drills to higher the service contact point?

[santosh747]

my toss is just right i believe. its the contact point that aggravates me. i think it has to do with the fact that i first started to learn with second serve. the top spin serve contact point is lower to brush up as we all know. so i might have just gotten into that habit of making the contact much lower. or maybe im thinking i have to hit the ball down in service box so i hit it lower, or maybe becuz of shadow swinging a lot indoors with the ceiling above creating a block to extend my arm? *shrug. anyway, even if i toss the ball in front of me at 12 or 1 o clock for flat server i still wait for the ball to come down to make a low contact and just sorta brush up. if i make a contact higher and upfront, i notice all of a sudden a pop n the serve is flatter. Any drills on this? someone suggested to move up to service line and aim at the back fence. never tried this. heres a video for reference btw.

 

[S&V-not_dead_yet]

my toss is just right i believe. its the contact point that aggravates me. i think it has to do with the fact that i first started to learn with second serve. the top spin serve contact point is lower to brush up as we all know. so i might have just gotten into that habit of making the contact much lower. or maybe im thinking i have to hit the ball down in service box so i hit it lower, or maybe becuz of shadow swinging a lot indoors with the ceiling above creating a block to extend my arm? *shrug. anyway, even if i toss the ball in front of me at 12 or 1 o clock for flat server i still wait for the ball to come down to make a low contact and just sorta brush up. if i make a contact higher and upfront, i notice all of a sudden a pop n the serve is flatter. Any drills on this? someone suggested to move up to service line and aim at the back fence. never tried this. heres a video for reference btw.

If your toss is "just right" from a height standpoint, that means if you accidentally toss lower, it will be too low. So you might want to toss a bit higher than "just right" to give yourself some margin.

It's not contact point that's determining whether the serve is spin or flat: it's the trajectory and string angle of the racquet. A flat serve will have the racquet travelling towards the target; a TS serve will have the racquet travelling closer to perpendicular.

Watch serve videos where the view is from the side and you'll be able to see this more clearly. Then video yourself and compare.

Watch Salzy's swing path as he demonstrates a kick serve [which is just another type of spin serve; the point is that it's not a flat serve]: it travels along the BL.

 

[GuyClinch]

Serve is pretty decent - but yeah your toss is to far to the right and a bit low. I think that you should practice flat serves though - especially if you are adjusting your contact point. Now you might hit low percentage on those but you could stand at say the service line just to groove it if it bothers you..

The problem with hitting slice is that it is easier to hit with a lower out wide toss.. So its going to be harder to change that way..

 

[dominikk1985]

A good drill is to hang some barricade tape from a high enough tree branch or so or and then you stand under it and do your motion. I have seen that in a badminton video, good way to practice swing and contact point

 

[Digital Atheist]

It's not contact point that's determining whether the serve is spin or flat: it's the trajectory and string angle of the racquet.

+1.

Also, OP, take a look at how you use your tossing arm as you go up into contact. It should fold or tuck into your stomach/chest as your core is launched up and at it.

 

[Dragy]

It doesn’t look like significant contact point issue - the height is healthy. It’s more about swingpath, particularly the final phase - you seem to manipulate your arm at the stage where it’s expected to mostly pivot with minor guidance and achieved speed, plow through the contact.
Suggest that you practice two things:
- Throwing - an old racquet, or a football, upward at 45-60 degree angle;
- Smacking the ball - down into the ground, then horizontally towards the opposing baseline, etc. - not caring for making a shot. Just get comfortable with the non-restricted up-and-through swing, solid contact and free follow-through.

Then return to hitting serves with the acquired powerful contact and never tone it down back to careful brushy nursing. Even spin serves should be quite punchy.

 

[socallefty]

Toss the ball further forward - you’ll automatically need to raise your contact point as they will all go into the net otherwise. Most players throw the toss for their flat/slice serve further forward (towards the net) than their kick serve.

 

[santosh747]

Toss the ball further forward - you’ll automatically need to raise your contact point as they will all go into the net otherwise. Most players throw the toss for their flat/slice serve further forward (towards the net) than their kick serve.

i'll have to try this. yea ive gotten into the habit of tossing above my head becuz of constant top spin serves.

 

[Chas Tennis]

my toss is just right i believe. its the contact point that aggravates me. i think it has to do with the fact that i first started to learn with second serve. the top spin serve contact point is lower to brush up as we all know. so i might have just gotten into that habit of making the contact much lower. or maybe im thinking i have to hit the ball down in service box so i hit it lower, or maybe becuz of shadow swinging a lot indoors with the ceiling above creating a block to extend my arm? *shrug. anyway, even if i toss the ball in front of me at 12 or 1 o clock for flat server i still wait for the ball to come down to make a low contact and just sorta brush up. if i make a contact higher and upfront, i notice all of a sudden a pop n the serve is flatter. Any drills on this? someone suggested to move up to service line and aim at the back fence. never tried this. heres a video for reference btw.

Compare serve single frame on Youtube by using the period & comma keys. Always select the video with Alt + Left Mouse Click otherwise the video starts playing. Compare your technique by going to impact and comparing single frame to the ATP pros. You can go full frame and come back down and the frame stays the same.

Your frame rate is too slow for the serve and there is too much motion blur. Motion blur will be less in bright direct sunlight. High speed video is needed for the serve.

See if you can find racket position very near to impact and compare to the ATP servers. Look at every angle that affects the height of the racket. At impact for a high level serve, flat and slice serves, the arm tilts to the right and racket tilts to the left. In the side camera view, the trunk and arm tilt forward and the racket appears straight up from the side view (the racket is not fully vertical as seen by the left tilt in the behind camera view).

Can't see fastest part of the serve but check when your internal shoulder rotation ISR starts relative to impact. Do you do ISR mostly after impact?