Abbreviated Service Motion

[yosh]

First off, I know almost nothing about the abbreviated/Roddick motion. I am interested in learning it for its simplicity, I have alot of trouble serving in wind/sun with technical consistency. Would the simpler motion help?

What are the strengths/weaknesses of the motion? Does it have to be done starting from a pinpoint stance?

I'm a little hesitant to try this because I heard somewhere that it is harder on the shoulder, but I don't know for sure.

Could anyone who knows what they are talking about give me a step by step so I can try the serve properly?

Cheers

 

[nadalfan4life]

I have an abbreviated service motion and love it. I started watching roddick and monfils, but after a while I decided I needed to change it because of lack of consistancy mainly because of my ball toss. I still liked the abbreviated motion so I started to use one similar to Nadal's and after a while of getting used to it I am hitting much bigger sservs than I used to and it is more consistant. At times my arm hurts pretty bad, I think it is because of the motionbecause it has never hurt before, but for the most part my arm feels fine.

 

[pheonix6579]

I was thinking that the abb. service motion was supposed to help your shoulder...that's why Sharapova shortened her motion, but i may be wrong.

 

[darthpwner]

I was thinking that the abb. service motion was supposed to help your shoulder...that's why Sharapova shortened her motion, but i may be wrong.

I think it's the other way around, that abb. service motions give your shoulder problems. The reason Maria has problems is she is naturally lefty but plays righty.

 

[marosmith]

I think it depends on your physiology. I use the abbreviated and like it, I use a platform stance. It is the simplest service motion.

A lower ball toss is possible, and more focus on the shoulder over shoulder rotation as opposed to the torso turn.

I think anyone who has an inconsistent serve and a complex motion should try it out.

 

[SystemicAnomaly]

I think it's the other way around, that abb. service motions give your shoulder problems. The reason Maria has problems is she is naturally lefty but plays righty.

Don't believe that the abbreviated motion is harder on the shoulder at all. Some implementations the simpler motion are very possibly easier on the shoulder than the more robust, classical service motions.

Maria does do some tasks left-handed and is somewhat ambidextrous. However, this is not the reason why she adopted an abbreviated service motion lately. As part of her recovery from (right) shoulder surgery, she decided to adopt the simpler takeback in an effort to put less stress on that shoulder. Her older, full service motion may have contributed to her shoulder problems. Her prolific use of the reverse finish on her forehand might have been another factor.

I currently use an implementation of the abbreviated takeback that is even simpler than Roddick's version. As Andy pulls his elbow back, his wrist flexes which drops the racket head a bit before he gets it up to the trophy position. I employ almost no wrist flexion (or dropping of the racket head prior to the trophy) whatsoever. I pull my elbow (and racket) back as if I were pulling back an arrow (loaded in a bow).

There is only a moderate amount of external shoulder rotation to get the racket to my trophy position. I will sometimes employ a variation of the Serve Doctor's simplified spring-loaded serve technique:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ixx-MCC7D88

Note that an abbreviated service takeback can be used with either a platform of a pinpoint stance.

 

[spaceman_spiff]

Could anyone who knows what they are talking about give me a step by step so I can try the serve properly?

Cheers

One version I've seen several people use is to take the racket directly to the trophy position before tossing the ball, rather than during the toss. It probably helps them to focus on one thing at a time.

So, racket directly back, then toss the ball/turn shoulders/bend knees, then swing.

I do the first two steps at the same time, but I've seen several who do them separately. Either one is fine as long as you do whichever is natural for you.

 

[hacker_101]

Try this (Tricky's)

http://tt.tennis-warehouse.com/showthread.php?t=266078&highlight=monfils

 

[SystemicAnomaly]

Try this (Tricky's)

http://tt.tennis-warehouse.com/showthread.php?t=266078&highlight=monfils

Looks like Tricky provides a very detailed analysis of Monfil's abbreviated serve that the OP was asking for. One of my implementations of the abbreviated serve is a lot like the Monfil's motion except that I often/sometime will execute it with a wider (platform) stance. (Note that Monfil does not employ that early "Roddick" wrist flexion that I mentioned above).

Another implementation that I employ is a variation the Serve Doctor's serve (see post #6). Pat D provides a pretty good explanation of that motion in the video that I provided.

 

[tricky]

I'll try to go for a simpler explanation this time

Two basic principles:

First -- and this is a core principle of service mechanics -- your balance/weight must move forward through not only through the windup, but the entire tossing motion.

Second, your tossing motion facilitates whether you do traditional or abbreviated.
1) If your tossing arm drops, then comes back up = traditional serve.
2) It your tossing arm doesn't drop = abbreviated

Now, we show the basic cartwheel motion, illustrating these two principles.

Setup
1) Hold a long sock with 1-or-2 balls in it.
2) Assume a service stance.
3) Move your right arm toward and above your left.
4) Lift your front foot off the ground. Keep it off the ground.

Motion
5) Lift your left arm toward the sky and "serve", while the front foot is still off the ground. Note: your balance should always be moving forward .
6) Follow through and land on your front foot.
7) Repeat steps 1-6 a few times.

Cartwheel
8) Then try the motion with your front foot on the ground.
9) Observe your balance moving forward.
10) Steps 1-9 represent the cartwheel motion you serve to ad-court

Repeat steps 1-10, this time with your back foot off the ground. This represents the cartwheel motion when you serve to deuce-court

At this point, you have the muscle memory to learn the abbreviated serve. There's 4 basic styles of abbreviated serve. Let me know which one you'd like to emulate.

 

[tyro]

I may give this a try. The serve has long been a source of frustration, probably for many of us.

http://tenniswire.wordpress.com/2010/02/11/tangled-up-in-technique/

--Tyro

 

[mattymatt]

I switched to abbreviated serving motion this season and it really improved my serves in all aspects. (pace, spin and accuracy) I did not plan to change my serve. One day during a practice, I fooled around with it and just kept hitting the best serves of my life.

Once I arrive to the trophy pose, the rest of the motion is no different from the conventional serve. The simplified motion of the racket arm helps me concentrate on the ball toss and weight shift more. It will be interesting to see how popular this motion will be in 10 years.

 

[LeeD]

Yosh, rather than simpler motion, try getting the toss right and low.