Any tips for serve improvement?

beernutz

Hall of Fame

edberg505

Legend
Looks pretty good to me. :D Only thing I would add is more knee bend. How old is the little one? She tearing it up on the tennis court yet? Did I mention that I'm out of commision for a while. My shoulder is in some pretty bad shape. I haven't had it looked at yet, but I'm willing to bet it is the rotator cuff.
 

drakulie

Talk Tennis Guru
Looks pretty good to me. :D Only thing I would add is more knee bend. How old is the little one? She tearing it up on the tennis court yet?

Ditto. Nice serve! Thanks for sharing the vid granite. By the way, those courts look awesome!

And yes, the photo is super cute!

Did I mention that I'm out of commision for a while. My shoulder is in some pretty bad shape. I haven't had it looked at yet, but I'm willing to bet it is the rotator cuff.

Sorry to hear that edberg. Hope everything is ok. I could sympathize as I had lots of shoulder problems because of having it knocked out of place twice when I was younger.

Good luck with that.
 

GRANITECHIEF

Hall of Fame
Looks pretty good to me. :D Only thing I would add is more knee bend. How old is the little one? She tearing it up on the tennis court yet? Did I mention that I'm out of commision for a while. My shoulder is in some pretty bad shape. I haven't had it looked at yet, but I'm willing to bet it is the rotator cuff.

Thanks for the feedback. I can try to get more kneebend than this:

http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a356/granitechief/kneebend1.jpg
http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a356/granitechief/kneebend2.jpg

Sorry to hear about the cuff. Tennis related i assume? Get that back in shape asap!! How's the dissertation coming?

My little one had lots of fun hitting balls on Wednesday when the pic was taken. She seems to be doing pretty well. I would throw her a simple feed and she wacked about 10 forehands and 10 backhands over the net, a couple of clean too. Really fun!!! My new 8 week old boy is the best baby i've ever seen. He doesn't even cry, unless super hungry or stuck in the carseat. And every morning we have a smiling and cooing session, which puts me in a great mood before going to work.

http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a356/granitechief/IMG_0583.jpg
 

GRANITECHIEF

Hall of Fame
Ditto. Nice serve! Thanks for sharing the vid granite. By the way, those courts look awesome!

Yeah, the Darling tennis center in Las Vegas is really nice. We were there over the weekend for my step boy competing in a national tourney. He did pretty well. Quarters main draw (lost to #1 seed), semi's consolation, beating two dudes (one 16, one 13 in USTA SoCal) that beat him last time they played. Semi's of dubs, lost proset 9-7, missed double fault call on breakpoint up 5-4, really close. Then the team that beat em, #2 seed, won the finals against #1 seed 8-1.

BTW, edberg505 said he might move to SoCal, so he's going to be on our team!!!
 

shindemac

Hall of Fame
Is it me, or is there any sound in that vid?

Judging by your ball toss and racket path, it looks like a kick serve. Do your opponents notice the ball kicking up?
 

edberg505

Legend
Sorry to hear that edberg. Hope everything is ok. I could sympathize as I had lots of shoulder problems because of having it knocked out of place twice when I was younger.

Good luck with that.

Thanks, it really sucks because I was playing pretty well as of late. I'm just gonna sit out for a while and then I'll get it looked at here at the school. I hope it isn't too serious. I managed to avoid any serious injuries through 4 years of playing in college but looks like my luck ran out.
 

edberg505

Legend
Sorry to hear about the cuff. Tennis related i assume? Get that back in shape asap!! How's the dissertation coming?

Yeah, it's defintely tennis related because I haven't really been doing anything else to injure it. Dissertation is going great. I had to rewrite a chapter.

My little one had lots of fun hitting balls on Wednesday when the pic was taken. She seems to be doing pretty well. I would throw her a simple feed and she wacked about 10 forehands and 10 backhands over the net, a couple of clean too. Really fun!!! My new 8 week old boy is the best baby i've ever seen. He doesn't even cry, unless super hungry or stuck in the carseat. And every morning we have a smiling and cooing session, which puts me in a great mood before going to work.

http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a356/granitechief/IMG_0583.jpg

That's good. As long as she is enjoying herself then things can only get better for her from there. Great picture of the new edition to the family.

BTW, edberg505 said he might move to SoCal, so he's going to be on our team!!!

Yeah, I had a offer for a postdoc position SDSU. If I can't find a job anywhere else then I'm headed there. I would love to live in the Santa Barbara area though. I just love visiting there every year.
 
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J011yroger

Talk Tennis Guru
Best of luck edberg, sometimes these things surprise you and you bounce back in a week or two. I played from 4-17 blew out my shoulder and couldn't play for 6 years. Then last year when I was comming back, trying to hit serves, the next day I felt like someone stabbed me in the shoulder with an ice pick. Like I saw stars whenever I tried to move it. Thought for sure I would need an MRI, but let it sit for a week+ iced it regularly, and it calmed down, turned out to be no big deal.


It isn't this exact brand, but I have one of these things too, it is much more convenient than futzing around with ace bandages and ice bags

http://www.proicetherapy.com/store.html

J
 

J011yroger

Talk Tennis Guru
Chief,

What are you looking to improve?

I mean you are playing opens at the 5.0/5.5 level, and you are going rounds. So your serve is obviously getting the job done to some extent.

Is it a particular serve that is giving you trouble, do you just want more sting, more consistency, more action, better location?

I mean I have an idea or two, but really I would like to know where you got the notion to rock the boat.

Gonna go out on a limb and guess that when it goes bad you hit long, significantly more than in the net.

If you were just putting this up so we could laugh at the knuckleheads that tell you you were a 3.5 player then I apologize and will gladly laugh at them aswell.

J
 

edberg505

Legend
Best of luck edberg, sometimes these things surprise you and you bounce back in a week or two. I played from 4-17 blew out my shoulder and couldn't play for 6 years. Then last year when I was comming back, trying to hit serves, the next day I felt like someone stabbed me in the shoulder with an ice pick. Like I saw stars whenever I tried to move it. Thought for sure I would need an MRI, but let it sit for a week+ iced it regularly, and it calmed down, turned out to be no big deal.


It isn't this exact brand, but I have one of these things too, it is much more convenient than futzing around with ace bandages and ice bags

http://www.proicetherapy.com/store.html

J

I really hope you are right. I just don't want to risk any further injury so I'm gonna wait for quite a while before I actually play a set. It's only my serve that I can't do which is an important part of my game. I can still hit groundies without having much pain. So I will do that from time to time to keep my game up to par.








Chief,

What are you looking to improve?

I mean you are playing opens at the 5.0/5.5 level, and you are going rounds. So your serve is obviously getting the job done to some extent.

Is it a particular serve that is giving you trouble, do you just want more sting, more consistency, more action, better location?

I mean I have an idea or two, but really I would like to know where you got the notion to rock the boat.

Gonna go out on a limb and guess that when it goes bad you hit long, significantly more than in the net.

If you were just putting this up so we could laugh at the knuckleheads that tell you you were a 3.5 player then I apologize and will gladly laugh at them aswell.

J


I was waiting for some people to chime in and tell him this big laundry list of things he needs to do to improve and to call him a 3.5, lol. But I do have to say to GraniteC that he should use the hell out of that slice serve wide on the deuce court. He hit a few on me when we played and they are almost unreturnable.
 

shindemac

Hall of Fame
I was waiting for some people to chime in and tell him this big laundry list of things he needs to do to improve and to call him a 3.5, lol. But I do have to say to GraniteC that he should use the hell out of that slice serve wide on the deuce court. He hit a few on me when we played and they are almost unreturnable.

Ahh, I see. I would change the toss location. A little more out in front, and to the right. It should flatten out your serve giving you more pace.
 

ps60

Professional
the serves are so relaxed. not a Great serve because you didn't really push it. All the elements are there, just need to try it in real situation.

The court is so beautiful and the girl is cute !
 

LuckyR

Legend
Actually more of a flat serve in that vids.

I'll try to get some from the back, good suggestion.

You are imparting a moderate amount of topspin on that serve, intentional or not. One reason is that you have a higher than average toss, the other is that you are coming over the ball a bit. Nothing major, but there you have it. If you flattened out your stroke you will get more speed, but I am not certain that is your goal. If that is your first serve, it should be pretty darn consistent but probably not blowing folks off of the court.
 

GRANITECHIEF

Hall of Fame
Is it me, or is there any sound in that vid?

Judging by your ball toss and racket path, it looks like a kick serve. Do your opponents notice the ball kicking up?

These were actually not the highest of the high kickers, about medium but with a little more pace. Oh yes, opponents notice the ball kicking up when they try to overhead it.
 

GRANITECHIEF

Hall of Fame
What are you looking to improve?

Is it a particular serve that is giving you trouble, do you just want more sting, more consistency, more action, better location?

Gonna go out on a limb and guess that when it goes bad you hit long, significantly more than in the net.

If you were just putting this up so we could laugh at the knuckleheads that tell you you were a 3.5 player then I apologize and will gladly laugh at them aswell.

Mostly just curious as to the feedback. I knew going in that there would be some really good technical critiques as well as the knucklehead 3.0 comedy.

You nailed it. More or better sting, consistency (higher percentage), action and location.

Actually i end up hitting into the net significantly more than long. But i know thats just because i need to keep my left hand/head up longer.

I think the best result to improve my serve would be to actually practice it outside of matchplay. And the excellent advice here says that the practice should seek to lower the toss, move it out front, to the right a littlem, flatter/less spin in first serve and work on the nasty slice.

Appreciate the feedback. I'll try to add more vids (although no sound because its the movie function of a digital camera).
 
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onehandbh

G.O.A.T.
Nice clean service motion. Some things you may want to try:

1) A little more shoulder turn at the trophy position. Sort of like
this (but probably not quite that much):

http://www.tennisone.com/newsletter/template/photos/sampras.jpg

2) Hard to tell from the video, so I may be way off base here, but I
think you might also want to try concentrating on
"exploding/swinging up" a little more from your bottom/trophy position.
The shoulders' line look good and at a good angle. You have good
pronation so I think the ball will stay in and might give you a little more
power/spin. Looks like you already have a good trophy position where
the energy is stored.

A video from the side and from behind would be great. I like timing of
your motion. A video with a higher frame rate would be great as well
but I think you said you used a still camera's video feature.
 
N

NebAce1

Guest
Yeah, the Darling tennis center in Las Vegas is really nice. We were there over the weekend for my step boy competing in a national tourney. He did pretty well. Quarters main draw (lost to #1 seed), semi's consolation, beating two dudes (one 16, one 13 in USTA SoCal) that beat him last time they played. Semi's of dubs, lost proset 9-7, missed double fault call on breakpoint up 5-4, really close. Then the team that beat em, #2 seed, won the finals against #1 seed 8-1.

Nice results. That was at the Mutterspaw right?
 

shindemac

Hall of Fame
These were actually not the highest of the high kickers, about medium but with a little more pace. Oh yes, opponents notice the ball kicking up when they try to overhead it.

LOL, ok. You're confusing me here. You said it was your flat, and now you say it kicks. I guess it's a kick serve that you're converted to a first serve.

I think video is an immensely useful tool, and it doesn't lie. Hopefully, you've learned something about your serve. It's impossible to get all those things you want, pace, spin, consistency, location, without sacrificing something. So knowing what you know now, you have to make some hard choices of what to sacrifice.
 

GRANITECHIEF

Hall of Fame
Nice results. That was at the Mutterspaw right?

Correct, that was the Muterspaw. Nice tournament, even though Las Vegas set record breaking temps that weekend. Pretty good result, he got outplayed in the two singles matches he lost, and the dubs coulda gone either way/shoulda won.

He definitely has tons of upside, and still over a 1.5 years in the 12's. Actually, he will be moving to 14's when he wins a designated, which he will hopefully accomplish this weekend.
 
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GRANITECHIEF

Hall of Fame
LOL, ok. You're confusing me here. You said it was your flat, and now you say it kicks. I guess it's a kick serve that you're converted to a first serve.

I think video is an immensely useful tool, and it doesn't lie. Hopefully, you've learned something about your serve. It's impossible to get all those things you want, pace, spin, consistency, location, without sacrificing something. So knowing what you know now, you have to make some hard choices of what to sacrifice.

Sorry for the confusion. The serves were mostly flat, but i have some top/side built in. It does kick, even on the flatter ones, simply because i'm tall. On the full kickers, I can usually get it above 6 ft.

Choice of what to sacrifice? Uuhhhh? OK. You are right, thats hard, i don't want to sac any of those characteristics. Maybe if i practice enough, i can improve all of them. Definitely will try.
 
N

NebAce1

Guest
Correct, that was the Muterspaw. Nice tournament, even though Las Vegas set record breaking temps that weekend. Pretty good result, he got outplayed in the two singles matches he lost, and the dubs coulda gone either way/shoulda won.

He definitely has tons of upside, and still over a 1.5 years in the 12's. Actually, he will be moving to 14's when he wins a designated, which he will hopefully accomplish this weekend.

Yea I'm sorry I missed the tournament. I was going to play, but I just couldn't miss anymore school.
 

J011yroger

Talk Tennis Guru
Choice of what to sacrifice? Uuhhhh? OK. You are right, thats hard, i don't want to sac any of those characteristics. Maybe if i practice enough, i can improve all of them. Definitely will try.

What I was saying was that you can't get them all better at the same time, in each practice session work on one thing. One day I will just clobber them, and look to generate maximum pace, one day I will serve to targets, one day I will hit different kinds of serves to the same target, one day I will practice seconds. What I preach is that to improve you need to practice with purpose. If you just go out an mindlessly whack buckets of balls, in the hopes of your serve getting better...well you have seen the guys that play for 20 years and are 3.5. But when you go out and practice with a set goal in mind, and focus on that, and practice with the sole purpose of improving that, then it works.

I don't think that you need to sacrifice anything, but I also think you can only work on one thing at a time.

J
 

GRANITECHIEF

Hall of Fame
What I was saying was that you can't get them all better at the same time, in each practice session work on one thing. One day I will just clobber them, and look to generate maximum pace, one day I will serve to targets, one day I will hit different kinds of serves to the same target, one day I will practice seconds. What I preach is that to improve you need to practice with purpose. If you just go out an mindlessly whack buckets of balls, in the hopes of your serve getting better...well you have seen the guys that play for 20 years and are 3.5. But when you go out and practice with a set goal in mind, and focus on that, and practice with the sole purpose of improving that, then it works.

I don't think that you need to sacrifice anything, but I also think you can only work on one thing at a time.

J


Excellent advice~!
 

ramseszerg

Professional
Sorry for the confusion. The serves were mostly flat, but i have some top/side built in. It does kick, even on the flatter ones, simply because i'm tall. On the full kickers, I can usually get it above 6 ft.

hey chief, mind me asking how tall you are?
 

z-money

Semi-Pro
Nice clean service motion. Some things you may want to try:

1) A little more shoulder turn at the trophy position. Sort of like
this (but probably not quite that much):

http://www.tennisone.com/newsletter/template/photos/sampras.jpg

2) Hard to tell from the video, so I may be way off base here, but I
think you might also want to try concentrating on
"exploding/swinging up" a little more from your bottom/trophy position.
The shoulders' line look good and at a good angle. You have good
pronation so I think the ball will stay in and might give you a little more
power/spin. Looks like you already have a good trophy position where
the energy is stored.

A video from the side and from behind would be great. I like timing of
your motion. A video with a higher frame rate would be great as well
but I think you said you used a still camera's video feature.

I will add toss a lil more to the side so that you can pass though the ball easier
 

zapvor

G.O.A.T.
wow i had no idea he is 5.5 ..interesting...he looked like he was just practicing a couple for fun.
 

onehandbh

G.O.A.T.
wow i had no idea he is 5.5 ..interesting...he looked like he was just practicing a couple for fun.

That's why his serve is good. It is smooth and effortless.
vs. the guy at the park with a forehand grip that blasts flat serves but
only gets 10% in.
 

skiracer55

Hall of Fame
Looks pretty teriffic to me...

...as somebody else said, the motion looks just fine, plus or minus a few things you might think about. The real question is, what happens on the other side of the net? I had a decent motion, but pretty much just a flat ball to the backhand and a kicker to the backhand until my coaches started working with me on more variety. I never had a wide slice to the forehand; now I do, and it not only works on its own, it helps to keep my opponent off balance. I'm only 5'8", so I don't have your altitude...but I am a S&V player, so I get some aces, but basically I want to use my serve to get some service winners, but more important, I want it to feed my first volley. So what's your strategy on your serve point?

And, being at the level you are, you already know how important a second serve is...so...how is your second serve?
 

GRANITECHIEF

Hall of Fame
he looked like he was just practicing a couple for fun.

Yeah, that's basically what i was doing. I had just warmed up my boy for a match and wanted to practice a few.

And, at this point in my life, 5.5 would be a stretch, too many errors for that.
 
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GRANITECHIEF

Hall of Fame
...as somebody else said, the motion looks just fine, plus or minus a few things you might think about. The real question is, what happens on the other side of the net? I had a decent motion, but pretty much just a flat ball to the backhand and a kicker to the backhand until my coaches started working with me on more variety. I never had a wide slice to the forehand; now I do, and it not only works on its own, it helps to keep my opponent off balance. I'm only 5'8", so I don't have your altitude...but I am a S&V player, so I get some aces, but basically I want to use my serve to get some service winners, but more important, I want it to feed my first volley. So what's your strategy on your serve point?

And, being at the level you are, you already know how important a second serve is...so...how is your second serve?

My strategy on serve is to hit a good frickin serve and either ace, service winner or gain the position advantage in the point. I probably serve/volley about half the time, maybe a little less, but i'd like to be comfortable with a little more.

I am not too dissapointed with my 2nd ball. I can usually kick it up pretty high and/or decent placement and i'm often pretty aggressive with it, occasionally hitting the 2nd serve ace.

My biggest complaint is too many first serves into the net, especially when i'm playing a 6.0 thats returning me comfortably.
 

skiracer55

Hall of Fame
Sounds like a pretty righteous set of concepts to me...

My strategy on serve is to hit a good frickin serve and either ace, service winner or gain the position advantage in the point. I probably serve/volley about half the time, maybe a little less, but i'd like to be comfortable with a little more.

I am not too dissapointed with my 2nd ball. I can usually kick it up pretty high and/or decent placement and i'm often pretty aggressive with it, occasionally hitting the 2nd serve ace.

My biggest complaint is too many first serves into the net, especially when i'm playing a 6.0 thats returning me comfortably.

...looking at your serve video, I can see why you're hitting serves into the net, which is that you are pulling your head down and hitting out rather than up through the ball. The way my coach described it is "throw the racket head up to the sky, then snap through it...don't pull down, the snap will bring the ball into the court..." You're also doing something strange with your pronation at the snap every once in a while. Try this: to work on the snap, get the racket up, toss, let the racket head drop behind your back, snap, and try to bounce the ball over the fence.
 
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