Hows this serve looking?

[Digital Atheist]

The only thing you need to do for a great take back and trophy position is the simultaneous coiling of torso/shoulders and lifting the elbow up.

Sure, but some people prefer to use racquet momentum to help reach trophy with a fuller backswing and that's not wrong either. At any rate, it's his movement FROM trophy into a crippled racquet drop that is the real problem, in part due to a slight WT as pointed out by Mr Atp.

This is just my opinion OP, but if you continue to go out and hit hundreds of serves in these dedicated sessions without first discovering how a real drop feels before incorporating it into a live swing - and that will require some trial and error, either by the dangling method outlined by Feel tennis, or the elbow drill in the OTI video, or by practicing throwing, all of the above, or whatever other drill you find allows you to successfully reach that racquet drop position correctly - then nothing will change. Your anecdotal experience should be enough to tell you there is some truth in what I say given the lack of progress, despite your hard work (I've been there myself when adding more leg drive to my own serve; even that wasn't so easy but changing a racquet drop is much harder).

I believe strongly the only way to make such a major change is finding the right position, by whatever means works for you as outlined above, and then many many many shadow swings followed by hitting ONE serve, then 5 more shadow swings, then 1 more serve, then 5 more and so on and so forth. That's a process that needs to be done for several hours at a time before moving to 1 or 2 shadow swings and hitting 1serve. All the while the video needs checked to make sure the racquet drop is still correct. Just hitting serves the way you are over and over won't change anything. BTW I recommend removing the lower body completely from the equation until you have your throwing mechanics and/or upper body sorted.

EDIT: The images in Post #34 are the reason why I think you need to focus on the upper body/arm/racquet drop before attempting a full motion.

As stated, all just opinion.

 

[Curious]

Sure, but some people prefer to use racquet momentum to help reach trophy with a fuller backswing and that's not wrong either. At any rate, it's his movement FROM trophy into a crippled racquet drop that is the real problem, in part due to a slight WT as pointed out by Mr Atp.

This is just my opinion OP, but if you continue to go out and hit hundreds of serves in these dedicated sessions without first discovering how a real drop feels before incorporating it into a live swing - and that will require some trial and error, either by the dangling method outlined by Feel tennis, or the elbow drill in the OTI video, or by practicing throwing, all of the above, or whatever other drill you find allows you to successfully reach that racquet drop position correctly - then nothing will change. Your anecdotal experience should be enough to tell you there is some truth in what I say given the lack of progress, despite your hard work (I've been there myself when adding more leg drive to my own serve; even that wasn't so easy but changing a racquet drop is much harder).

I believe strongly the only way to make such a major change is finding the right position, by whatever means works for you as outlined above, and then many many many shadow swings followed by hitting ONE serve, then 5 more shadow swings, then 1 more serve, then 5 more and so on and so forth. That's a process that needs to be done for several hours at a time before moving to 1 or 2 shadow swings and hitting 1serve. All the while the video needs checked to make sure the racquet drop is still correct. Just hitting serves the way you are over and over won't change anything. BTW I recommend removing the lower body completely from the equation until you have your throwing mechanics and/or upper body sorted.

As stated, all just opinion.

I have to agree that nothing could be better/quicker than a good coach giving you instant feedback and correction. Isn't that an option, @StringSnapper ? I mean at least one or two sessions. I must also say that I was somewhat arrogant when it was about serve and thought I could figure it out myself, which has happened to a large extent!

 

[Digital Atheist]

I have to agree that nothing could be better/quicker than a good coach giving you instant feedback and correction. Isn't that an option, @StringSnapper ? I mean at least one or two sessions. I must also say that I was somewhat arrogant when it was about serve and thought I could figure it out myself, which has happened to a large extent!

Agree. And if not, then at the very least a hitting buddy watching from behind making sure you're hitting the drop position correctly, and stopping you when regression occurs. That's easier than video review every minute, which is a PITA!

EDIT: More from Salzy on the leg drive.

 

[NuBas]

Was about to say you look like StringSnapper then realized you just changed your avatar.

 

[sac65849]

Ok watching SS put in all this work has inspired me. I have not really focused on the serve for a while due to a shoulder injury. I am better now but looking at the video I can see a lot of room for improvement. Sorry for the terrible video but it was spur of the moment and I wanted a before video. I will post in a few weeks to see if I can get a little more mph on my serve. I hit 6 serves and two of them were out but close. I will drag out a better camera next time.

 

[Curious]

Ok watching SS put in all this work has inspired me. I have not really focused on the serve for a while due to a shoulder injury. I am better now but looking at the video I can see a lot of room for improvement. Sorry for the terrible video but it was spur of the moment and I wanted a before video. I will post in a few weeks to see if I can get a little more mph on my serve. I hit 6 serves and two of them were out but close. I will drag out a better camera next time.

Nice and explosive!

 

[Chas Tennis]

Ok watching SS put in all this work has inspired me. I have not really focused on the serve for a while due to a shoulder injury. I am better now but looking at the video I can see a lot of room for improvement. Sorry for the terrible video but it was spur of the moment and I wanted a before video. I will post in a few weeks to see if I can get a little more mph on my serve. I hit 6 serves and two of them were out but close. I will drag out a better camera next time.

Shoot during daylight and the camera's automatic exposure control will select a fast shutter and there will be much less motion blur.