Hand position on serve toss.

[2nd Serve Ace]

So I've always thought that the back of your hand should face down when lifting the serve toss.

But I've noticed that some very good servers have the back of the hand facing more towards the net. (Fed about 3/4s and Karlovic almost fully parallel!)

I gave this forward facing approach tonight a try and it actually was super consistent and promoted a good rhythm. [emoji16]

Definitely something to consider if you want to keep 1st and 2nds pretty close in velocity.

 

[golden chicken]

I've heard this referred to as the ice cream cone style toss.

 

[Mountain Ghost]

Serve Toss With Hand Sideways: Aside from eliminating any potential "wrist action" ... the advantage of this tossing method is that it eliminates the variations caused by the ball rolling OFF the fingers at the point of release ... which can also be accomplished by holding the ball with the finger tips (NOT in the palm) ... and then opening all the fingers at once from a palm-up position.

~ MG

 

[2nd Serve Ace]

I think the palm up hold also turns the elbow a bit unnaturally and therefore creates tension in the arm.

 

[Mongolmike]

I've heard this referred to as the ice cream cone style toss.

I'm one of those that holds two balls all the time, even when I toss... so mimicing it as I sit here, I guess I do the ice cream cone toss. Never even thought about it.
That said, for ME, I think this contributes to a really reliable toss. Holding two balls, there is no wrist flick, no finger flick, no heavy holding pressure.