My serve is not what it used to be... help...

[uncle sahostafact]

I honestly dont mean to brag but i used to be the kid with the fastest serve that my opponet(s) had ever seen. but lately i have been serving like crap. i used to study my serve with a camera but i lately havent had time. The biggest problem is my first serve (flat). Ever since my coach taught me the kick serve it seems like my first serve has been getting slower and slower and my aces count just gets lower and lower. I dont know if its my racquet speed or what but i really need help and i will appreciate any advice.

 

[iradical18]

Post a video and we'll be able to give you much better advice. Or tell us what you think you are doing wrong and we can offer some advice on how you might be able to fix it.

 

[D. Dokas]

i found this as well i had a good flat serve but as i learnt the kick it slowed down and wasnt as good. i found that my ball toss wasnt were it was meant to be. i found i was throwing it just slight behind me. maybe this is your problem as well post up a video if u can and we could give u some berrer advice

 

[uncle sahostafact]

i feel that it is mostly my racquet speed and ball toss but im just gonna go out tommorrow and serve all day so i can try to fix it.

 

[quicken]

I wish I could go out and serve all day... Too bad the temperature where I live is like 10 F with like 500 feet of snow outside. (Upper NY)

 

[ChocolatePie]

haha Maine has it pretty bad too.

If you really think it's your racket head speed then reach to scratch your back, then propel up, foward, and down while swinging your racket at the speed you wish.

 

[RoddickAce]

I honestly dont mean to brag but i used to be the kid with the fastest serve that my opponet(s) had ever seen. but lately i have been serving like crap. i used to study my serve with a camera but i lately havent had time. The biggest problem is my first serve (flat). Ever since my coach taught me the kick serve it seems like my first serve has been getting slower and slower and my aces count just gets lower and lower. I dont know if its my racquet speed or what but i really need help and i will appreciate any advice.

Reminds me of myself.

 

[es-0]

If you've been playing a lot lately, practicing the kick serve and trying to get your flat serve back, you might just need a few days off for your body to recover.

I'd suggest resting a day or so and see if that does anything.

 

[Rickson]

I have the opposite problem. My flat serves are good (when they go in) and my kick serves are weak. Toss the ball more to the right if you're a righty and your flat serves will flatten out or you'll be hitting a slice serve. Either way, you won't be hitting an inadvertent kick serve anymore.

 

[NLBwell]

Make sure you keep your kick serve motion and your flat serve motion separate. Often when students learn a spin second serve, they start out OK, but then both serves fall apart. What happens is that the toss and motion for the first serve becomes more like the second serve (toss farther back, hitting up more) and the second serve motion becomes more like the first (toss more forward, flatter impact). The results are usually bad for a while. Really focus on the toss, to make sure you are putting it in the proper place.
Also, if your first serve is that hard and flat, you might want to get more spin on it for control and to upset your opponent's timing a bit.

 

[officerdibble]

I recently made a change to my serve that greatly increased the power in similar circumstances.

I had a spell last year when my ball toss when to s**t. All these years playing, and I'd never even really thought about my ball toss - it was fine, and I had a good serve. I'd been playing around with my service action a little, but somehow I just destroyed my ball toss!

To correct the ball toss problem I started very consciously moving my weight to my back foot before I tossed the ball - almost instant ball toss fix (phew). Then a few weeks ago I decided to lift my front leg up off the ground slightly (as I've seen several big servers do - e.g. Roddick (although he seems not to do it so much recently)) before planting it down and pushing off to hit the serve. Sounds stupid, but blimey my first serve has improved. I started hitting aces again - even against the top player/coach in my club.

I presume that I've changed the kinetic chain / body weight position through this process, but I don't really care what it was, I'm just glad it happened. My second serve is still fine; I just focus on a deeper knee-bend and drive up into the ball more.

YMMV!

 

[uncle sahostafact]

thanks for all the advice and input. I went out to work on my serve today and the problem was indeed my racquet speed. i worked on increasing my racquet speed (in my room) the day before i played and then today i warmed up my shoulder and started to try to serve. and i must say that my serve is faster than it has ever been.

 

[fuzz nation]

"Trying harder" often tricks us into tensing up and muscle tension kills racquet speed. When you are at the courts and warming up your serve, shut your eyes, practice your motion, and listen to the racquet "whup" over the top. Slow down your windup, get loose and unrushed, and listen to the racquet go faster as you relax your swing. Your wrist needs to probably be more relaxed than any other part of your body so avoid a tight grip - it will only slow down the racquet's release.

You ought to be able to duplicate that smooth, loose motion when you serve a ball, but if you feel the tension sneaking in, you could be snatching at the ball to catch up to it. If that is happening (a LOT of players do it in matches), remember to slow down that windup and get it farther along before you toss the ball. You'll be more setup and ready to release on time without snatching or killing your motion. Stay loose...