Getting Side Spin When doing Kick Serve

[Roy125]

I'm a righty. Whenever I try a kick serve when serving on the deuce court, there's always a lot of sidespin when I attempt the kick serve. This results to my kick serve hitting the net which is the opposite effect of a kick serve.

I swing from an 8 to 2 motion and I toss the ball at 11. The thing is that I hit the ball at the same height of my flat serve. Could this be the reason that there is a lot of sidespin on my kick serve?

 

[xFullCourtTenniSx]

I'm a righty. Whenever I try a kick serve when serving on the deuce court, there's always a lot of sidespin when I attempt the kick serve. This results to my kick serve hitting the net which is the opposite effect of a kick serve.

I swing from an 8 to 2 motion and I toss the ball at 11. The thing is that I hit the ball at the same height of my flat serve. Could this be the reason that there is a lot of sidespin on my kick serve?

Theoretically, the contact point should be slightly lower than a flat serve. Also, I aim to hit from 6 to 12, (always have) but as time went on it started to develop more twist on it. To start out, you don't want to hit a massive twist. You want to master topspin. So try to hit it from 6 to 12, and aim high (or just aim higher with your current serve). Naturally, it's impossible to hit from 6 to 12 on a serve, so we'll naturally have a lot of sidespin on it and as we start to swing faster, it'll naturally transform into a twist. Ever since I developed a decent topspin serve, every time I hit it in the ad court it would always kick wide whereas on the deuce court the same serve would bounce straight, or even towards the opponent a little.

 

[Roy125]

Theoretically, the contact point should be slightly lower than a flat serve. Also, I aim to hit from 6 to 12, (always have) but as time went on it started to develop more twist on it. To start out, you don't want to hit a massive twist. You want to master topspin. So try to hit it from 6 to 12, and aim high (or just aim higher with your current serve). Naturally, it's impossible to hit from 6 to 12 on a serve, so we'll naturally have a lot of sidespin on it and as we start to swing faster, it'll naturally transform into a twist. Ever since I developed a decent topspin serve, every time I hit it in the ad court it would always kick wide whereas on the deuce court the same serve would bounce straight, or even towards the opponent a little.

6 to 12?! I'm going to be trying out a whole bunch of things next time i'm on the court. Is the continental grip fine for the topspin serve?

 

[itracbui3]

6 to 12?! I'm going to be trying out a whole bunch of things next time i'm on the court. Is the continental grip fine for the topspin serve?

preferably u go with the extreme 1hbh grip( sorry i dont know whats it called) but continental is fine too

 

[Nellie]

IF you are not brushing up the back of the ball, you are not getting topspin. If you are brushing the sides, you are likely opening up too early (stay sideways so you can hit up the back of the ball) and let the ball drop slightly so you can hit up and through the ball.

 

[naylor]

6 to 12! ... Is the continental grip fine for the topspin serve?

Use an Eastern backhand grip, just a fraction past Continental. Hold racket in front of you with a conti grip, release grip, turn racket fractionally - half a bevel - clockwise (towards the SHBH grip), regrip.

 

[LeeD]

Higher arc on your serve, up to 5' over the net, allows for you to hit UPWARDS at the ball, the ball goes slightly upwards off your racket, clears the net by tons, and arcs into the opponent's court.

 

[tennisdad65]

Use an Eastern backhand grip, just a fraction past Continental. Hold racket in front of you with a conti grip, release grip, turn racket fractionally - half a bevel - clockwise (towards the SHBH grip), regrip.

I use this grip for my serves too. Index knuckle on the edge, halfway between conti and Eastern backhand.

 

[TommyGNR]

One thing that you should know is that there is no such thing as a topspin serve in the strictest sense of the word. Nobody and that includes pro's can get the ball to rotate straight up and down on a serve. Kicks serve's have mostly side spin on them, but the rotation is shifted a little more towards a topspin ball. What I am trying to say is dont get fixated on looking at the ball to see how it spins. Watch the bounce. The important thing is wheather or not it bounces higher than your flat or slice.

Here is a article that explains how the spin of a kick serve works:
http://www.tennis.com/yourgame/instructionarticles/visuals/visuals.aspx?id=109012

 

[Funbun]

Thanks for the article, Tommy. I've always wanted even more kick in my serve, and you gave me one of the most logical, concise articles on how to get one.

 

[TheMagicianOfPrecision]

I'm a righty. Whenever I try a kick serve when serving on the deuce court, there's always a lot of sidespin when I attempt the kick serve. This results to my kick serve hitting the net which is the opposite effect of a kick serve.

I swing from an 8 to 2 motion and I toss the ball at 11. The thing is that I hit the ball at the same height of my flat serve. Could this be the reason that there is a lot of sidespin on my kick serve?

Im not trying too be rude too you or anything but if your serve has side-spin it is absolutely not a kick-serve, your coach should show you or he should get fired immidiately !

 

[alidisperanza]

Good advice already given, There are some good videos on you tube as well. Some slo-mo's of the pros. Also, there's nothing wrong with a bit of twist on the kick, I find it to be particularly useful if you can cut it out to the doubles alleys =]

Make sure you get a healthy knee bend in there as well. Often times a lot of my students can't hit a kick serve becuase they are very rigid with their bodies. The loser you are, the easier the stroke, the better the racquet acceleration you're going to get.

 

[xFullCourtTenniSx]

One thing that you should know is that there is no such thing as a topspin serve in the strictest sense of the word. Nobody and that includes pro's can get the ball to rotate straight up and down on a serve. Kicks serve's have mostly side spin on them, but the rotation is shifted a little more towards a topspin ball. What I am trying to say is dont get fixated on looking at the ball to see how it spins. Watch the bounce. The important thing is wheather or not it bounces higher than your flat or slice.

Here is a article that explains how the spin of a kick serve works:
http://www.tennis.com/yourgame/instructionarticles/visuals/visuals.aspx?id=109012

If you're talking to me, I know full well that there is no such thing as a true topspin serve. It's all sidespin. And the most upward rotation anyone has ever put on the ball was Pete Sampras spinning the ball at 8 to 2. That's not even 45 degrees! That's just 30 degrees, and he's a pro, the best server of all time, and generates the most upward topspin angle, yet it's ONLY 30 degrees!

However, ATTEMPTING to hit 6 to 12 will impart the idea of TRYING to brush up on the ball and will send the ball higher over the net. If aiming for 6 to 12 leads to 8 to 2, what do you think 8 to 2 will lead to?

And Roy, continental is fine for EVERY serve in the book. Also, yes 6 to 12. It doesn't matter if you have a kick serve if you can't get it over the net. What's the point of having a good shot if you can't get it in? Kick serves should have 3 feet of clearance over the net (give or take). You learn to walk before you learn to run. You learn to run before you sprint. You learn to hit slice serves before topspin serves, and topspin serves before full on twisting kick serves.

Im not trying too be rude too you or anything but if your serve has side-spin it is absolutely not a kick-serve, your coach should show you or he should get fired immidiately !

The method he is using to hit a kick serve is probably the fastest and easiest way to hit a kick serve. It works! I've tried it. It's much easier than spending months perfecting the idea of brushing up the ball. However, I already developed a kick serve when I tried it, so it came to me a lot easier.

Also, EVERY serve is hit with sidespin and nothing else. Kick serves are sidespin serves hit with a higher spinning angle. Like we already said, the steepest topspin serve ever generated was spinning at 8 to 2. That's a LOT of sidespin.

Not trying to be rude to anyone or anything, I'm just trying to emphasize a few points.

 

[alidisperanza]

If you're talking to me, I know full well that there is no such thing as a true topspin serve. It's all sidespin. And the most upward rotation anyone has ever put on the ball was Pete Sampras spinning the ball at 8 to 2. That's not even 45 degrees! That's just 30 degrees, and he's a pro, the best server of all time, and generates the most upward topspin angle, yet it's ONLY 30 degrees!

However, ATTEMPTING to hit 6 to 12 will impart the idea of TRYING to brush up on the ball and will send the ball higher over the net. If aiming for 6 to 12 leads to 8 to 2, what do you think 8 to 2 will lead to?

And Roy, continental is fine for EVERY serve in the book. Also, yes 6 to 12. It doesn't matter if you have a kick serve if you can't get it over the net. What's the point of having a good shot if you can't get it in? Kick serves should have 3 feet of clearance over the net (give or take). You learn to walk before you learn to run. You learn to run before you sprint. You learn to hit slice serves before topspin serves, and topspin serves before full on twisting kick serves.



The method he is using to hit a kick serve is probably the fastest and easiest way to hit a kick serve. It works! I've tried it. It's much easier than spending months perfecting the idea of brushing up the ball. However, I already developed a kick serve when I tried it, so it came to me a lot easier.

Also, EVERY serve is hit with sidespin and nothing else. Kick serves are sidespin serves hit with a higher spinning angle. Like we already said, the steepest topspin serve ever generated was spinning at 8 to 2. That's a LOT of sidespin.

Not trying to be rude to anyone or anything, I'm just trying to emphasize a few points.

Well articulated. *Thumbs up*

 

[Slazenger07]

Im not trying too be rude too you or anything but if your serve has side-spin it is absolutely not a kick-serve, your coach should show you or he should get fired immidiately !

ummm every kick serve has side spin on it, there is no way to hit a pure topspin serve, you might get mostly topspin but its always gonna have some side spin on it. thats why the kick serve changes directions slightly after it bounces.