How to hit harder flat serve?

[ubermeyer]

I recently vastly improved my flat 1st serve speed. Nonetheless it is still very slow by anyone else's standards and also is not consistent at all (luckily my 2nd serve is very consistent.) I am somewhat short, 5'8 (actually, 5'7 and 3/4), so that is maybe why it is inconsistent.

Can you tell me tips for hitting harder flat serves, that actually go in once in a while?

 

[masterxfob]

i don't understand why people think that if their 1st serve isn't going in, they need to hit it harder. then after they lose all confidence, they frying pan a sitter that gets crushed.

anyhow, slow it down and practice. add more spin and try to be more accurate with your placement. once you can hit 60% of your serves in, flatten it out a little and try to build the speed while nailing 60% of them.

edit: your height has little to nothing to do with why your serve is inconsistent.

 

[LeeD]

At your height, and MichaelChang is a real 5'7", there is potential to hit about 125mh on a clay court.
And it can be as consistent as all get out... but it still won't go in more than 35% during MATCH play. You're too short. You'll miss by millimeters, clipping the net cord or having it called "OUT".
Reality favors tall guys for all serves.
However, you can improve by watching and emulating the service motion of top servers OF YOUR HEIGHT on the pro tour.
Can't help you hit faster unless we know how you hit NOW.

 

[SethIMcClaine]

Slow down your swing and concentrate more on contact... hitting that sweet spot with the right swing path and slowly work up your swing pace. As everyone has pointed out so far, height is a blessing that you don't have. Flat serves shouldn't be at the top of your list of serves. Concentrate on kicks and slices.

 

[Nellie]

I am not much taller that you (about 5'10 with short arms), but can serve pretty hard. I don't hit too many flat serves, except over the low, center line of the net. I go mostly with a hybrid second - mostly flat with some spin. I find a high and forward toss, delaying the shoulder rotation and good wrist pronation are the most important things for my service speed, but I have always had a good arm.

 

[ubermeyer]

Slow down your swing and concentrate more on contact... hitting that sweet spot with the right swing path and slowly work up your swing pace. As everyone has pointed out so far, height is a blessing that you don't have. Flat serves shouldn't be at the top of your list of serves. Concentrate on kicks and slices.

i hate spin serves... oh well i guess i'm stuck being short for now

 

[charliefedererer]

Crush your topspin serve.
Use a maximum windup and hit it as hard as you reasonably can, and let the topspin take it down and into the court.
If indeed you grow some more, all you will have to do is move the toss slightly more forward and then you can crush your flatter topspin serve.
Watch all the players at the US Open.
No one is hitting a perfectly flat serve.
Everyone uses plenty of topspin (and a little slice) on their first serve.
Notice how much they arch their back so they can get hit over the top of the ball, spinning it down and in.
To get a bigger windup, and therefore more racquet head speed, make sure you are dropping your raquet vertically down, and getting it quite low at its lowest point. Do this by protruding your forward hip out (forcing your hitting shoulder down.) As you spring up from this position, your whole upper body will be thrown forward (while your chest is still pointed up to the sky), so it is not just your arm "muscling" the ball for pace and spin. http://www.fuzzyyellowballs.com/vid...-technique/leading-with-your-hip-when-serving

 

[darthpwner]

Well you can do a few things to offset your lack of height that will help you but may take a while to get used to. First, move your grip over to a more eastern backhand grip. Because the racket head is more closed, you can take a bigger cut and the ball and the racket head speed will cause the ball to have a high net clearance and drop into the court. Second, modify your stance to a more McEnroe like stance. Naturally, the more closed your stance, the less power you generate. But, it forces your toss to be hit further behind your head. This helps give your serve height over the net. Also, the closed stance keeps your shoulders and hips from opening up to early. Another advantage is when you toss further back, you naturally bend your knees which could add some pace, spin, and height. Lastly, because you get less power with the same swing than a more open stance, you can swing even faster and the ball will land in. I noticed that people with more extreme closed stances like McEnroe, Sampras, Dent, Alex Clayton, hit a much heavier serve.

 

[ubermeyer]

Crush your topspin serve.
Use a maximum windup and hit it as hard as you reasonably can, and let the topspin take it down and into the court.
If indeed you grow some more, all you will have to do is move the toss slightly more forward and then you can crush your flatter topspin serve.
Watch all the players at the US Open.
No one is hitting a perfectly flat serve.
Everyone uses plenty of topspin (and a little slice) on their first serve.
Notice how much they arch their back so they can get hit over the top of the ball, spinning it down and in.
To get a bigger windup, and therefore more racquet head speed, make sure you are dropping your raquet vertically down, and getting it quite low at its lowest point. Do this by protruding your forward hip out (forcing your hitting shoulder down.) As you spring up from this position, your whole upper body will be thrown forward (while your chest is still pointed up to the sky), so it is not just your arm "muscling" the ball for pace and spin. http://www.fuzzyyellowballs.com/vid...-technique/leading-with-your-hip-when-serving

thanks for the tip. Only one question, is it possible to do topspin and slice at the same time? (i mean in serving, of course slice means something different on groundstrokes)

doesn't karlovic hit a completely flat 1st serve? man i wish i was a foot or so taller

 

[callen3615]

man i wish i was a foot or so taller

Dude, your not alone.

 

[LeeD]

We all wish we were a little taller, for tennis.
Sure, a topspin slice just breaks left with topspin for a rightie server. A topspin twist breaks left after the bounce, and a pure topspin goes straight ahead......
But you know what? We gotta live with what twas provided us, so being short can have certain advantages as does being overly tall. You just gotta find the advantage with what the creator gave you and work with it.

 

[In D Zone]

I am just sick and tired of people using their height (short) as an excuse for not having a bomb on their serve. This has got to STOP!

Using this excuse is one of the main obstacle that is why you are not getting better.

YES, taller players have the advantage on serve. But it does not mean you have to roll down and die!

Work on your form!
Work on your ball placement. You'll definitely win more points on serve if you can direct your serve.
Improve Slice and Topspin serve. Great added weapon aside from Flat!
Be confident on your Serve!
Improve your Serve Percentage 1st and 2nd serve.

 

[ubermeyer]

Work on your form!
Work on your ball placement. You'll definitely win more points on serve if you can direct your serve.
Improve Slice and Topspin serve. Great added weapon aside from Flat!
Be confident on your Serve!
Improve your Serve Percentage 1st and 2nd serve.

Exactly what I was asking how to do. My 2nd serve % is impossible to improve; it's 100%. However, could you please give me tips about the rest of your suggestions?

 

[charliefedererer]

thanks for the tip. Only one question, is it possible to do topspin and slice at the same time? (i mean in serving, of course slice means something different on groundstrokes)

doesn't karlovic hit a completely flat 1st serve? man i wish i was a foot or so taller

click on this graphic for more info

Systemic Anomoly posted this in a recent thread: http://tt.tennis-warehouse.com/showthread.php?t=278712

Let's face it.
Even if you grow, it's unlikely you are ever going to be as tall as Karlovic, and even he puts topspin on his first serve.
To have a consistant first serve, you should be tossing it closer to the topspin serve than the topspin-slice position for now. Once you have that high percentage first serve you can start edging it our closer to the topspin-slice position. And again, no one hits a pure flat serve consistently. Why would you not want to take advantage of the topspin when it will both help curve the ball into the service box, and bound up faster producing a real "heavy" ball.
Sampras is considered by most to have had the best serve of all time. And his first serve had a rotational spin of 2500 revolutions per minute in addition to the 120 mph forward speed when it left his racquet.
Check out how fast the ball is spinning on pro's first and second serves on the following link: http://wings.avkids.com/Tennis/Project/usspin-07.html
And the following conclusion is generally well accepted: "Sampras's ability to generate both velocity and spin on his first serve may explain his ability to serve with such great consistency and effectiveness, particularly under pressure."

 

[In D Zone]

Exactly what I was asking how to do. My 2nd serve % is impossible to improve; it's 100%. However, could you please give me tips about the rest of your suggestions?

Keep the serve as simple as possible.
- keep the toss to medium height
- do not jump when serving (very important!!)
- relax you arm and wrist as you swing thru the ball
- keep eye fixed on the ball from the time you toss and all way till ball blurrs out from contact
- toss the ball into the court ; allowing your shoulder and racquet to move forward into the court upon contact.

- The swing: this is where you need to experiment. You can try going with the traditional back scratch position to serve. Or you can try the short abbreviated (no back scratch) ; racquet goes straight from shoulder and up to serve (aka Nadal, Justine Henin).
I prefer the traditional back scratch position but my son perfers the short abbreviated motion.

Start off with the serve slow. Goal is to get the timing on learning to make good ball / racquet contact on the sweetspot during the serve. You'll notice the serve will have alot of pop and pace, and you are not even try to swing faster.
As you figure out which swing you like work on it to gain more confidence. Simply add more racquet speed and you make contact - the pace will come.

Then the next step is to bend the knees as you start the toss -adding more power to your serve.

Serve is like a ritual - you must get into a rhythm that is comfortable to you. Similar to shooting a foul shot on a basketball.


Always go big on your 2nd serve:
Don't just baby serve the slice / topspin / Kick.
The difference between the 1st and 2nd are the toss positioning as illustrated above post #14 and ball contact ( more brush on the ball for more spin).

I have won a lot of points on my 2nd serve or using slice / topspin serve.