Getting consistent clean contact on flat serve

[kuhdlie]

Anyone know of any tricks to get more consistent flat contact on high speed flat serves? or just practice practice practice.

I'm sometimes not timing the pronation exactly to get the racquet face to hit the ball more or less totally flat, and getting a less powerful serve. instead of meeting the ball at 90degrees, it's more like 75-85degrees. when the ball's not hit totally flat, the racquet in turn rotates and vibrates more and decreasing the power applied to the ball. anyone else have this problem?

 

[LeeD]

If it was easy, it's not worth doing.
Practice.
Do you think Federer magically hit flat serves his first time?

 

[mikro112]

Practice, Practice, Practice, Practice, Practice. Oh did I mention Practice?

 

[Djokovicfan4life]

Are you comfortable serving with the continental grip? It took forever for me to actually hit something resembling a serve with the continental because I had to undo about 3 years of forehand grip pancake serving. That approach isn't recommended by 4 out of 5 dentists.

Personally I'd recommend focusing on your spin serves until your confidence in them allows you to experiment with flatter serves.

 

[Djokovicfan4life]

If it was easy, it's not worth doing.
Practice.
Do you think Federer magically hit flat serves his first time?

I guess your definition of "flat serve" is a little different from mine, but I wouldn't call any of Federer's serves "flat". There's a reason he almost never goes over 125 and his net cord serves veer way up and to the right. He puts a ton of spin on his first serves.

 

[Dags]

Consistency starts with the toss.

 

[fruitytennis1]

I guess your definition of "flat serve" is a little different from mine, but I wouldn't call any of Federer's serves "flat". There's a reason he almost never goes over 125 and his net cord serves veer way up and to the right. He puts a ton of spin on his first serves.

I would agree.

 

[kuhdlie]

i only noticed this problem after i got a radar, there could be a 20-30mph difference in speed if the racquet is just a tiny bit not flat, e.g. from 110mph to 90mph. without the radar, the speeds are hard to judge and look pretty similar even though the slight mishits hurts the arm a little more.

 

[LeeD]

EVERY good player knows how to hit a real flat serve.
Just when they play matches, they add the spin for more consistency, balancing that out against pure speed, which oftentimes don't work against equally good players.
But you have to know how to hit flat in order to hit fast moving spin first serves!!!

 

[kuhdlie]

i'm just trying to focus on hitting the ball 100% flat, it's hard to get that every single time. always getting the occasional slight over or under pronated racquet face though, seems much harder than spin serves, because the angles are so small. the ball still goes straight with the mishit, just 20mph slower.

 

[moopie]

i'm just trying to focus on hitting the ball 100% flat, it's hard to get that every single time. always getting the occasional slight over or under pronated racquet face though, seems much harder than spin serves, because the angles are so small. the ball still goes straight with the mishit, just 20mph slower.

You may not want to hear this, but chances are you're technique is off. If that's the case no amount of practice is going to make it better until you correct your technique. I would guess that you're opening up too early which many many people do. Try to get some videos of your serve both from the back and side.

 

[kuhdlie]

You may not want to hear this, but chances are you're technique is off. If that's the case no amount of practice is going to make it better until you correct your technique. I would guess that you're opening up too early which many many people do. Try to get some videos of your serve both from the back and side.

thanks, i'll try to concentrate on opening up at different times to see if it makes a difference. i'm probably not opening up or not pronating or not looking at the ball at the right time consistently. i'm not mishitting all the time, just a few times, so it's a small adjustment somewhere.

 

[Djokovicfan4life]

i'm just trying to focus on hitting the ball 100% flat, it's hard to get that every single time. always getting the occasional slight over or under pronated racquet face though, seems much harder than spin serves, because the angles are so small. the ball still goes straight with the mishit, just 20mph slower.

No accomplished server who's name isn't Karlovic hits a 100% flat serve, and even he hits ridiculous spin on his slice and second serves. With no spin to bring the ball down you'll most likely struggle with consistency even once you get the clean contact down.

JMO.

 

[kuhdlie]

No accomplished server who's name isn't Karlovic hits a 100% flat serve, and even he hits ridiculous spin on his slice and second serves. With no spin to bring the ball down you'll most likely struggle with consistency even once you get the clean contact down.

JMO.

because i'm quite tall, i already get pretty good consistency with or without clean contact down right now, i'm having more trouble consistently hitting it totally flat than to hit it inbounds. i know about all the spins serves, but nothing beats a flat serve down the T, just like a fastball in baseball, it's the meat n potatoes. i'm pretty sure a lot of pros, especially anyone over 6ft, do totally flat serves. it's obvious from court level videos of the matches and just the sound when the balls comes off the racquet, they are near totally flat. obviously they mix spin, but they still hit a lot of flat serves.

 

[kiteboard]

The heaviest balls are not flat. They are hit with reverse absurd pronated spin, ala sampras, becker, karlovic. A loose arm, a very fast take back into trophy pos, a very fast leg drive up to contact, a very fast shoulder over shoulder rotation, a very fast pronation of the forearm and wrist, all done like fast water flowing down a raging canyon, fluid, extremely fast, and few can do it, very few. A rolling freight train, weight moving into the shot, from the rear to the front, and then an explosion up off the bended knees, with the fast take back dragging behind the train, held off, for the very last moment, until the tomahawk angled stick comes up, at 100 mph, and snaps straight down on the ball. The heavy ball, also made easier if the mass of the stick is high, above 355g. Sampras was at 384-389g, a veritable log, and beyond the ability of mere men to wield with consistency.

 

[ManuGinobili]

The heaviest balls are not flat. They are hit with reverse absurd pronated spin, ala sampras, becker, karlovic. A loose arm, a very fast take back into trophy pos, a very fast leg drive up to contact, a very fast shoulder over shoulder rotation, a very fast pronation of the forearm and wrist, all done like fast water flowing down a raging canyon, fluid, extremely fast, and few can do it, very few. A rolling freight train, weight moving into the shot, from the rear to the front, and then an explosion up off the bended knees, with the fast take back dragging behind the train, held off, for the very last moment, until the tomahawk angled stick comes up, at 100 mph, and snaps straight down on the ball. The heavy ball, also made easier if the mass of the stick is high, above 355g. Sampras was at 384-389g, a veritable log, and beyond the ability of mere men to wield with consistency.

I don't know why but that was your easiest post to read to date LOL

 

[ManuGinobili]

A flast serve with spin can still get out of your opponent's reach, with a higher rate of goin in.
If you think about the pronation motion, it should naturally add spin to your serve right?

 

[Davis937]

hmmm ... my experience has been that when a player wants to hit a hard flat serve the player tends to rush everything ... to get optimal power and to hit a consistent flat serve you need to have great rhythm and timing ... no rushing ... everything flows ... your arm and wrist are loose ... you get the good knee bend ... smooth ball toss ... fluid racquet drop behind the back ... and a smooth extension and explosion into the ball ... it's a rhythmical and relaxed build up ... and ... YES, you do need to time that pronation just right (regardless if you use a continental or EBH grip) ... I know .. I know ... someone is going to point to Andy Roddick ... he's the exception to me ... very rushy ... but he has a very powerful serve ... I like to point to our friend the Fed ... smooth like a well blended scotch ... with a great kick (sorry for the pun) ... anyway, just my opinion!

 

[fuzz nation]

Good call from ^Davis^ concerning the motion and avoiding a rush. If you can slow down and delay your swing for an extra fraction of a second, you'll have time to be more "loaded up" and ready to move to contact well. Exploding in a rush to the ball can make everything break down.

Dags also mentioned the toss. Shazam! You need to put that ball exactly where you need it in the air for a good hit. Again, chasing a wayward ball will cause things to break down. I love the idea of hitting a still ball instead of one that's moving - in this case dropping out of the air through your contact zone. Hone your toss so that it's near the top of its flight when you hit it. That way it will be sitting still for you.

 

[LeeD]

Practice tons.
POP is the sound you want to hear. It can also break strings constantly, but it can intimidate the weaker opposition.

 

[Davis937]

Good call from ^Davis^ concerning the motion and avoiding a rush. If you can slow down and delay your swing for an extra fraction of a second, you'll have time to be more "loaded up" and ready to move to contact well. Exploding in a rush to the ball can make everything break down.

Dags also mentioned the toss. Shazam! You need to put that ball exactly where you need it in the air for a good hit. Again, chasing a wayward ball will cause things to break down. I love the idea of hitting a still ball instead of one that's moving - in this case dropping out of the air through your contact zone. Hone your toss so that it's near the top of its flight when you hit it. That way it will be sitting still for you.

Hey, fuzz ... very nice explanation (... shorter and clearer than mine *smile*) ... plus ... I like your emphasis on the ball toss ... yes, it's of critical importance ... you really need to ensure the toss is a smooth and consistent one ... and for this power serve ... it needs to be far enough into the court wherby you are leaning into the serve and your momentum pulls you into the ball ... and into the court on your finish!

Practice tons.
POP is the sound you want to hear. It can also break strings constantly, but it can intimidate the weaker opposition.

Good call, Lee ... yes, you know when you hit the ball right ... that POP sound is something beautiful to hear (albeit ... I hear it so infrequently) ... and the "feel" of pulling off this shot is outa-this-world!