Key Differences in Hitting Slice/Kick serve

[chipsbuzz]

Okay, so with everyone going gung-ho on topics of kick/slice/second serves I kinda felt ashamed of dinking my second serve. So the other day I went out with those bunches of ideas from everyone and experimented (of course I realize now that it almost seems fruitless to go out and change x amount of variables in service motion).

Luckily, the slice serve stuck to me in 5 attempts. I thought it was just a fluke but 80 balls later and 74 in I decided it might just be more than a fluke (proven correct, today I tried more slice serves and it was just as good percentage wise).

Anyways, what I'm trying to get at is are there any similarities in the approach of a kick serve in comparison to a slice serve? I figure if the slice serve motion comes natural to me, then making some adjustments to achieve a kicker would pretty nice.

Comparisons I'm looking for is:
~is the ball toss similar?
~contact point?
~swing path (left to right) <like you know, are they both 7-1o'clock...I'm not so sure of my swing path right now, all I know is I swing out from the left and to the right.
~grip? (I use to use eastern fh, but switched to continental after hearing how taboo it is for serves~~meaning I learned the slice serve witha continental)

I could probably re-analyze posts from this site about kick a slice serves and cross reference, but I think what I'm really getting at is that I want to hear from some people that use both types of serves.

Hope this makes sense. Anyone willing to give it a go?

 

[dave333]

~Kick serve is more like 12 o'clock, slice is 1 or 2
~Where the ball is
~Slice serve is sorta more straight through with the racquet face tilted to impart spin or you can think of it as 3 to 9 o'clock, kick serve is from 7 to 1 o'clock
~grip? Yes, its normal to be hitting slice serves with continental when you first switch because your wrist is not used to the position. Practice dribbling the ball with a continental grip.
For kick serves, you use a continental, eastern backhand grip, or something inbetween.

 

[AngeloDS]

As said, a kick serve goes from 6 O'Clock to 12 O'Clock, while a slice serve usually goes from 7 O'Clock to 1 O'Clock or 8 O'Clock to 2 O'Clock.

7 -> 1, more power and less slice.
8 -> 2, more slice and less power.

The grip is the same, however for me the wrist release is different. It's hard to explain. The ball toss is similar except for me the slice serve goes out forward a bit more and the kick serve a bit behind and I let the ball drop a lot more on the kick serve.

 

[krz]

As said, a kick serve goes from 6 O'Clock to 12 O'Clock, while a slice serve usually goes from 7 O'Clock to 1 O'Clock or 8 O'Clock to 2 O'Clock.

7 -> 1, more power and less slice.
8 -> 2, more slice and less power.

The grip is the same, however for me the wrist release is different. It's hard to explain. The ball toss is similar except for me the slice serve goes out forward a bit more and the kick serve a bit behind and I let the ball drop a lot more on the kick serve.

I think you are confused. A slice serve is tossed at the 1oclock or out to the right(or in front depending on how you look at it) and you make contact with the side of the ball(3oclock to impart side spin on it.

A kick serve can be either a topspin serve or a mix of topspin and sidespin(twist serve)

Topspin serve is tossed usually at 12 oclock and you swing form 6 to 12

and the twist serve is tossed to the 11oclock or to the left and swung from 7 to 1.

Grips are all continental some people use an eastern backhand to get more spin.

 

[AngeloDS]

Yeah, out in front =p a bit more forward. However, it depends on how you snap your wrist near the end. As I said, it's hard to explain but the wrist snap is the key difference.

 

[chipsbuzz]

Yeah, out in front =p a bit more forward. However, it depends on how you snap your wrist near the end. As I said, it's hard to explain but the wrist snap is the key difference.

Hmm...

Do I wrist snap up into the ball and then push it down...or wrist snap above the ball to begin with?

 

[krz]

you don't push the ball down on a kick serve. You are hitting the back of the ball. You actually want to hit up on it.

 

[mucat]

A kick serve can be either a topspin serve or a mix of topspin and sidespin(twist serve)

I think you are referring to the topspin-slice serve.

 

[shindemac]

Most likely you have some topspin on the ball. You need to figure out what type of spin u r putting on it. With kick serves, it helps to arch your back, and bend your knees. The toss is more to the left, and the contact point is lower than a flat. You can do 6 to 12, or 7 to 1.