Have you ever had your serve radared and can you hit the fence on one bounce?

K

kevhen

Hall of Fame
I've had mine radared at 110mph and have have it bounce and stick in the fence at about 3-4 feet high on a slow outdoor surface. It bounces about 5 feet high on a fast indoor surface. Just curious to how fast and how high everyone else's serve goes. Please only reply if you have used radar and can hit the backfence with only one bounce in the service box. Show some video if you have some.
 
I can hit the back fence with a 70mph serve. It really depends on how much and what kind of spin you put on it and if it's down the tee or wide, etc.
 
watch_the_ball said:
I can hit the back fence with a 70mph serve. It really depends on how much and what kind of spin you put on it and if it's down the tee or wide, etc.
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I think he's refering to a perfectly flat serve; kevhen, you better clarify this, if you want your thread to work.
 
I haven't had mine radar checked, but it does stick to the fence at 4 feet. The ball solidly hits the fence.
 
Three or four years ago (I'm 18 now, so 3 years is a rather big difference) I had my flat serve clocked at 90. Now I'm sure even my topspin serves are approaching 100.

As for hitting the fence on one bounce...wow, I don't even qualify a serve as worth while hitting if it doesn't. A "good" serve needs to land at least 2' up the fence. "Great" serves hit the fence at 5'. And I've had two serves stick in the fence at nearly 6' (those really made me happy). My goal for the summer is to get one to hit the cross pole that lies in the vertical middle of the fence.

I must say, though, that my most impressive serve ever was when I was demoing the n6.1 and I hit one that went cleanly through two separate fences which had about a 4' gap between them. When I serve w/o a partner, probably 15-20% of my serves go through the fence, so that wasn't a surprise until I saw it continue through the second one. I can't give you numbers for speed or revolutions on it, but it must have been a damn heavy shot. :)
 
highest I've registered on a radar gun is 106mph. (usually serve in the mid-90s)

hitting the back fence is sorta placed on variables. I've played on courts where the fence is 8 feet behind the baseline to 25 feet behind the baseline...so I've hit the fence on one bounce many times...just not sure what your variables are.

Just a random side note. If you go to the US Open, they have radar guns set up for serving (they're free to use). Just remember...you don't get to use your racquet, and the setup is inside a cage, which does not allow you to reach and attack your toss cause the roof of the cage is too low. (The best I could get in there was 89mph - oh well)
 
yeah I would say about 30% of my serves stick in the fence but only like 5% or less ever go through the fence. It sort of depends on the fence. The older the chainlink fence the more likely it will go through from my experience.

6' feet high at the fence it impressive as my kick serves only go about that high when they are crossing the baseline and are on their way down then.

Most fences I have ever played on are the standard 120' dimension with 21' behind the baseline. How many people play on courts that aren't standard dimension fencing?
 
my flat serve hits about 3-4 ft high when serving down the middle

about 6 years ago, i did it at the US open. it clocked at 110. mind you, thats smacking it into a cage, sort of like a batting cage.
 
I'm not sure what you're asking but the ball usually wedges itself into the back fence when I hit a flat-ish serve. I'd love to get it radared though.
 
kevhen said:
How many people play on courts that aren't standard dimension fencing?
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I used to play regularly on a court that had 10' from baseline to fence. Needless to say it was horrible, and my racquet got a lot of abuse from catching the fence from backcourt groundstrokes. The one nice side effect though is it got me to hit on the rise much more.
 
Around 4 years ago I was clocked at 131mph. And I could feel that it wasn't quite my fastest either. Since then, I hurt my shoulder and I am trying to get it back but would estimate I might be around 115 now. But before, the ball would hit slight above the midpost of the backfence. :p

Zach
 
TennsDog said:
Three or four years ago (I'm 18 now, so 3 years is a rather big difference) I had my flat serve clocked at 90. Now I'm sure even my topspin serves are approaching 100.

As for hitting the fence on one bounce...wow, I don't even qualify a serve as worth while hitting if it doesn't. A "good" serve needs to land at least 2' up the fence. "Great" serves hit the fence at 5'. And I've had two serves stick in the fence at nearly 6' (those really made me happy). My goal for the summer is to get one to hit the cross pole that lies in the vertical middle of the fence.

I must say, though, that my most impressive serve ever was when I was demoing the n6.1 and I hit one that went cleanly through two separate fences which had about a 4' gap between them. When I serve w/o a partner, probably 15-20% of my serves go through the fence, so that wasn't a surprise until I saw it continue through the second one. I can't give you numbers for speed or revolutions on it, but it must have been a damn heavy shot. :)
Click to expand...

I only count a serve as really good if it sticks in my opponent. (I don't care how high up.)

PS- I don't count the netman in doubles, either!
 
kevhen said:
I've had mine radared at 110mph and have have it bounce and stick in the fence at about 3-4 feet high on a slow outdoor surface. It bounces about 5 feet high on a fast indoor surface. Just curious to how fast and how high everyone else's serve goes. Please only reply if you have used radar and can hit the backfence with only one bounce in the service box. Show some video if you have some.
Click to expand...

My fastest serve was 117 miles per hour (remember that was with racquets made in the late 70's). That was when I was around twenty years old. I am sure now that I am 47 and dont play nearly as much, it is not that fast. Still can crack it if I want to though. :)
 
I was only radar gunned once, at the US Open, and I managed 117 on the second try. I got three tries. I had to use an extended length Wilson racket. Didn't get a warm up. Pretty sure I could have gotten more speed with my own racket and a proper warmup, but I'm really more of a spot server.
 
VolklVenom said:
It is possible to serve a skidding 120mph serve that doesn't get anywhere near hitting the back fence with one bounce!
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If it hits something funky on the court.
 
TennsDog said:
What does a windscreen have to do with seeing the ball (or the rest of this post, for that matter)?
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tennsdog,

if u were standing behind the windscreen, how can you see how high the ball bounced?

but i have played on courts with tranparent windscreens

sort of like the windows you can see out, but cant see in
 
Most courts near my house don't have windscreens. Also, even when there is a windscreen, I'm inside of it, not behind it.
 
TennsDog said:
Most courts near my house don't have windscreens. Also, even when there is a windscreen, I'm inside of it, not behind it.
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tennsdog

i was only kidding

it harder to track the ball without windscreens while you are playing.

agree?
 
c_zimma said:
You guys should post some videos of your serves so people can get an idea of what 120 mph looks like.
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Well you could watch Wimbledon to see. :D

But yeah, I can't wait to get a good camcorder but waiting on a good deal since im picky on the exact model I want. I wouldn't mine posting some vid's for comments or critiques like others do on here.

Zach
 
ZPTennis said:
Well you could watch Wimbledon to see. :D

But yeah, I can't wait to get a good camcorder but waiting on a good deal since im picky on the exact model I want. I wouldn't mine posting some vid's for comments or critiques like others do on here.

Zach
Click to expand...

Sounds like it should be a good investment. My only need for one would be to share my strokes with you guys, but I have dial up. Pretty hard to upload, or atleast time-consuming. But good luck with your purchase.
 
c_zimma said:
Sounds like it should be a good investment. My only need for one would be to share my strokes with you guys, but I have dial up. Pretty hard to upload, or atleast time-consuming. But good luck with your purchase.
Click to expand...

It can be very useful. When I was younger, my dad used to put a camera on a thing he made which would hook up to the top of the fence right in the middle. He had the angle and everything perfect so would only need to turn it on. We recorded my matches as a junior in tournaments and it turned out to be excellent for analyzing my match to show what I did right and what I did wrong on different points played.
 
pushing_wins said:
nice serve

got a question,

when you are serving your 120, what is the feeling through contact?

are you hitting up on it? any spin?
Click to expand...
I don't know that I can confidently say I can hit serves 120 (yet). I haven't had it clocked any time recently, though. Perhaps my flat serves can get up there, not sure. As for the feeling, just with any serve or stroke, you know it when you hit what you want. One thing I like to do when practicing serves is rating on a scale of 1-100 of how good of a serve it was I hit solely on the feeling, not on what it looks like or acted. You can tell immediately at contact if it feels right. Nothing feels better than making contact with a serve rated 100. When hitting a big bomb, contact almost feels like using a baseball bat on a tennis ball -- the ball just doesn't stand a chance. It just gets sent screaming across the court and it feels great.
 
TennsDog said:
I don't know that I can confidently say I can hit serves 120 (yet). I haven't had it clocked any time recently, though. Perhaps my flat serves can get up there, not sure. As for the feeling, just with any serve or stroke, you know it when you hit what you want. One thing I like to do when practicing serves is rating on a scale of 1-100 of how good of a serve it was I hit solely on the feeling, not on what it looks like or acted. You can tell immediately at contact if it feels right. Nothing feels better than making contact with a serve rated 100. When hitting a big bomb, contact almost feels like using a baseball bat on a tennis ball -- the ball just doesn't stand a chance. It just gets sent screaming across the court and it feels great.
Click to expand...

Nice looking serve you have there. You know your serving big when you hear a loud crack as as you make contact with the ball. :)
 
kevhen said:
I've had mine radared at 110mph and have have it bounce and stick in the fence at about 3-4 feet high on a slow outdoor surface. It bounces about 5 feet high on a fast indoor surface. Just curious to how fast and how high everyone else's serve goes. Please only reply if you have used radar and can hit the backfence with only one bounce in the service box. Show some video if you have some.
Click to expand...


Kevin, do you think a better question would be how can I improve my serve?
 
No, I was just curious if others have been radared and could give results as to how hard they hit and how high on the fence their flat serves go. I think they would be some correlation to speed and height if enough people chimed in.

I have a 5.0 serve that is still improving mostly from practice and working on better placement.
 
I can hit the fence with dead balls and flat or slice serve in either corner, but I doubt those are much over 80mph. With new balls I can probably get near 100 and it's a few feet higher. My 1st serve % is very low though if I try to hit over 75/80mph in a match.

I know several guys who can hit just over 100, but their percentage is 30% or less. Your timing will improve the more you return them, but most players are smart enough to also use a nasty kick serve for a 2nd. That's often more effective than a hard flat serve in the middle of the box.
 
kevhen said:
No, I was just curious if others have been radared and could give results as to how hard they hit and how high on the fence their flat serves go. I think they would be some correlation to speed and height if enough people chimed in.

I have a 5.0 serve that is still improving mostly from practice and working on better placement.
Click to expand...


WOW 5.0 serve. You must have improved since that video you posted and made some changes to your mechanics. Looks to me your missing all the power from the coil. But what do I know, I have 2.0 serve ;) Your 6-4”, with some changes you could have on your scale a 7.0 serve. MPH is not all of what makes a serve.
 
Agree about mph being overrated. The slice is a very good serve to have and also a kick outwide from the ad court comes in handy too.

But this thread is about those who have been radared and how high they hit up the fence with a flat serve.
 
Mike Cottrill said:
WOW 5.0 serve. You must have improved since that video you posted and made some changes to your mechanics. Looks to me your missing all the power from the coil. But what do I know, I have 2.0 serve ;) Your 6-4”, with some changes you could have on your scale a 7.0 serve. MPH is not all of what makes a serve.
Click to expand...

LOL, you are right! I would say Kevhen has a lot of potential but his leg kick sidways, the grip, and some of his motion can improve his serve.
 
TennsDog said:
I don't know that I can confidently say I can hit serves 120 (yet). I haven't had it clocked any time recently, though. Perhaps my flat serves can get up there, not sure. As for the feeling, just with any serve or stroke, you know it when you hit what you want. One thing I like to do when practicing serves is rating on a scale of 1-100 of how good of a serve it was I hit solely on the feeling, not on what it looks like or acted. You can tell immediately at contact if it feels right. Nothing feels better than making contact with a serve rated 100. When hitting a big bomb, contact almost feels like using a baseball bat on a tennis ball -- the ball just doesn't stand a chance. It just gets sent screaming across the court and it feels great.
Click to expand...

thanks

let me rephrase the question

when you are going for your first serve bomb, are you trying to make contact flat on or at an angle? how do you visualise contact in your mind?

i think even pros serve with a little spin on their big bombers. JMHO
 
My biggest 1st serve I have ever recorded was 119mph down the "T" with a HPS 6.1 2 years ago. I serve around 90-105 consistantly with my ncode 6.1. When I used the 03 tour, I could never break 90mph. I never look at how high the balls bounce because I play primarily indoors.
 
TennsDog said:
Nothing feels better than making contact with a serve rated 100. When hitting a big bomb, contact almost feels like using a baseball bat on a tennis ball -- the ball just doesn't stand a chance. It just gets sent screaming across the court and it feels great.
Click to expand...

Good post! And yes, nothing feels better (well that can be debated). What feels even better is when your toss is putting the ball consistently in one spot and you are tagging different serves and placements with that toss. That is when it is hummin.

When I hit my first serve, I do not think about how the racquet face is going to hit the ball, I think about where on the ball I want to hit. By now, my motion, using a continental grip, has trained the arm to accept the natural pronation that occurs during a very fast and loose motion. If I think about the face of my racquet, my motion tends to slow down as I try to perfect the face angle hitting the ball.

It is my toss location, the kinetic motion I build up for the toss location, and that part of the ball I am trying to hit that constitutes my serve motion.

I firmly believe that through practice, with an appropriate toss for the type of serve you want to hit, and you trying to hit the ball in that spot that creates that spin, you will learn whatever serve you need to learn. I don't concentrate on wrist snaps (happens naturally), I dont concentrate on racquet angle (too hard to monitor if I am trying to really speed things up), etc...
 
I'm pretty short so I can't smash the ball easily into the service box. Instead having a flat serve, I have a very developed kick serve, topspin serve, and slice serve.
 
Bungalo Bill said:
Good post! And yes, nothing feels better (well that can be debated). What feels even better is when your toss is putting the ball consistently in one spot and you are tagging different serves and placements with that toss. That is when it is hummin.

When I hit my first serve, I do not think about how the racquet face is going to hit the ball, I think about where on the ball I want to hit. By now, my motion, using a continental grip, has trained the arm to accept the natural pronation that occurs during a very fast and loose motion. If I think about the face of my racquet, my motion tends to slow down as I try to perfect the face angle hitting the ball.

It is my toss location, the kinetic motion I build up for the toss location, and that part of the ball I am trying to hit that constitutes my serve motion.

I firmly believe that through practice, with an appropriate toss for the type of serve you want to hit, and you trying to hit the ball in that spot that creates that spin, you will learn whatever serve you need to learn. I don't concentrate on wrist snaps (happens naturally), I dont concentrate on racquet angle (too hard to monitor if I am trying to really speed things up), etc...
Click to expand...

bb

for the bomber, where on the ball are you hitting?
 
tennsdog,

thats a sweet looking serve

you rate yourself a 4.5

i saw a div 1 player win a 5.0 tourney with an inferior motion. i would say it is many levels above kev's 5.0 serve.

do you mind if i start a debate about the rating of your serve?
 
pushing_wins said:
tennsdog,

thats a sweet looking serve

you rate yourself a 4.5

i saw a div 1 player win a 5.0 tourney with an inferior motion. i would say it is many levels above kev's 5.0 serve.

do you mind if i start a debate about the rating of your serve?
Click to expand...
Lol, no. Have away at my serve if you want. I rate my overall game at 4.5 (though I believe I am just about at 5.0 now with a few improvements I've made). My serve is no doubt the best part of my game. I love serving. Love-40 is no problem. I have also changed my serve slightly since that video was taken over a year ago. I now keep my racket down a little longer and bring my shoulders forward with my hips.

Anyway, I agree with Bill that it is not ideal to think about contact in terms of spin and racket angle. I think about making sure my elbow is well in front of my wrist to whip the racket head around for a topspin serve and I focus on hitting directly behind the ball (NOT DOWN) for a flat serve. Hitting different serves after so long is kind of like turning on rollerblades, you don't really think about how you're doing it -- you just kind of think about what you want to happen and it does. The body takes over from there.
 
I have not tired having my serve measured by radar.

Yes, the ball hitting the back fence on one bounce (landed in the service box). Had several balls hit the cyclone fence and got stuck (some were in half way - I had to push the ball or kick it to take it out).
 
pushing_wins said:
bb

for the bomber, where on the ball are you hitting?
Click to expand...

For the big bomb, I send the racquet directly into the ball. I dont worry about racquet angle - just contact. Muscle memory has already gone through training to get the results I want for any serve - it is automatic now.

I think and it happens.
 
Speed doesn't mean much AceYouVeryMuch ;p. I can hit an effective 85 mph serve going out wide and be setup for the cross-court return and then hit down the line and close in to volley the winner into the open court.

RPMs and location is much better. Though, speed is not bad -- since it wins a lot of free points. But once you start playing people who can get those serves back it's really tough since most people don't expect it.
 
i've been clocked at 105 mph at one of those cages at the SAP open, but i'm not sure how true it is. doesn't seem like i serve that fast on the courts! i can hit the back fence w/ one bounce, though i didn't really measure how high up. i dunno about hitting balls through the fence, i've made it stick a couple times, but not through.
 
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