My serve, please critique

[bharat]

Hi guys

this is me serving, please advice on how im doing and what i need to improve

apologize for the crappy video quality, although it isnt bad if u watch in a higher resolution, it was taken with a iphone

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=evVeQmhh8ZQ

its 3 diff videos combined

 

[ahuimanu]

Think you've got a sound foundation to work with.

Suggest the following: 1) Hitting up and into the ball (load with the legs and push up and into the ball) and 2) Balance (keep the body together and synched with your service swing---left arm/head drops when it should stay up as long as possible (left side partial breaking down-- robs potential power/spin).

One drill my coach taught me when I started having service problems is to keep both feet stationary while practicing the serve...try it, its not that easy. When you can do it right your serve will get smooth and fundamentals a lot cleaner.

Here is a pretty good tutorial on the modern serve...hope this helps...cheers (hear the pop...that's what you want)

http://www.youtube.com/user/lockandrolltennis#p/u/3/hcwjKAVJp0U

Hi guys

this is me serving, please advice on how im doing and what i need to improve

apologize for the crappy video quality, although it isnt bad if u watch in a higher resolution, it was taken with a iphone

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=evVeQmhh8ZQ

its 3 diff videos combined

 

[Ballinbob]

Good, easy motion, I really like it. Tossing into the court more will help with more power, also try and get some more racket head speed.

Overall I think you have a good foundation though, keep it up and props to you for posting a video

 

[mikeler]

You do something I am currently trying to correct. Watch where your back foot ends up. It moves ahead of your left foot. So you are missing out on your body turning into the serve. My point is not so much about foot placement but body turn. So start by turning your back more to the receiver and you'll get some more power and spin on your serves.

You also like to toss straight up like I do. I think this is fine BTW. It seems like you could strike the ball a few inches higher but it is hard to tell if you are getting full arm extension in real time.

 

[bharat]

Good, easy motion, I really like it. Tossing into the court more will help with more power, also try and get some more racket head speed.

Overall I think you have a good foundation though, keep it up and props to you for posting a video

hey, thanks for the comments

i did try to toss it more into the court but some how i loose my balance when i do that, but will work on it

 

[sureshs]

Nice pin point stance serve, nice and smooth motion. Just be a little more sideways to the net instead of facing it so much, and you will be off and running with the big guys.

 

[papa]

Not bad. I'd like to see you a little more loose, really spring up after the ball and make contact a little higher. If your having trouble controlling the toss, get the little finger off the ball and consider keeping the tossing arm more parallel to the baseline which doesn't mean the ball can't be in a foot/foot and a half. A consistent ball toss is part of a foundation for a consistent serve - practice the toss, most don't.

 

[mikeler]

hey, thanks for the comments

i did try to toss it more into the court but some how i loose my balance when i do that, but will work on it

I lose my balance too when I try and toss it out into the court.

 

[wings56]

two things i see:

first of all, i'd say your grip appears to be a bit too far toward an eastern forehand, i'd give it a bit more of a shift toward continental

secondly, you definitely need to torque your body more. to put it into perspective, you want to try to almost turn your back completely to the court before uncoiling into the court. your foot placement seems fine as long as it will allow you to coil.

like the others have said, strong foundation, just needs a bit of tweaking

 

[Ramon]

1) Move your grip about a 1/4 turn left. It should be a continental or even towards an eastern backhand.

2) Move your elbow higher on your backscratch position.

3) Rotate your shoulders on your backswing so your back is facing the court as you toss the ball.

4) Rotate your shoulders in the other direction just before you start your forward swing. Your shoulder will stretch like a rubber band for a slingshot effect. I'm assuming you're young enough to take the strain.

5) Try to get more acceleration in your swing just before contact.

 

[qwanta]

I think you're doing a lot of things right, but I don't like the way your right elbow ends up squashed against your body in the trophy pose. You'd get more leverage to 'throw' the racquet into the ball if - in the trophy pose - your right elbow was further away from the body, with your upper right arm more horizontal instead of vertical (parallel to the shoulder line). Be careful to keep the racquet vertical when you do this though.

 

[bharat]

thank you very much for your comments guys, i will work those point and post again in a few weeks and hopefullly have a better server

 

[egilgrim]

It looks like you have the same problem that I'm struggling with right now - you start your acceleration of the racket too late. You should start swinging FAST a little bit before you've reached the trophy-position. Looks to me like you start accelerating when you have lead the racket down into the scratch-back position, it all just gets a little bit too mechanical.