107 MPH with 25 in broken racquet

[wings56]

Here's a little clip from me this year at the US Open. Went into the children's booth to give my shot in the radar booth. Sorry that the video is sideways, but it was taken from my girlfriend's iphone.

Last serve reads 107! Makes me wish I had brought in my racquet. I clocked 115 five years ago at Wimbledon when I was 18 and I feel I serve stronger now. Anyway, just thought I'd share!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mTzmGNtQswM&feature=youtu.be

 

[mucat]

IMO, most of us can hit hard if we have no care of where the ball is going. But that's not what tennis is about.

 

[wings56]

IMO, most of us can hit hard if we have no care of where the ball is going. But that's not what tennis is about.

sorry it wasnt on a court, but the result wouldnt be much different. feel free however to go out to your local sports store and purchase a 25 inch racquet. once you buy it, smash it into the ground until the frame has three nice creases and is well bent. then, take the handle and bash it into the ground until it is also broken. then, find you a nice old flat ball. after that, see what kind of pace you can generate. heck, just use your regular racquet with a brand new ball and let me know what happens.

 

[mucat]

What I was saying is, serving as hard as it is against the wall is not the same as serving a good serve into the court (consistently). You maybe able to do the same in a real tennis court but we will not know until you post a video. And if you really can, please post a video, it would be a much nicer video.

 

[wings56]

What I was saying is, serving as hard as it is against the wall is not the same as serving a good serve into the court (consistently). You maybe able to do the same in a real tennis court but we will not know until you post a video. And if you really can, please post a video, it would be a much nicer video.

i most certainly will. unfortunately, i do not have access to a radar gun. im playing a tournament in a couple months that has a fast serve competition, however it is a wooden racquet tournament. i will try to get some video of that so we will see how that goes.

 

[WildVolley]

Looks good, I have no question that you could bring some pace on the court as that motion looks applicable to an actual serve.

However, you won't be standing on a cliff like than when you're on a court.

 

[Timbo's hopeless slice]

hmm, best you sort that ball toss out before the tournament or you will serve them all into your own service court!

 

[dizzlmcwizzl]

I did one of these in Cincy ... If your place was anything like the one in Cincy then the top of the net was only about 4 feet above your head. Hard to perform a legitimate toss there.

 

[Timbo's hopeless slice]

I did one of these in Cincy ... If your place was anything like the one in Cincy then the top of the net was only about 4 feet above your head. Hard to perform a legitimate toss there.

oh, ok, I haven't seen the ATP one, there was an OPTUS one at the AO last week but the radar was all over the place, I saw a big guy with a nice action record 85km/h followed by a little kid with 450 km/h!!!

 

[wings56]

I did one of these in Cincy ... If your place was anything like the one in Cincy then the top of the net was only about 4 feet above your head. Hard to perform a legitimate toss there.

Exactly. You can see on my default picture where I generally toss the ball

 

[wings56]

i do sort of hit the toss almost on the rise. my closest comparison would be dolgopolov in the way i contact the toss

 

[5263]

sorry it wasnt on a court, but the result wouldnt be much different. feel free however to go out to your local sports store and purchase a 25 inch racquet. once you buy it, smash it into the ground until the frame has three nice creases and is well bent. then, take the handle and bash it into the ground until it is also broken. then, find you a nice old flat ball. after that, see what kind of pace you can generate. heck, just use your regular racquet with a brand new ball and let me know what happens.

You have to forgive them. It is important to many on here to believe that only the top college players and touring pros have been touched by the gods and can serve over 115.

 

[BMC9670]

I saw that booth in the Smashzone, too. It was funny... tons of guys lined up, waiting for 15 minutes to wow everyone with their 100+ mph serve. I saw way too many come out rolling their shoulders, rubbing their arm, and wincing. Ouch.

 

[Timbo's hopeless slice]

yeah, I started to line up, watched a few and decided this looked like a bad idea!

 

[LeeD]

Could be a fast serve. I like the disquise of the low toss and the lesser need of an accurate toss.
If you have a fast serve, you already know it. You make people watch as your practice your serves. Players on other courts stop playing and look at you serving. The POP you make is louder than anyone else's.
Your opponent CELEBRATE when they get your serve back.

 

[wings56]

Could be a fast serve. I like the disquise of the low toss and the lesser need of an accurate toss.
If you have a fast serve, you already know it. You make people watch as your practice your serves. Players on other courts stop playing and look at you serving. The POP you make is louder than anyone else's.
Your opponent CELEBRATE when they get your serve back.

i have had one tournament where people did crowd the court. i had an exceptional match and was serving exceptionally well. the weather was hot and i was extremely loose. when my serve is in the groove i can get a tremendous amount of pace that makes me unbreakable, but the secret is always having that. i cant always re-create it and it slows down significantly with the cooler weather. my serve is always my strongest weapon but only under certain conditions has it been completely unreturnable.

 

[LeeD]

Like I mentioned, I like your serve.
My doubles partner when I was playing OK had a similar low toss, and everyone said he'd wreck his arm. He did, but only after 8 years, 4 of which he played in A/Open class while being top singles at CCSF and SFSU in SanFrancisco.
His heavy top/slice serve first serve measured 124 on the radar gun. Nobody took his first serve lightly.

 

[wings56]

Like I mentioned, I like your serve.
My doubles partner when I was playing OK had a similar low toss, and everyone said he'd wreck his arm. He did, but only after 8 years, 4 of which he played in A/Open class while being top singles at CCSF and SFSU in SanFrancisco.
His heavy top/slice serve first serve measured 124 on the radar gun. Nobody took his first serve lightly.

whewww thats intense. the biggest thing i notice between when im serving well and when im serving exceptional is what happens off the back fence. when im serving well, the ball hits about a third or a fourth of the way up from the back fence. when im serving exceptionally well, the ball is still traveling up when it reaches the back fence and even bounces sometime upward after contact. like i said, this is only a handful of matches. i had a few of these serves yesterday which i wish i had on video. im only 5'9" so opponents are usually surprised at what i generate from my height regardless of what it is.

 

[wings56]

BTW: I played five years at Lamar University. D1 in the Southland Conference. I wasn't a main lineup player, but could beat even the top guys on a given day just like everyone else on the team. Mentally, I performed poorly in dual matches, but I was a very good practice partner.

My game is actually much better and more effective now because I'm only playing for myself. Much more fun and everything is better

 

[LeeD]

TimLincicum has a real fastball. He's also really 5'10" and maybe 155lbs.
Size is not an indicator of arm speed.

 

[wings56]

TimLincicum has a real fastball. He's also really 5'10" and maybe 155lbs.
Size is not an indicator of arm speed.

i guess this is true. it is much easier for taller people to let the physics work on their side to get more easy pace though.

 

[LeeD]

Sure, RandyJohnson lasted 20 years as a pro pitcher.
Everyone here in SanFrancisco is convinced Timmy is a great pitcher, but might last another 3 years at his level MAX. But he pitched in junior high, high school, some college, lower level pro, and now MLB. Lots of wear and tear compared to you.

 

[5263]

i guess this is true. it is much easier for taller people to let the physics work on their side to get more easy pace though.

Well the height thing is mainly that pitchers don't have to get it up over a net and back down into a court consistently for it to count, so short pitchers don't have to slow it down to improve their %.

I'm unconvinced that length is quite the advantage it's hyped to be. Yes length gives more distance and time to reach velocity, but there are negative factors with length as well that balance the equation some.

Tim's dad is convinced his mechanics will give him great longevity. I'm not sure about now, but awhile back he didn't even ice his arm after throwing like Johnson and others have to do. His dad says they have to ice due to wear for compensating for less than optimum mechanics.
Time will tell us somethings about this I expect.
I like to believe dads when I can, lol.

 

[wings56]

Well the height thing is mainly that pitchers don't have to get it up over a net and back down into a court consistently for it to count, so short pitchers don't have to slow it down to improve their %.

I'm unconvinced that length is quite the advantage it's hyped to be. Yes length gives more distance and time to reach velocity, but there are negative factors with length as well that balance the equation some.

Tim's dad is convinced his mechanics will give him great longevity. I'm not sure about now, but awhile back he didn't even ice his arm after throwing like Johnson and others have to do. His dad says they have to ice due to wear for compensating for less than optimum mechanics.
Time will tell us somethings about this I expect.
I like to believe dads when I can, lol.

I've had a shoulder issue only once and it was in my left shoulder and was actually caused from a knotted muscle around my shoulder blade area.

 

[dr325i]

The bottom line is that 80% of this board can serve 120+ mph and consistently 115 mph.
It was also shown that >60% of this board are 4.0+
It was also shown that at least 30 people on this board could beat a top 20 WTA player.

Next time I see Berdych, Kvitova or Benesova, I will ask them to join the board and may learn something...

 

[NJ1]

The bottom line is that 80% of this board can serve 120+ mph and consistently 115 mph.
It was also shown that >60% of this board are 4.0+
It was also shown that at least 30 people on this board could beat a top 20 WTA player.

Next time I see Berdych, Kvitova or Benesova, I will ask them to join the board and may learn something...

Ha, too funny.

 

[wings56]

The bottom line is that 80% of this board can serve 120+ mph and consistently 115 mph.
It was also shown that >60% of this board are 4.0+
It was also shown that at least 30 people on this board could beat a top 20 WTA player.

Next time I see Berdych, Kvitova or Benesova, I will ask them to join the board and may learn something...

lmao. true that.

 

[mucat]

The bottom line is that 80% of this board can serve 120+ mph and consistently 115 mph.
It was also shown that >60% of this board are 4.0+
It was also shown that at least 30 people on this board could beat a top 20 WTA player.

Next time I see Berdych, Kvitova or Benesova, I will ask them to join the board and may learn something...

I think at least Berdych already joined...judging by a few posts complaining about getting hit by their opponents.

 

[5263]

Next time I see Berdych, Kvitova or Benesova, I will ask them to join the board and may learn something...

They probably could learn a bit. After seeing DJs vid giving instruction and how different it was from what he actually does was surprising. At least Sampras knew he didn't know what he was doing, but he did know when it felt right and knew when it wrong. Like most great players, he played by feel and not by knowing.

 

[Caesar]

When I worked as a volunteer at the Australian Open, there was nothing we hated more than wannabe heroes coming into the kids' area to show off their serve.

 

[5263]

When I worked as a volunteer at the Australian Open, there was nothing we hated more than wannabe heroes coming into the kids' area to show off their serve.

Yep, sure don't to upset the volunteers, lol

 

[LeeD]

Timmy's arm only allowed around 88mph during the latter third of the season, when he was getting shelled pretty regularly. He got some rest, took a rotation off, and got it back to 94 in two weeks, but that was a real scare for SF baseball fans.
No, he will not last throwing mid 90's. And the funky delivery will hurt him within 3 years....either slow his speed, require him more time to rest, or make him become a rightie Zito.

 

[Caesar]

Yep, sure don't to upset the volunteers, lol

No, it was just kind of pathetic. I mean, it's a game for eight year olds.

 

[5263]

No, it was just kind of pathetic. I mean, it's a game for eight year olds.

Just joking a bit, I know what you mean.
Sorry, so much is lost in print.

 

[dominikk1985]

you have a quick arm but you don't use your body at all. you can't because you throw out front too far and then have to reach with the arm.

throw it high over your head so that you really can extend your body into the ball.

 

[wings56]

you have a quick arm but you don't use your body at all. you can't because you throw out front too far and then have to reach with the arm.

throw it high over your head so that you really can extend your body into the ball.

i agree i need a bit more coil, but i think my toss is okay. it was extremely difficult to get under the ball because there is a net just inches above where i could make contact. check out this vid of roddick and you can see how far into the court his toss goes.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SZbxKuLEP_o&feature=related

 

[wings56]

heres an extremely poor quality video of me serving on court. little better with the body coil.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1TFWr55_Y1M&feature=youtu.be

 

[wings56]

better quality

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NNMJ1gbgCEs&feature=youtu.be