Help my serve: Criticisms Welcome (Videos)

BullDogTennis

Hall of Fame
you need to work on your 2nd serve...hit up on it more, and swing harder

and your slice bh floats a lot you need to transfer your body weight into it more, so it'll penetrate the court more.

oh yea...is that the centenial sports indoor courts?
 

Ballinbob

Hall of Fame
forget the serve, work on your drive backhand first. That will help your game alot more than your serve right now. Serve is not bad at all compared to your backhand.

Like the guy above said, drive through the ball when slicing so it doesn't sit up. Also, on some of those medium pace balls to your backhand you could of really taken the offensive there.
 
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StuckInMalibu

Guest
Looks like you are bending at the waist at contact on the first serve (compare :10 sec to 2:29). Could be low toss, toss too far above your head (so you have to lean to your left to hit flat), or your head is looking down instead of at the ball. I have the same problems. I often re-toss instead of hitting the serve.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n76f2KJ36yA

You can see how Nadal stands very straight and erect when he serves.
 

Fedace

Banned
http://www.tennis.com/yourgame/instructionarticles/visuals/visuals.aspx?id=109012

Ok, take a look at this video of Pete at the top. See how his serve is a continuous rhythmic motion. and also see how he is loading on his back foot initially to get the power load. and then his weight shifts forward to release all the energy and power into the ball. The Front feet lift by Pete is not for looks. He does this to load all the power and weight into the back leg before he releases up and out into the ball.


And also you could turn your shoulders little bit more.

And Get rid of that Slice backhand. it is a _______,,,,,,Don't even know what to call it. Have more confidence on your topspin backhand then you will become more consistant with that shot. I know you are using the slice backhand cause you are afraid to miss with the topspin. I used to have this same problem til i figured out the Topspin 1-hander was actually easier to hit. only exception is the really high 1-handers, those slice is better. but even then, you can back up a bit and rip the topspin.
 
Your first serve looks good, maybe more weight transfer as you hit the ball. Your second serve doesn't look like it has a lot of pop to it.

I agree with everyone else about your backhand, it was probably your biggest liability in that game. The point that stands out to me is when he just kept hitting to your backhand, then he waited for a short ball and got to the net.
 

acehole

Banned
only minor problems with your serve. have a couple of thoughts for you, but how bout just the major one first. try finishing your serve with your left arm accross your waist instead of hanging to your left side. the first serve is a VERY good start, but just needs tweaked. laying that arm accross your waist should help a couple of small issues all at once. also you do not seem to be committed at all to the second serve. you should be just as intense(if not more) on your second as you are on your first.

if i was your coach, before doing anything else, i would advise adjusting that left arm first to see where that would leave us. and then correct other things from there.

if you dont mind, update if you try it.
 

coyfish

Hall of Fame
For you level your first serve is good. Your second could use some extra juice on it though. Maybe change your grip to a more extreme one so you can generate more spin. Then you can hit it harder and it will kick.

Like everyone else said though you need to work on those groundies :). Stop the backhand slice pushing.
 

snr

Semi-Pro
Nothing related to the serves but both your outfits look exactly like fed haha. First vid recent french 09, second vid AO 09 :p.
 

arunstennis

Rookie
ya your serve isn't a problem, i dont mean to be rude but your backhand can definitely be improved a lot but if you get that set you could be a serve and volleyer
 

samster

Hall of Fame
you need to work on your 2nd serve...hit up on it more, and swing harder

and your slice bh floats a lot you need to transfer your body weight into it more, so it'll penetrate the court more.

oh yea...is that the centenial sports indoor courts?

Yes, my second serve needs work as well.

Agree with the floating slice bh. It floats when I am tentative.
 

samster

Hall of Fame
Looks like you are bending at the waist at contact on the first serve (compare :10 sec to 2:29). Could be low toss, toss too far above your head (so you have to lean to your left to hit flat), or your head is looking down instead of at the ball. I have the same problems. I often re-toss instead of hitting the serve.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n76f2KJ36yA

You can see how Nadal stands very straight and erect when he serves.

Good pick up. My toss is often erratic and I have good days and bad days when it comes to the toss.
 

samster

Hall of Fame
only minor problems with your serve. have a couple of thoughts for you, but how bout just the major one first. try finishing your serve with your left arm accross your waist instead of hanging to your left side. the first serve is a VERY good start, but just needs tweaked. laying that arm accross your waist should help a couple of small issues all at once. also you do not seem to be committed at all to the second serve. you should be just as intense(if not more) on your second as you are on your first.

if i was your coach, before doing anything else, i would advise adjusting that left arm first to see where that would leave us. and then correct other things from there.

if you dont mind, update if you try it.

I am impressed you picked up the left arm issue. I didn't notice that until I used frame by frame assessment.

Does that mean I am opening up (not coiling enough) too fast?
 

samster

Hall of Fame
For you level your first serve is good. Your second could use some extra juice on it though. Maybe change your grip to a more extreme one so you can generate more spin. Then you can hit it harder and it will kick.

Like everyone else said though you need to work on those groundies :). Stop the backhand slice pushing.

While majority of folks been commenting on my backhand, that was a game where I made quite a few errors off that wing. Believe it or not, my backhand is the more consistent side.

Regarding the lack of pace or pushing as some as commented, my opponent was feeding off the pace and I had realized that he didn't like the lack of pace after losing the first set to him.

That said, I hit several backhands in that particular game with lack of conviction, as evident by the floaters.
 

imalil2gangsta4u

Hall of Fame
That backhand is just begging me to tear it up lol. Either swing faster or just use your topspin backhand. Your first serve is good but you should practice your 2nd to make the speeds closer.
 

ryangoring

Professional
instead of tossing more into the court, it looks like you are falling into the court. your form looks good to me, i'm no pro. you have the knee bend, you head is still up thru he contact of the ball.
yeah just toss more closely to the body and with your current form, you should have a higher percentage of first serve.

here is a vid of fed:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ZYoVwLGO9Q
 

obnoxious2

Semi-Pro
You need much more racquet head speed on your 2nd serve. Ignore the advice about hitting up at it more. Your hitting up at it just fine, it's where your contact point is that is causing it to almost sail long whcih explains why you dont have as much racquet head speed since you are afraid to go at it. And your contact point is affected by where you are tossing. Alot of people say that you should toss 2nd serve above your head which is where i disagree. I believe it should be out infront of you like going for a first serve. Where you toss it whether it is at your 1 or 12 is not the issue. Get the ball out infront and attack it even on a 2nd serve.
 

samster

Hall of Fame
instead of tossing more into the court, it looks like you are falling into the court. your form looks good to me, i'm no pro. you have the knee bend, you head is still up thru he contact of the ball.
yeah just toss more closely to the body and with your current form, you should have a higher percentage of first serve.

here is a vid of fed:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ZYoVwLGO9Q

You need much more racquet head speed on your 2nd serve. Ignore the advice about hitting up at it more. Your hitting up at it just fine, it's where your contact point is that is causing it to almost sail long whcih explains why you dont have as much racquet head speed since you are afraid to go at it. And your contact point is affected by where you are tossing. Alot of people say that you should toss 2nd serve above your head which is where i disagree. I believe it should be out infront of you like going for a first serve. Where you toss it whether it is at your 1 or 12 is not the issue. Get the ball out infront and attack it even on a 2nd serve.

Thank you gentlemen, I will continue working on the toss.
 

acehole

Banned
I am impressed you picked up the left arm issue. I didn't notice that until I used frame by frame assessment.

Does that mean I am opening up (not coiling enough) too fast?

there are a couple of things i see, the arm will probably fix them. you could try dipping your right shoulder a little lower too. but try the arm first.
 

EikelBeiter

Professional
2 main things i noticed:

You are not creating enough coil. Your shoulders are almost parallel to your hips. I would definitely turn those shoulders more.

You are not hitting the ball as high as you could hit it. Seems like you bend from your waist a little before you hit the ball.
 

samster

Hall of Fame
2 main things i noticed:

You are not creating enough coil. Your shoulders are almost parallel to your hips. I would definitely turn those shoulders more.

You are not hitting the ball as high as you could hit it. Seems like you bend from your waist a little before you hit the ball.

Agree.

You guys (from TTW) have been very helpful!
 

namui

Rookie
My 2 cents :

1) Toss the ball a little more out-front, even for the second serve.

2) Let the leg drive the hip turn and the shoulder turn to initiate your arm's forward swing. In a sense, delay the upper-body action a little bit, so as to synchronize the momentum from the leg-drive and lower body turn with your swing more efficiently.
 

samster

Hall of Fame
My 2 cents :

1) Toss the ball a little more out-front, even for the second serve.

2) Let the leg drive the hip turn and the shoulder turn to initiate your arm's forward swing. In a sense, delay the upper-body action a little bit, so as to synchronize the momentum from the leg-drive and lower body turn with your swing more efficiently.

I have struggled with my service toss for 20 years and even my non-tennis playing friends say my toss needs some work!
 
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Slicendicer

Guest
I have struggled with my service toss for 20 years and even my non-tennis playing friends say my toss needs some work!

Hey Samstah... how your Saram holding up? Haven't seen him 'round here in a while....
 
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