Do you look on the ball while serving?

supertrex

supertrex

Semi-Pro
Ok, my serve is weird I tend to look on the service box on which I wanna hit rather than looking on the ball. But it always works fine with me....

But everytime I try serving ( flat serve ) looking at the ball.... it just shoots off the court....

anyone does the same or no? lol?

I tend to do it with my forehand... when I want to hit the ball with all the power i got... I look on the other side of the court and just let me senses do all the timing..... and it always works fine....
 
Oh jeez.
You need to look at the ball, you probably shank a lot of balls when you serve like that.
 
A few serving tips that will help you out since you asked this:

1. Always keep your eye on the ball.

2. Toss with your elbow straight release at eye level.

3. Have the racket pointing up slightly behind your body in what is called a trophy position. Keep the racket there pointing up until you have completed your toss.

4. Hit the ball.

5. Ace?
 
supertrex said:
... But it always works fine with me....

I look on the other side of the court and just let me senses do all the timing..... and it always works fine....
Click to expand...

It may seem to work for you now but I seriously doubt that your game will improve much until you learn how to properly track the ball and learn to keep your eyes & head still at the contact zone. Learn to visualize your target instead of looking at it as you are preparing to hit the ball.
 
Become one with the ball and your opponent will vanish like mist under the sun.

"Crack of the racket;
flight of the quick painful death;
game, set, match are yours."
 
Last edited:
The ball is the only thing that you make contact with that moves. The court does not move (at least most of the time), so you should know where the court is located and no need to keep an eye on the court. Your opponent moves, but the opponent's location can be controlled by your strokes. So, keeping your eye on the ball which moves and can be used to move your opponent where you want, should be paramount. Good Luck!
 
albino smurf said:
That's the best line ever.
Click to expand...


I wish I could take credit for it, but I'm just paraphrasing what Brad Gilbert wrote in his book "Winning Ugly".

I thought it was appropriate for this thread. But I don't pretend to take credit for the phrase. It's all Brad.
 
lol this thread is great. I have to see this server tho. The image I have in my head is so amusing. I imagine a guy staring at the service box with his head down, then tossing the ball up and swinging like a robot in a windmill motion. I'm sure it's not like that (I hope) but I keep seeing that in my head.
 
i usually shut my eyes and squeal like a little girl when I serve... ACE everytime. :shock:

ox
looks good in pink
 
i don't know how it works for you if you don't look. post a vid of it. i want to see. i can only imagine it lands on your head sometimes.
 
supertrex said:
Ok, my serve is weird I tend to look on the service box on which I wanna hit rather than looking on the ball. But it always works fine with me....

But everytime I try serving ( flat serve ) looking at the ball.... it just shoots off the court....

anyone does the same or no? lol?

I tend to do it with my forehand... when I want to hit the ball with all the power i got... I look on the other side of the court and just let me senses do all the timing..... and it always works fine....
Click to expand...


It depends when you stop looking at the ball; I'm pretty sure that at the moment of impact Roddick isn't seeing the ball and racket come together. I know Pat Cash's coach, Brad Langevad, advocates not having your head looking at the ball at contact because it limits the space for shoulder rotation. I've also seen a video of Taylor Dent practicing serving with a blindfold on.

As for a groundstroke; I advocate the Federer approach of looking through the strings at the ball.
 
officerdibble said:
It depends when you stop looking at the ball; I'm pretty sure that at the moment of impact Roddick isn't seeing the ball and racket come together. I know Pat Cash's coach, Brad Langevad, advocates not having your head looking at the ball at contact because it limits the space for shoulder rotation. I've also seen a video of Taylor Dent practicing serving with a blindfold on.

As for a groundstroke; I advocate the Federer approach of looking through the strings at the ball.
Click to expand...


youtube.com/watch?v=vjyu2nTI_XI

Take a very close look at Roger Federer's eyes in the slo-mo service video above. After the racket drop the the right shoulder comes forward & upward as the arm extends to bring the racket head up to contact. This shoulder movement had forced the head to rotate out of the way somewhat. However, his eyes are rotating with respect to the head in order to keep his eyes on the ball at contact. In particular, look at his eyes at 00:21 seconds. Even at 00:23 his eyes appear to be directed at the contact even tho' the ball has probably already left the strings at this point.
 
SystemicAnomaly said:
youtube.com/watch?v=vjyu2nTI_XI

Take a very close look at Roger Federer's eyes in the slo-mo service video above. After the racket drop the the right shoulder comes forward & upward as the arm extends to bring the racket head up to contact. This shoulder movement had forced the head to rotate out of the way somewhat. However, his eyes are rotating with respect to the head in order to keep his eyes on the ball at contact. In particular, look at his eyes at 00:21 seconds. Even at 00:23 his eyes appear to be directed at the contact even tho' the ball has probably already left the strings at this point.
Click to expand...

Why do so many PRO servers successfully hit the ball with their head (and eyes) directed toward the opponent ? :confused:
 
Uthree said:
Why do so many PRO servers successfully hit the ball with their head (and eyes) directed toward the opponent ? :confused:
Click to expand...

I believe that you are mistaken about this. While not all elite servers still have their eyes on the contact point at the very instance of contact, I don't recall any that are looking at the receiver at this point. Most, if not all, elite servers are still looking up at the ball a split second before contact -- as the racket arm is extending upward. The racket shoulder coming up/forward will cause the head to move/rotate.

Some servers, like Fed, will still have their eyes directed up in the contact area as they are making. Others will no longer have their eyes directed in this area at contact -- however, they are not yet looking at the opponent either. After contact, as the server is following thru, the head/eyes start to look outward at the served ball and at the receiver.

None of the elite servers that I've studied have looked at the receiver, during their service, until some time after contact. If you have any slow-motion examples that show otherwise, please provide us with a link or two -- (it is usually very difficult to see this in real time).
 
Uthree said:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jCQP79ZMtgk
Roddick's face at contact directed towards the opponent.
Click to expand...

This is misleading. To develop a serve you need to keep your eyes looking for the blur of the racquet so that the head stays up and you do not prematurely pull it down. As you get more consistent and your first serve percentage rises, natural adjustments can be made.

Because Roddick has served over and over again and has learned the fundamentals, he is able to relax more on the serve and not be so strict with the fundamentals. In other words, his motion has matured.

For club players and nearly everyone here, purposeful practice with the fundamentals will eventually allow you to do a bit more.
 
How on Earth are you hitting the ball on a regular basis while looking at the opponent? Weird serve or not, this doesn't make sense. At what point are you looking at the ball and at what point do you stop looking at the ball?
 
Bungalo Bill said:
This is misleading. To develop a serve you need to keep your eyes looking for the blur of the racquet so that the head stays up and you do not prematurely pull it down. As you get more consistent and your first serve percentage rises, natural adjustments can be made.

Because Roddick has served over and over again and has learned the fundamentals, he is able to relax more on the serve and not be so strict with the fundamentals. In other words, his motion has matured.

For club players and nearly everyone here, purposeful practice with the fundamentals will eventually allow you to do a bit more.
Click to expand...

You're right. And on top of all that, he's looking at the ball until the last 100th of a second. It's not like he's tossing the ball up and staring at the opponent while swinging over his head.
 
Bungalo Bill said:
This is misleading. To develop a serve you need to keep your eyes looking for the blur of the racquet so that the head stays up and you do not prematurely pull it down. As you get more consistent and your first serve percentage rises, natural adjustments can be made.

Because Roddick has served over and over again and has learned the fundamentals, he is able to relax more on the serve and not be so strict with the fundamentals. In other words, his motion has matured.

For club players and nearly everyone here, purposeful practice with the fundamentals will eventually allow you to do a bit more.
Click to expand...

Is Roddick really relaxing the fundamentals or is he doing the fundamentals very very well? I think this is the key decision.

I’m happy choose to use Roddick’s service contact position as a fundamental for all standards and ages.
 
Uthree said:
Is Roddick really relaxing the fundamentals or is he doing the fundamentals very very well? I think this is the key decision.

I’m happy choose to use Roddick’s service contact position as a fundamental for all standards and ages.
Click to expand...

I meant the latter.
 
Uthree said:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jCQP79ZMtgk
Roddick's face at contact directed towards the opponent.
Click to expand...

I disagree. Roddick's face is not directed at the opponent until well after the ball has left his own strings. A split second before contact (arm is extending up toward the ball after the racket drop), Roddick's eyes are still up at the ball -- take a look at 00:07 seconds, At 00:08 or so, his racket is making contact. (Remember this 1 second or so difference is high-speed video time, not real time). At this point, he doesn't appear to be looking at the ball (or contact area) any longer. Instead, his head has moved forward and rotated somewhat. However, unless his opponent is 15 feet tall, his face is not yet directed at the opponent.

As his arm and racket come down and forward on his follow-thru, it appears that he is now looking out across the court (presumably to see where/how his serve is bouncing and to see the response of his opponent). This looks like this happens somewhere around 00:09 to 00:11 seconds.

Note the at (and after) contact, Roddick has quite an exaggerated forward lean into his shot. This means his racket shoulder has traveled quite a forward & upward to make the contact -- this extensive shoulder movement had caused his head to move & rotate significantly as he makes ball contact -- I believe that this may be the primary reason why his eyes are no longer on the ball at the point of contact.
 
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