Clearance and racquet speed on kick serve

[Ztalin]

Hi, I've developed a pretty good kick serve. I realise that my strings are very bad right now (they came with my racquet), but I am getting it re-strung soon.

I can land my serve in deep with good spin, but I can't usually swing with full racquet head speed. If I do, the serve will go long (this is with a clearance of 4-5 feet). But if I lower the clearance to about 3 feet, I can drill them in, with fairly high percentage. Since my strings are pretty horrible right now, they do lower my topspin potential, but I still do get good spin. Do you guys have to slow down your racquet head speed to land the ball in? Do you have to lower the clearance over the net? I am only 5'8" which might play a factor, and I use a continental grip. And just for the record, I have no intention on switching to an eastern grip to generate more spin! And please, no comments saying "try brushing up the back of the ball", as I'm way past that.

 

[TwistServe]

If you hold back on your kickserve then it dosent kick up to its full potential. The first serve and second serve should have same swing speeds but different path. The harder you swing, the more spin you'll give the ball, and the better chance it'll come down into the box, generally speaking.. In order to keep it from going long, you'll have to improve your timing and brushing action. 5'8 is not an issue.

 

[Ztalin]

If you hold back on your kickserve then it dosent kick up to its full potential. The first serve and second serve should have same swing speeds but different path. The harder you swing, the more spin you'll give the ball, and the better chance it'll come down into the box, generally speaking.. In order to keep it from going long, you'll have to improve your timing and brushing action. 5'8 is not an issue.

I realize it's not really an issue, but I figured I'd just add it anyway.

TwistServe, how high is the clearance usually on your kick serve?

 

[TwistServe]

I realize it's not really an issue, but I figured I'd just add it anyway.

TwistServe, how high is the clearance usually on your kick serve?

I think its a couple feet.. 2-3 feet.. depending on how aggressive I hit it... hard to tell because after I hit the ball and look over to the court it's already kicking up. I usually always swing pretty hard on both serves.

 

[Ztalin]

Ahhh, I see. Some sources advise to clear by 4-5 feet, but I think I'll stick with my 3 feet, so I can land it in at full racquet speed, and have it kick better.

 

[TwistServe]

Ahhh, I see. Some sources advise to clear by 4-5 feet, but I think I'll stick with my 3 feet, so I can land it in at full racquet speed, and have it kick better.

Well 4-5 feet still work.. 2-3 feet is really aggressive as the path of the ball is narrower.. can easily drop it long or net the ball.. With 4-5 feet you should be able to keep it in the box with lots of topspin still.

 

[kicker75]

I swing faster on my kicker cause I have to to get the topspin. If I slow, I still can get it in, but then it just sits... I hit with more pace on my first though because I vary my knee bend and rotation in order to get more power, even if the swing speed is not as fast as the kicker.