My serve. 100 + MPH with video and radar
- Thread starter drakulie
- Start date
drakulie
Talk Tennis Guru
boojay said:
It takes the reading as it crosses a certain plain/bubble in front of the radar gun. So, it has to come into a ceratin area for the serve to be clocked. I guess the answer to your question is it does not measure it immediately after contact, rather as it approaches a "that area" in front of the gun.
emcee
Semi-Pro
I really wonder if I could serve 100 now. 90 is probably more likely. Aarghh, I need other people interested in my area so we can split the price!
Nice serve. Seems really relaxed and fluid. Honestly, it doesn't look 107-fast, but hey you have the radar gun, I guess it's the angle/cam/other stuff.
Nice serve. Seems really relaxed and fluid. Honestly, it doesn't look 107-fast, but hey you have the radar gun, I guess it's the angle/cam/other stuff.
Nice serve. I agree that it looks slower, but part is b/c Drakulie's motion is very relaxed and it doesn't look like he's muscling it. Besides the Radar Gun 
, another cue is to look at where the ball bounces off the back fence.
If you have the time, would you mind showing us some kick serves as well?
, another cue is to look at where the ball bounces off the back fence. If you have the time, would you mind showing us some kick serves as well?
Nice serves. You are right about 3.5 and 4.0s having 80-90mph serves mostly. The 5.0-5.5 guys I know have 115 mph serves. I was radared at 110mph and next time I get to the baseball place with the radar guns I will take my racquet and camera. I didn't realize nobody had yet shown video of their serve with radar proof. Nice ground-breaking stuff there.
Your ball hits the fence about the same height as mine so I definitely believe.
Your ball hits the fence about the same height as mine so I definitely believe.
dannyjjang
Semi-Pro
Dictionary?OrangeOne said:
dude your lame
Drakulie,
Nice of you(not to mention courageous) to share the videos with us.
This low end Radar device would understate the speeds.
One reason has already been mentioned, that the reading is taken at some distance after contact, by which time the air resistance has slowed it down.
The other reason is that these Radar guns can only measure the component of velocity directly TOWARDS or AWAY from them.
According to my calculation the angle you have understates speed by 1.5% to 2%, or about 2 mph.
Nice of you(not to mention courageous) to share the videos with us.
This low end Radar device would understate the speeds.
One reason has already been mentioned, that the reading is taken at some distance after contact, by which time the air resistance has slowed it down.
The other reason is that these Radar guns can only measure the component of velocity directly TOWARDS or AWAY from them.
According to my calculation the angle you have understates speed by 1.5% to 2%, or about 2 mph.
ZPTennis
Semi-Pro
Its true that a hard hit serve will hit the back fence after one bounce. But more importantly, after you have enough speed the amount of topspin you have on the serve will greatly effect how high it hits on the fence. Topspin is what brings a ball down in to the court. The more topspin you have, the more downward force you have which then propels the ball higher after the bounce.
I've noticed the biggest change, when I bend my legs a lot more on the serve and the ball hits a couple feet higher than normal. So unfortunately, you can't measure your service speed by the ball striking height on the fence.
I've noticed the biggest change, when I bend my legs a lot more on the serve and the ball hits a couple feet higher than normal. So unfortunately, you can't measure your service speed by the ball striking height on the fence.
boojay
Hall of Fame
I'm starting to incorporate the leg bend into my serve as well, albeit, not that successfully. I've notice I don't have to try at all and my serves are hitting as high as they were when I was "arming" it at my hardest. Also, since I'm relaxing my wrist and grip, I can't feel how hard I'm hitting it either. It doesn't feel like I'm hitting it hard, but recipients say it was just as fast as before, but with more kick.
no skillz
Rookie
Pretty sweet serves, buddy.
I hope this weekend your leg will be better and my ankle healed, so I could get a go at the radar. I am expecting probably 60-70mph serves, but interested to see what i can do.
The video does the "sound" of the serve no justice. Because being on the receiving end of the serve you hear a "buzzing/whirling" sound as the ball makes contact with the service box and flyes towards you.
I hope this weekend your leg will be better and my ankle healed, so I could get a go at the radar. I am expecting probably 60-70mph serves, but interested to see what i can do.
The video does the "sound" of the serve no justice. Because being on the receiving end of the serve you hear a "buzzing/whirling" sound as the ball makes contact with the service box and flyes towards you.
drakulie
Talk Tennis Guru
no skillz said:
Hey No skills! Thanks for the input. Hopefully we will both feel better so we could play this weekend.
To clarify what No Skillz is talking about, we have played before so he knows first hand what the serve actually sounds and feels like to return it live.
The serve has that "crack" sound like a gun shot everyone is talking about. In addition, I put a lot of spin on all my serves so when you are on the receiving end you hear that "buzzing/bzzzzzzzzz sound" as the ball aproaches you, and explodes off the ground.
drakulie
Talk Tennis Guru
tennisfanatic said:BTW i will be visiting some of friends in my miami (maybe two weeks from now). It would be nice if we could have a friendly match.
Sorry I did not respond last night I did not notice your post. Definitely email me when you are coming into town. I may be leaving to the Keys in the next few weeks, but if I am in town hopefully we could have a hit.
no skillz
Rookie
I played with some people at school the other day and it feels like their serves were floating through the air at a leasure pace towards me, compared to the bullet pace of your serve.
I found that after I was able to return a fraction of your serves, I was able to return 9 out of 10 serves from other people. Even the serves that I used to have trouble with.
I found that after I was able to return a fraction of your serves, I was able to return 9 out of 10 serves from other people. Even the serves that I used to have trouble with.
no skillz
Rookie
drakulie said:
Probably the best out of everything I have tried so far on this racquet. They retain tension, and still bearly moved. I get sweet spin with them and I am pretty sure because they are 15 gauge they will last for a while.
I am still searching for a ps85 but no luck so far.
drakulie said:
Yeah, so many people think they can serve 100 mph. I'm guessing that most people who serve around 75-80mph and up think that they can serve over 100mph. They just don't realize how fast that actually is, and, usually, they've never seen anyone who really serves that hard. I, on the other hand, am well aware of the fact that I can't serve over 100mph. Mostly because I used to be able to before I hurt my shoulder, and I know that I'm nowhere near where I used to be even though I'm serving the ball plenty hard enough to win free points off of it.
Your serve really doesn't look like it's going over 100mph, but videos on youtube of tennis never look like the ball is going that fast. That's why everyone on here thought that the video of DI tennis players (forget which school) were like 3.5-4.0's.
jackofromalsager
Semi-Pro
i will try and post my serves in good quality with a radar gun. i am 13 so dont take the mik and hit 101mph in and 104mph out and my coach says u shud at 10 onto it
skuludo said:
No, the ball would be traveling at too much of an angle to the line of sight.
If he placed it on a step ladder such that the serve would travel a foot or two above the device, and placed it about 20 feet inside the court, that would be optimal. I used to have a very similar model when I played Cricket. It picked up the speed when the ball got within 15 feet of it.
TacoBellBorderBowl1946
Professional
lol, if the OPs serve is 108, mine has to be 120
drakulie
Talk Tennis Guru
Here are some serves from a different view. They are all to the deuce side. I placed the camera facing away from me directly on the opposite side of the net a few feet off the floor. The radar gun is also on the opposite side of the net, and half way up the T.
98 MPH:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OjBOV9zsrps
92 MPH up the T (How sweet it is to hit an ACE!) :
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uvs1-q9ip5E
84 MPH Topspin (this one was a little long):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1cH4w0H1V5c
Enjoy!
98 MPH:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OjBOV9zsrps
92 MPH up the T (How sweet it is to hit an ACE!) :
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uvs1-q9ip5E
84 MPH Topspin (this one was a little long):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1cH4w0H1V5c
Enjoy!
drakulie
Talk Tennis Guru
maverick1 said:
Mav, thanks for your comments. yeah, as I said, most people tell me it has a +/- 2-3 mph difference. As you state, it does not measure immediately after impact, rather as it reaches a ceratin "area" in front of the radar.
Also, I did notice a slight "curve" in the speed when you hit away from it.
FitzRoy
Professional
drakulie said:
I think this angle gives a better idea of the pace of the serve, and the kind of action the ball bounces with. Definitely better sound from here too. It's easy to see that these are very well-struck serves, for those who had a hard time believing the first vids you posted.
dave333
Hall of Fame
that really doesn't look like 100 at all....maybe the camera, but if thats 100, i must be serving around 100 too...which shouldn't be possible.
edit:
neva mind, didn't see the other set. lol mines only about 75 tops which was measured at my tennis camp. i wish i could serve 90 mph so much. but then, i just upped my swingweight up by a lo.
edit:
neva mind, didn't see the other set. lol mines only about 75 tops which was measured at my tennis camp. i wish i could serve 90 mph so much. but then, i just upped my swingweight up by a lo.
drakulie said:
A gunshot, a buzzing sound and an explosion? We are still talking about an 'only' 100-ish mph tennis-serve aren't we?
Let's go easy on the hyperbole....(For the record, and I have been trying not be a doubter here (in fact I haven't been a doubter), but some of the higher paced serves I've seen you hit do not have "a lot of spin on them". It's not a bad thing, but perhaps we should stay realistic here. They're great serves, timed over 100mph, but they're not massive kickers or twisters. I've been timed above 100, and even 120 once, but I'm not about to claim they were loaded up with spin because I know they weren't, and we can see your serves aren't!.)
drakulie
Talk Tennis Guru
no skillz said:
Orangeone, here is a post (post #63) from someone who has played against me. Everyone I have played says the same thing. They could hear the buzzing as the ball approaches them. All my serves have a lot of spin.
Here are some vids I posted today, so you could get a better perspective. As Fitzroy pointed out, you could really see the action on the ball.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OjBOV9zsrps
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uvs1-q9ip5E
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1cH4w0H1V5c
Duzza
Legend
no 7.0 i think you lieddrakulie said:Yeah, I land about a 1-2 feet inside the baseline. Unfortunately, because of my foot I was unable to explode up into the ball and take off. Pushing off and landing was hurting too much.
I just wanted to post the vids because some people were getting ancy.
Here is a pic of my feet leaving the ground:
. so thats 172 km/h. pretty good...i guess..drakulie said:
Really sorry mate, but my issue is with the word ALL and the word LOT. From which perspective do you want me to reply?
Raw Speed
Notice how your speed dropped by over 20 mph from your bombs to your topspin serve you've just posted? (108 to 84?). That's the spin. That's some of your effort focussing on rotating the ball instead of just propelling it. It's the ball taking a curve through the air, instead of just ripping through it. It happens to all of us.
Serves you just posted as proof
Looking at the three serves you just posted (which were all slower than your big bombs from yesterday / the day before), the 84 was the only one that was really moving, although the other two did have some bite. They're still down 10mph on the flat bombs from the day before.
Many years of playing
Someone who has been playing for many years doesn't read the ball as much as they read the serve. You need to read the serve for a serve such as yours (or mine, or many other people with big serves), because the ball is on you too quick to just read the ball. Watching your serves from yesterday again, that was a motion that produces a pretty flat, fast ball. I've seen it before, I know what to expect.
For the record
You have a nice serve, that seems very solid & (from what we've seen) you have good placement control too. It's got pace, it's been timed at over 100mph, and (to me) it seems that fast. You also have a nice topspin serve. But all I ask is realism - ALL of your serves do not have a LOT of spin on them, a quick look at the motion and the trajectory reveals that. That doesn't make it a bad thing, it just makes you human like the rest of us (including Federer). Our fastest serves have not too much spin on them, and the more spin we add, the (relatively) slower our serves get.
Want the flip-side? If ALL of your serves DO have a LOT of spin on them, why haven't you gone out and cracked a 120 flat bomb, which should be easily possible if you can put down a 108 with a LOT of spin? (I'm not being a hater here, just trying to show the devil's advocate side).
As for:
I'm off to email some mates and ask some club-mates on the weekend if they've heard mine buzz, I'll also be listening carefully to the serves of others. Thankfully there's an Open on too - so there'll be some 200k monster-servers present to stand on the fence for and have a listen to!
drakulie
Talk Tennis Guru
Orange, thanks for the input. I agree with you to certain degrees. A couple of things to keep in mind. I'm not tall, I'm 5'9". If i hit completely flat serves with very little spin, I wouldn't be able to get the ball in the box very often. I would have to hit serves that barely skim the net. Just a fact of life. (sucks to be short).
Second thing is that although the serves I posted today are slower on the radar, you need to keep in mind the radar is much further away than the ones I posted yesterday. The radar on yesterdays serves are a few feet in front of the net facing me. The ones I posted today, the radar is halfway up the service line on the other side of the net. That is a huge difference, as this radar does not pick up the speed immediately after impact, rather when it approaches an area in front of the radar. So you have to account for that.
I too have hit against guys who serve 110- 120, etc. Some of them hit extremely flat and you hear that loud pop, but in these cases if they do not put a lot of spin on the ball I don't hear the buzzing.
On the other hand, I have hit with guys who hit in the 90's with ridiculous spin and I could clearly hear the buzzing.
Just something to think about. Peace, and again thanks for your input.
Second thing is that although the serves I posted today are slower on the radar, you need to keep in mind the radar is much further away than the ones I posted yesterday. The radar on yesterdays serves are a few feet in front of the net facing me. The ones I posted today, the radar is halfway up the service line on the other side of the net. That is a huge difference, as this radar does not pick up the speed immediately after impact, rather when it approaches an area in front of the radar. So you have to account for that.
I too have hit against guys who serve 110- 120, etc. Some of them hit extremely flat and you hear that loud pop, but in these cases if they do not put a lot of spin on the ball I don't hear the buzzing.
On the other hand, I have hit with guys who hit in the 90's with ridiculous spin and I could clearly hear the buzzing.
Just something to think about. Peace, and again thanks for your input.
Mike Cottrill
Hall of Fame
Looks like your were inches away from having a bunch of small pieces of plastic for a radar gun.. sure that is yours?
drakulie said:
Point taken
. I'm 6'2.5", and cranking big serves comes easier. There's downsides too - fitting in aeroplane seats / small cars / many beds / etc etc - I'd rather be you than me!Yup - I see and agree with what you're saying here.
I am known for saying I'm a bit deaf (and maybe I am
), so I really can't wait for the weekend to listen carefully and ask some people.Right back at you. I like discussions that can be had in detail with sane people, sometimes they're hard to find on here. Now.... I need to find myself a radar gun. That toy looks way too cool!
drakulie
Talk Tennis Guru
str33t said:
Here is a link to the one I use in the video;
http://www.opticsplanet.net/speedcheck-radar.html
drakulie
Talk Tennis Guru
Orange, just imagine what it would be like to have the best of both worlds- the bomb, and spin Like Sampras.
Check out this link: 120 MPH serves with 2000-4000 RPMs. Totally sick.
http://www.advancedtennis.com/results/servemen.htm
Check out this link: 120 MPH serves with 2000-4000 RPMs. Totally sick.
http://www.advancedtennis.com/results/servemen.htm
superbooga
Rookie
Overall the serves are very good.
About the second set of videos, putting the radar gun at the service line will drop the speeds by at least 10mph.
For those people who want to know if you can serve 100mph, you can ask yourself these questions:
1. Is my motion smooth and relaxed?
2. Does the racquet drop all the way down when I start the swing?
3. Do I have good shoulder rotation?
4. Do I have good pronation?
If you can answer "yes" to all four questions and are male, then you should be able to serve 100mph with moderate effort. Now the problem is most recreational players just don't have all these components.
For a 100mph serve, the ball should hit the ground at about the same time the racquet bobs upward after the followthrough.
About the second set of videos, putting the radar gun at the service line will drop the speeds by at least 10mph.
For those people who want to know if you can serve 100mph, you can ask yourself these questions:
1. Is my motion smooth and relaxed?
2. Does the racquet drop all the way down when I start the swing?
3. Do I have good shoulder rotation?
4. Do I have good pronation?
If you can answer "yes" to all four questions and are male, then you should be able to serve 100mph with moderate effort. Now the problem is most recreational players just don't have all these components.
For a 100mph serve, the ball should hit the ground at about the same time the racquet bobs upward after the followthrough.
drakulie
Talk Tennis Guru
Duzza said:the thread "what nrtp rating are you". You and 2 other idiots said 7.0
Actually, I mistakenly hit the wrong button, and it does not allow you to go back and change it. Here is my post from that thread:
drakulie said:
Duzza said:
You have to put it in "pro mode" or it will pick up every movement. A hand, someone walking, etc.
Turn the machine on. Push the mph and recall button at the same time and it will only show movements going over 35 mph. In my videos, you will notice when the mph light blinks, there is also another light blinking underneath where the numbers are displayed. This means it is in pro mode.
drakulie said:
I used to have one that looked and worked exactly like this, except it had the brand name SpeedCheck. I used it for cricket, which is what I played until last year when I switched to Tennis.
I felt it understated the speeds(or the speeds you see on TV are overstated). I have a good throwing arm, can throw a cricket ball(roughly like a baseball, but fractionally heavier and harder) 75 yards(225 ft) in the air, but the best throwing speed I could ever clock was 74 mph.
In terms of bowling speeds, the fastest in my team was only 68 mph, and a "first class"(cricket equivalent of a NTRP 6.5) fast bowler reached only 71 mph. But when you watch international matches on TV, the fastest bowlers are between 95 and 100, and even part-time bowlers who just jog in and turn their arm are in the high 70s.
no skillz said:
You could do it in warm ups if you have a ball machine or a consistent hitting partner. Place the device behind you , and hit your shot in a direction perpendicular to its face.
Note that it picks up the first object in its field(at least 15 ft, may be more) that is moving faster than 35 mph(in pro mode) . The incoming ball and your racket should be slower than that. Most ground strokes slow down to less than 20 mph by the time the opponent hits them.
