lately ive been looking up kick serve vids since topspin is the only serve i cant do yet and i noticed in every video it shows them teaching from the ad court is it because its easier to do it serving from ad or is it like wicked hard to hit a kick from the deuce. and ive gotten the adding spin part now im trying to ad the pronation but then it seems like i get slice or it just hits the net any tips? Working my way up to learning it.
kick serve
- Thread starter bbbbbb
- Start date
matchmaker
Hall of Fame
They teach it from the ad court because if you can do it from there, it would be strange not be able to do it down the T from the deuce court as you have a lot more margin there, as the net es lower in the middle and you can hit in a straight line opposed to diagonally on the ad court.
As for technique, the leg bend is very important. This is what gives you the upward movement you need to create kick.
What you mention about getting slice instead of kick may be due to:
1) tossing wrongly: if you toss to much to the right, you will tend to produce a slice serve. You have to toss at 12 o'clock, so straight in front of you and preferrably not to much ahead of you but rather close to your body. Many people say the ball should fall on your head if you didn't hit it in the air.
2) you have to try and hit the ball on the back, not on the top and certainly not on the side.
Point 1 and 2 are linked because a wrong toss will make you hit the ball in the wrong place.
As for technique, the leg bend is very important. This is what gives you the upward movement you need to create kick.
What you mention about getting slice instead of kick may be due to:
1) tossing wrongly: if you toss to much to the right, you will tend to produce a slice serve. You have to toss at 12 o'clock, so straight in front of you and preferrably not to much ahead of you but rather close to your body. Many people say the ball should fall on your head if you didn't hit it in the air.
2) you have to try and hit the ball on the back, not on the top and certainly not on the side.
Point 1 and 2 are linked because a wrong toss will make you hit the ball in the wrong place.
SystemicAnomaly
Bionic Poster
Most right-handers will have a much more effective kick/twist serve on the ad side. As a lefty, my deuce side twist kicker is usually more effective.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DbzhtdsTU5M go thru the series and you are on your way to a great twist /kick serve. it has helped me TREMENDOUSLY. there are several steps in the progression make sure you go thru the whole series. fuzzyyelowballs.com also has a kick serve fundamentals which teaches it alittle differently. the progressions were of more help to me.
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http://www.fuzzyyellowballs.com/videos/index.php/list/992/Progressions another link to the progressions. systemicanomaly what do you think of the videos?
mikeler
Moderator
In a righty versus righty matchup, it is much easier for me to get the ball out to the backhand on the ad side. Some guys will cheat over on the deuce court and give you this really small space in order to hit the kicker to their backhand. If you hit it just a little more towards the middle than you would like, they may run around their backhand and try to whack a forehand.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WDUHcAwOp5E watch this for kicker on deuce side
SystemicAnomaly
Bionic Poster
I have not seen very much of the FYB twist/kick progression at all. The little that I have seen appears to be quite good. I have studied Will's progression for the basic serve and have found it to be an excellent teaching sequence.
The problem most players have with a kick serve is that they are trying to hit the ball.
Imagine you are standing in place and bouncing the ball off your racquet. Now instead of hitting the ball by moving the racquet toward the ball, think about moving the racquet only sideways to produce a lot side spin. You should hardly hit the ball at all.
You should learn the kick serve the same way by starting with your racquet over your head, with the edge pointed at the ball toss position. Toss, stay sideways, and swing straight up so that the racquet edge barely clears the ball and you only brush the ball with a tell-tale swish sound (no pop for contact). If you are framing the ball, you are doing it right.
As you get better, it is easy to put less spin and more velocity, but at the start, focus only on brushing the ball straight up.
Imagine you are standing in place and bouncing the ball off your racquet. Now instead of hitting the ball by moving the racquet toward the ball, think about moving the racquet only sideways to produce a lot side spin. You should hardly hit the ball at all.
You should learn the kick serve the same way by starting with your racquet over your head, with the edge pointed at the ball toss position. Toss, stay sideways, and swing straight up so that the racquet edge barely clears the ball and you only brush the ball with a tell-tale swish sound (no pop for contact). If you are framing the ball, you are doing it right.
As you get better, it is easy to put less spin and more velocity, but at the start, focus only on brushing the ball straight up.
D
Deleted member 25923
Guest
By the way, is it harder to hit a kicker out wide on the deuce court for a righty? Just shadowing the motion, it feels more natural to hit it out wide on the AD and down the T on the Deuce because of the way the follow through goes. Would hitting out wide on the deuce require less topspin and more slice?
BullDogTennis
Hall of Fame
those are deff. the easier places to hit the kickers. it took alot of practice to REALLY be able to move my kicker around consistently, usually the HIGHEST percentage for me is dead in the middle(like 100%) then down the T on the deuce and out wide on the AD(like 93%) then vice versa(87%)
but when i do go for the harder shot i usually take a bit off so it feels more comfortable.
but when i do go for the harder shot i usually take a bit off so it feels more comfortable.
Dark_Angel85
Semi-Pro
here are the tips that were given to me by my lifetime coach on kick serves
1. you wanna hit the ball up FIRST.
2. you have to immediately pull it down in your follow through SECOND.
3. ball toss placement cannot be too far in front. preferably easier for people who have problems to toss it right above your head.
been kicking it real nicely ever since
1. you wanna hit the ball up FIRST.
2. you have to immediately pull it down in your follow through SECOND.
3. ball toss placement cannot be too far in front. preferably easier for people who have problems to toss it right above your head.
been kicking it real nicely ever since
Headshotterer
Professional
i taught myself the kicker. it is slow and doesnt bounce that far, but it is still reliable and i just learned it. if u find urself hitting it into the net, try hitting harder
BullDogTennis
Hall of Fame
not neccasarily the BEST thing to do, while sometimes when your first learning you want to take alot off in pressure situations, and this of course isnt that best idea, so you would hit it harder. but the first thing i check when im netting balls is 2 things
1.) am i dropping my head? if so keep that thing up, and watch the ball!
2.) am i dropping my shoulder? if so its probably causing my head to drop therefore keep that shoulder up(arm up)
i find those to help ALOT, usually the only reasons why im netting.
now that i think about it, if your hitting the ball LONG you need to hit the ball harder. because if its going long that means your not getting alot of spin on it, therefore you need to swing harder, and up!
Headshotterer
Professional
my kicker is wierd
it looks like its gonna go long but then it drops in
it looks like its gonna go long but then it drops in
Djokovicfan4life
Legend
Well, that's that basic concept of topspin, so yeah, I'd say you've got it down.
It's probably just easier that way. The right hander would be on the ad side of the court and the coach on the deuce side. They can face each other easily and both centered on the court. Probably easier to film this way as well.
I don't think it's any easier or harder to hit a kick from either side. As far as the effectiveness of the serve and the angles, like others have said, ad side is probably more effective for a righty hitting a kicker. If I'm on the deuce side I'd be inclined to slice it more as a righty.
