I can’t decide between pinpoint and platform serve!

[Pitti]

Hi. I have a little problem deciding on my serve style. I can’t decide between pinpoint and platform stances. I can serve both ways and don’t feel completely comfortable either way. It’s reached the point where I’m unconsciously using both of them during a match. There‘s a reason behind: when I started playing tennis I learned to serve pinpoint style. Some years after, I learned to serve in platform stance due to my admiration for Federer technique, Then I gave tennis up for 10 years and now my mind is a mess even a couple of years after playing regularly again.

I can’t currently post a video of my serve, but essentially:
- My toss is not very high.
- My placement is good, although sometimes I lack a bit of power. My few aces are more due to a good angle or placement than to power.
- When I use platform stance, I usually get less power than when I use pinpoint stance. Maybe it is because pinpoint forces me to throw my body against the ball. I also use a lower toss in platform, which could be another reason.
- But whenever I feel insecure about my serve (like in breakpoints for my rival), I end up unconsciously serving in platform stance again. Maybe because it’s more stable?

What are your thoughts? Any tip that could help me figure out things?

Thank you!

 

[Dragy]

But whenever I feel insecure about my serve (like in breakpoints for my rival), I end up unconsciously serving in platform stance again.

I think you need to train yourself to keep RHS and rely on spin in tight moments to secure your successfully making the serve. And if pinpoint makes you swing with more energy onto the ball, go with it and learn to use it in your favor.

 

[S&V-not_dead_yet]

Hi. I have a little problem deciding on my serve style. I can’t decide between pinpoint and platform stances. I can serve both ways and don’t feel completely comfortable either way. It’s reached the point where I’m unconsciously using both of them during a match. There‘s a reason behind: when I started playing tennis I learned to serve pinpoint style. Some years after, I learned to serve in platform stance due to my admiration for Federer technique, Then I gave tennis up for 10 years and now my mind is a mess even a couple of years after playing regularly again.

I can’t currently post a video of my serve, but essentially:
- My toss is not very high.
- My placement is good, although sometimes I lack a bit of power. My few aces are more due to a good angle or placement than to power.
- When I use platform stance, I usually get less power than when I use pinpoint stance. Maybe it is because pinpoint forces me to throw my body against the ball. I also use a lower toss in platform, which could be another reason.
- But whenever I feel insecure about my serve (like in breakpoints for my rival), I end up unconsciously serving in platform stance again. Maybe because it’s more stable?

What are your thoughts? Any tip that could help me figure out things?

Thank you!

There are pros and cons to each. The important thing is to figure out which one suits you better, not which pros use which stance or how fast they can serve.

IMO, the biggest advantages for platform are the stability and simplicity. If you're having problems with consistency and balance, platform is probably the better option, at least until you can fix those fundamental problems [which are not caused by the serve stance but accentuated by it].

The big tell for me is your "insecurity" comment. That points strongly to platform.

It's like someone who can speak several languages but they still think predominantantly in one language. Go with the stance you're most comfortable with, not the one that necessarily has more power or angle, etc. The one you can rely on come he11 or high water.

 

[FRV3]

I'm a big fan of the platform stance.

 

[nochuola]

From your description, it sounds like your platform serve is less powerful because you aren't properly loading up and driving through your back leg. It sounds like you are leaning and falling forward into your serve instead of driving upwards, which is why you toss even lower when you serve platform to compensate. I would suggest you try to put more of your weight in your back leg and drive upwards and see if that helps.

For the record, I don't really understand why pinpoint is so common. Surely pinpoint is more complicated, and harder to learn for new players since it is one extra move more than platform to keep track of? I expected pinpoint to be a lot less common like how one hand backhand is less common than two hander.

 

[t_pac]

I went through the same dilemma for a while. My first serve is a little bigger with pinpoint but platform gives me better accuracy and particularly on my 2nd serve, it's more reliable.

Plus platform just looks better lol.

 

[PKorda]

I think if you're in doubt go with platform and work on that.

 

[SystemicAnomaly]

I went through the same dilemma for a while. My first serve is a little bigger with pinpoint but platform gives me better accuracy and particularly on my 2nd serve, it's more reliable.

Plus platform just looks better lol.

It wasn't so much dilemma as a matter of choice for me. I felt fairly comfortable using either but used platform somewhat more.

Quite often, I would use the PP for 1st serves and then a platform for 2nd serves. Didn't always do this. Situational. Depended how I was feeling (with each) and what I was trying to do with my serves overall.

 

[golden chicken]

I also can hit either way. I prefer platform. Sometimes I feel like I'm a tiny bit quicker to the net with pinpoint because I'm leaning over the baseline more, but the simplicity of platform means I need less practice to be effective.

 

[Shroud]

From your description, it sounds like your platform serve is less powerful because you aren't properly loading up and driving through your back leg. It sounds like you are leaning and falling forward into your serve instead of driving upwards, which is why you toss even lower when you serve platform to compensate. I would suggest you try to put more of your weight in your back leg and drive upwards and see if that helps.

For the record, I don't really understand why pinpoint is so common. Surely pinpoint is more complicated, and harder to learn for new players since it is one extra move more than platform to keep track of? I expected pinpoint to be a lot less common like how one hand backhand is less common than two hander.

Pin point is common because its effective. The serve is basically a throwing motion and throwing is more effective when you have a step involved. Football baseball etc all have footwork with their throwing. So its easy to translate other sports to the serve and not as hard as you make it sound.

Not saying pinpoint is exactly the same footwork because its not but its not complicated to adjust from throwing a football for instance, to serving pinpoint.

Platform is also much harder on the knees. At least for me which is why I went back to pinpoint

 

[golden chicken]

I would've argued platform is more like throwing a football than pinpoint. Ideally, you don't step your back foot up to your front foot to throw a football.

 

[Dragy]

Pin point is common because its effective. The serve is basically a throwing motion and throwing is more effective when you have a step involved. Football baseball etc all have footwork with their throwing. So its easy to translate other sports to the serve and not as hard as you make it sound.

Not saying pinpoint is exactly the same footwork because its not but its not complicated to adjust from throwing a football for instance, to serving pinpoint.

Platform is also much harder on the knees. At least for me which is why I went back to pinpoint

That’s true, pinpoint makes getting into dynamic balance (opposite to static balance) more easier, which is fruitful for serving motion. Of course same can be done with platform as well, just requires more mindful effort to learn.

 

[Cashman]

That’s true, pinpoint makes getting into dynamic balance (opposite to static balance) more easier, which is fruitful for serving motion. Of course same can be done with platform as well, just requires more mindful effort to learn.

It’s very, very difficult to get the same sort of aggressive forward weight transfer with a platform stance that you can with a pinpoint stance. Sampras achieved it by loading up his hips, but he’s a rarity.

I have gone back and forth a bit between platform and pinpoint. Whilst the extra leg drive I get from a platform stance is nice (especially since I am only average height), overall I just find pinpoint to be a far more efficient motion - because it makes use of forward momentum. I can especially feel the difference by the fourth or fifth set of the day.

Even if I didn’t serve and volley extensively, I think I’d still serve pinpoint.

 

[Oval_Solid]

first serve: use pin point
second serve use platform

 

[Cashman]

first serve: use pin point
second serve use platform

I don’t think I’d recommend that. Swapping back and forth constantly during a game will really mess with the rhythm of your service motion.

 

[sredna42]

Platform definitely makes it easier to swing up, and there are less moving parts to time, or for the rhythm to fall apart on, so overall I'd say to pick platform if you can do it.

 

[Pitti]

Hi. Thank you everyone. On last day I rallied with a friend (just before opening this thread) I tried a few platform/pinpoint serves. Whenever I served pinpoint and focused on tossing and rhythm, it went correct. With platform, I don't need to be so concentrated. I must add that I'm not a tall guy (175 cm) which may have an influence in my style choosing.

Also, with pinpoint I'm tossing the ball slightly higher and inside the court, which helps power. With platform it's more difficult to do that and if I try to do that to compensate the lack of power, then I find it more difficult to recover my position. Maybe, as @nochuola said, I'm just not loading my right leg enough. I'll definitely try that on next practice session.

I will play a league match tomorrow night against a guy of my level, and I don't know what will I do. Maybe I'll try pinpoint and see what happens. This guy easily returned my serve on the last match we played. I'm currently feeling more confident in return games than in serving games (Sigh!).

 

[fuzz nation]

Hi. Thank you everyone. On last day I rallied with a friend (just before opening this thread) I tried a few platform/pinpoint serves. Whenever I served pinpoint and focused on tossing and rhythm, it went correct. With platform, I don't need to be so concentrated. I must add that I'm not a tall guy (175 cm) which may have an influence in my style choosing.

Also, with pinpoint I'm tossing the ball slightly higher and inside the court, which helps power. With platform it's more difficult to do that and if I try to do that to compensate the lack of power, then I find it more difficult to recover my position. Maybe, as @nochuola said, I'm just not loading my right leg enough. I'll definitely try that on next practice session.

I will play a league match tomorrow night against a guy of my level, and I don't know what will I do. Maybe I'll try pinpoint and see what happens. This guy easily returned my serve on the last match we played. I'm currently feeling more confident in return games than in serving games (Sigh!).

If you're unconsciously making both styles work for you when you play, I don't think there's much of an alarm bell to be ringing right now. My big concern would be if you were taking a Marat Safin style step into your serve - I'm pretty sure he used a pinpoint stance. The optimum contact point for the serve is relative to the spot where we plant our front foot. Move that foot and we also move our contact point above our heads. So introducing that variable can be trouble, but Safin was really good at it. For the rest of us who don't play 4-6 hours a day, not so good...

If your motions include a stationary front foot, you should be able to get some consistency with either serve as long as you're comfortable and competent with locating your toss. If each stance works better for you with different types of serves, then that's great. Even though that means you have a little less disguise with your delivery, that serving priority is several steps behind both placement and consistency.

 

[polksio]

Do whatever favourite player is doing cuz it doesn't matter.

 

[nyta2]

compromise and use narrow platform like roddick?
personally i pinpoint because i've been doing it so long, and did so because it was easier to chase a bad toss
but i think platform is simpler, less moving parts. and salzy is great model.