ground, practice taking the racquet back. Try to move your back shoulder away from the front as much as you can, while keeping your back shoulder below the front. You will find that much of this motion is across the body, with a slight curve or "bump."
3b) Don't worry about the trophy position for now, or raising your front arm to simulate a ball toss. Just work on stretching the right shoulder as much as you can. At the end of your takeback, the racquet will still be facing mostly the ground, and your upper arm will still be almost parallel with ground. Also your upper arm will be well across your right hip and pointing between the back fence and left side fence. In other words, your arm is well behind your back.
4) Now, try the above by first initiating with the hips. Before you let the left hand release the racquet, start winding the hips backwards.
5a) Finally, execute a forward swing by bringing the back shoulder around and toward the front shoulder. Aim for the
top-right of your front shoulder.
5b) You'll notice that the hitting arm is at a very low angle, in a kind of 3/4 or diagonal angle. That's what you want for now. Now, even though your hitting arm is not in the trophy position and is in fact in a very low position, you should still get an automatic racquet drop and forward swing as your hips release. It should feel like your right upper arm is being taken for a ride and is launched/"thrown" over your body as you turn the body.
5c) This is a more exaggerated motion than in a typical serve, but it really nails down the muscle memory of the body triggering the racquet drop (rather than you "arming" it.) Try this a few times until this feels automatic.
At this point, you have about half of the takeback down. Really, the key with the above is that you really feel like you're loading power into the shoulder, and that the racquet drop and upward swing just clicks as one loose, continuous motion.
6) Now, in your takeback, incorporate the ball toss motion. Lift your front/left arm from the left shoulder as you take the right arm. Remember to take the back shoulder away from the front shoulder, making sure that the back shoulder remains under the front shoulder.
7) You will notice that, during your takeback, your hitting arm automatically pivots upwards to set up a trophy position. The key is that the lifting of the left arm/shoulder enables your takeback with the right shoulder to continue. Your right shoulder continues to move away from your back and towards the left side fence, but now it's curving upwards as well. As you set the trophy, your right shoulder still remains below your left shoulder. You should feel a great stretch in your right shoulder.
8) Execute a forward swing by bringing the back shoulder over and aiming for the top-right part of your front shoulder. Because of the trophy position, the angle of the hitting arm is more "overhand" and like what you'd expect from a normal serve.
9) Practice swinging out of a slot. This gives more pronation and better racquet drop. This is a handy tip I read from Gordon's article: Try lengthening or stretching your spine as you initiate the forward swing.
At this point, you should have a tighter racquet drop and upward swing. Key thing is to match the takeback with the upward swing, as if it's one unit and that you feel like you're loading a lot of power. You want to feel a good stretch in the upper pec and shoulder as you take the racquet back and set up the trophy. Then you want to make sure a lot of that is released into your forward swing. You may need to experiment with different takeback and swing angles until you feel both right.
10) Winding up with the hips, take back everything and aim for the sky. Put weight on front part of feet. The higher you aim your angle (toward you're square with the sky), the more your knees you will drop (and you may notice your back foot automatically comes in.) To initiate, aim again for the top-right part of your front shoulder and swing. But, initially, be very modest and work on kicking off the racquet drop smoothly.
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