Mechanical difference between serve and overhead

Is there any mechanical/technical difference between the serve and OH, besides the throwing motion angle adjustement depending on how close to the net the OH is hit..?
 

jayvee

Semi-Pro
Well for starters, you should be moving when hitting an overhead. Also if you have a pinpoint serve, I doubt you'll be doing pinpoint just before hitting an OH ;)

And there's plenty of other differences. The only thing that it's similar is that you're hitting the ball over your head. Other than that, everything else is different.
 
Well for starters, you should be moving when hitting an overhead. Also if you have a pinpoint serve, I doubt you'll be doing pinpoint just before hitting an OH ;)

And there's plenty of other differences. The only thing that it's similar is that you're hitting the ball over your head. Other than that, everything else is different.
The coil, un-coil, racquet drop and all that are different in your opinion?
 

socallefty

G.O.A.T.
The overhead is a moving shot while the serve is stationary. You control the serve toss and can put it where you want while with the overhead you have to move to the right spacing and then weight transfer forward to make contact. The angles/depths available to hit into are also different.
 

jayvee

Semi-Pro
Turning your shoulder to be aligned with path of the ball is part of a technically solid overhead.

But on the serve you should turn more than that at trophy, have shoulder over shoulder, etc.
 

Morch Us

Hall of Fame
Is there any mechanical/technical difference between the serve and OH
No. Just the improvisations you have to make because of the difference in enviroment. Essentially you are chasing the toss, would be hitting from inside the baseline and have a lot bigger service box to hit into.

The natural improvisatios you may make depends on how much you have to chase the toss, how far in the court you are when hitting and which area of the bigger service box you are trying to place the ball to. The usual improvisations are controlled swing for more control, walking step or jumping step into different directions for chasing the toss, changed body positions as well as more stress on placement to be able to take advantage of the bigger service box.
 

nyta2

Legend
To me, the serve has me moving up and through the contact more… as if every serve had a topspin component…. Even “flat”…
Because I need to intentionally hit short into the court.

Whereas the overhead feels more horizontal, when I’m able to make contact in front of me…. Occasionally I might hit a topspin overhead if the ball gets “behind me” (think very deep
Overhead near the baseline)
 

onehandbh

G.O.A.T.
On my serves, I never hit it completely flat, but on shorter lobs near the net, sometimes, I'll hit it fairly flat to get more power and try and bounce the ball over the ball or side fence/backdrop.

Overheads are usually much easier (except for super high lobs in windy conditions if I try to hit the lob before it bounces) for me because there is so much more court to hit into and I am inside the baseline. I usually just aim for a target a little past the service line and try to hit it hard. In doubles, if I don't have an open court to hit to, I either hit it down the middle or at the person at the net's feet. (similar to volleys)
 

ppma

Professional
For the overhead I don't follow the same fundamentals as in the serve.

I use eastern instead of continental grip. I am surely doing some kind of waiters tray preparation and not much drop.

In general, I think the hardest part in the overhead is the timing difficulty that comes from a moving and falling ball, while in the serve you toss the ball at your liking. Hence, in the serve, you can invest to perfect the fine stuff of the swing and preparation, while in the overhead it's just about hitting at the right time and spot with good balance. Also, in an overhead you're in the middle of the court and have all the other court to place the ball, being much easier to avoid sending the ball into the net.
 

weelie

Professional
I think the Agassi instructional vids had a FH grip on overhead. I could never serve or hit overhead with a forehand grip, despite being a fan of Andre, I don’t follow his teaching.

To me, overhead is a more limited and horizontal stroke. It’s kind of only an arm stroke, compared the serve. And in my mind, there is not the extension of the whole body and arm to fully straight. This of course is all an exaggeration of the differences of the two strokes.
 

Chas Tennis

G.O.A.T.
Closing & ISR Rotation of the Racket Head

The racket on the serve closes as it moves forward. By "closes" I mean that the higher edge moves faster.

In addition, to closing on the serve, the racket also rotates from ISR even more for racket head speed.

This main biomechanics pair of closing & IRS is also used on the ATP overhead. (But maybe not by all.?)

An advantage of both closing and ISR for forward racket head speed is that the ISR is not closing very fast but is moving forward very fast and its Projection Angle does not change very fast. Therefore the high-low or elevation consistency is improved with ISR.

If too much racket head speed is developed by closing the racket face as it moves forward, it is more difficult to control the Projection Angle. That is why a Waiter's Tray serve is harder to control for the Projection Angle - it is mostly just closing (Using the biomechanical definition of Projection Angle).

Poor DIY technique for the overhead often develops too much racket head speed from closing the racket face as it moves forward. Then controlling Projection Angle can become poor and the ball can even go into the bottom of the net!

Closing and ISR are clear in high speed videos, such as recorded at 240 fps.
 
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Chas Tennis

G.O.A.T.
Toly created a picture of a Justine Henin overhead and labeled the ISR.

For a few years, I thought that it was a Justine Henin serve! I finally noticed that she was standing on the service line!
 
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