My serve - please let me know what you think

[LeftSHBH]

So after seeing some good feedback from others on their serve, I decided to try it out. It's amazing what you can learn from just watching it yourself. This is the first time I've ever seen myself play tennis from this perspective. I can't wait to record myself hitting groundstrokes and matchplay.

Just so you know, these serves look like I'm serving just to warm up, get the ball in. But actually, this is as hard as I can hit...ok maybe at the end (you can't see that good since I'm on the far side), I tried changing the way I jump at the ball and thus produced better results. This also showed me how out of shape I am I really need to work on my core muscles and doing cardio. I never used to tire out as quickly as I do now, though I am getting older (not a good excuse anyway ).

Without further ado, here it is:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cFXj7FaxD3c

Thanks in advance

 

[120mphBodyServe]

Are you trying to hit kick serves?
Your serve isn't that bad...
Except when you setup before the toss you take your racquet hand way too high.
You're losing energy & momentum right there...
Start lower and focus on having your wrist as loose as a rubber spring waiting to explode...
Stand a bit more side on. Weight transfer is good but could be more explosive.
Look on youtube and watch some videos of Goran Ivanisevic..
Probably the best serve for you to copy.

 

[LeftSHBH]

Yes I wanted to practice that because my 2nd serve sucks ass. But I tried to do a couple flat ones and they turned out to be kick serves lol. I still have to find that motion again.
It's funny that you mention Goran since I used to mimic his serve when I was younger!

 

[Bacterio]

I'm curious to see what some of the more skilled servers or coaches have to say about what you're doing wrong now knowing that you were going for kick serves.

I think we can agree that you didn't hit a single serve that actually kicked and this is pretty much the problem I'm having. I've tried the toss change, hitting up on the ball, etc etc. I've read so many articles and watched so many vids and I just can't seem to get the ball to kick.

Recently I've tried standing a lot more sideways and felt like that was getting me somewhere but even when I do seem to get a good amount of upwards spin on the ball once it hits the ground it doesn't kick. I can see that it has topspin and after the bounce it moved forward quicker but I'm getting no height. The net clearance is there just no kick.

 

[nereis]

You seem to be landing a bit awkwardly and not putting the full force of your body behind the serve. Other than that, as a lefty you don't really need to hit a kick serve as your slice is plenty good. Just put a bit more topspin on your slice serve and you're good to go.

 

[LeeD]

The usual.
Close off your shoulders more.
Heighten your tossing hand after release.
Lower your rackethand elbow.
Twist into the serve.
You actually use some stomach crunch muscles, ala Roddick.
Move forwards into the court.
Swing faster....more conti grip would give you move swing before ball contact and less swing after, which is better than the opposite.

 

[LeftSHBH]

I'm curious to see what some of the more skilled servers or coaches have to say about what you're doing wrong now knowing that you were going for kick serves.

I think we can agree that you didn't hit a single serve that actually kicked and this is pretty much the problem I'm having. I've tried the toss change, hitting up on the ball, etc etc. I've read so many articles and watched so many vids and I just can't seem to get the ball to kick.

Recently I've tried standing a lot more sideways and felt like that was getting me somewhere but even when I do seem to get a good amount of upwards spin on the ball once it hits the ground it doesn't kick. I can see that it has topspin and after the bounce it moved forward quicker but I'm getting no height. The net clearance is there just no kick.

I agree. For some reason my serves don't seem to kick as much as I'd like them to. I've been told a few times that I got a nice "kick" in a few of my serves, but I'd like to be consistent with them.
One thing that I sometimes visualize is hitting the ball somewhat behind my head, but that screws me up sometimes because I then try to toss the ball differently, which isn't good.

 

[LeftSHBH]

The usual.
Close off your shoulders more.
Heighten your tossing hand after release.
Lower your rackethand elbow.
Twist into the serve.
You actually use some stomach crunch muscles, ala Roddick.
Move forwards into the court.
Swing faster....more conti grip would give you move swing before ball contact and less swing after, which is better than the opposite.

Good tips. One of the things I noticed is my knee bend and my jumping to hit the ball. For the most part I was barely getting off the ground. But towards the end of practice I was able to correctly time the jump and swing correctly and really noticed a difference. I'm definitely going to try that later today when I go play. Stay tuned for some groundstroke recordings

 

[LeeD]

To kick/twist, you need more direction of toss over your head, and also need a DIFFERENT swing and followthru.
All your swings are the same, mostly a flat/slice swing and followthru with various tosses, NONE nearly a twist or kick location.
Some smartaleck here will post that Federer doesn't toss much differently from kicks to flats, but Federer moves into position under his toss, you don't.
A kick/twist swing is upwards towards the sky to your left, finishing with racket to the left of your body, but can followthru to the right.
The toss needs to be more behind your head, so you're leaning back and hitting upwards left.
Kick/twist ball speeds need huge arc, so if your flats are 80mph now, your true kick/twists will barely approach 50mph.

 

[saigonbond]

Not much mechanically wrong with your serve. Good base, nice smooth motion.
A few tips:
1.) Be more consistent with your toss. Your toss is sometimes to the left, sometimes to the right, and sometimes too low. Only a kick serve should your toss be different.
2.) Don't let the ball drop too low. You should be at full extension, standing tall, with a "high five." The other option would be to toss it a bit higher.
3.) Tuck your right arm into your chest/body like a hug. This will help keep your head up and keep your body in the proper alignment during uncoiling.
CHEERS!

 

[LeftSHBH]

Not much mechanically wrong with your serve. Good base, nice smooth motion.
A few tips:
1.) Be more consistent with your toss. Your toss is sometimes to the left, sometimes to the right, and sometimes too low. Only a kick serve should your toss be different.
2.) Don't let the ball drop too low. You should be at full extension, standing tall, with a "high five." The other option would be to toss it a bit higher.
3.) Tuck your right arm into your chest/body like a hug. This will help keep your head up and keep your body in the proper alignment during uncoiling.
CHEERS!

Thanks for the advice.
I must say, after that one day of practice and reading everyone's input on my serve helped me improve it dramatically. I played yesterday (video coming soon) and I only double faulted a few times, vs many times in the past few weeks. My flat serve is finally back and I'm able to hit down the line AND corners. Thanks!

 

[phoenicks]

ur ball is too further in front for kick serve, ball toss should be above your head. If you want more kick, use a rainbow swingpath, that is executed properly, can really let u hit a ball that kick so high it's outta Isner & Karlovic reach. (I did it with my 90sq 18*20 string racquet)

 

[phoenicks]

Looking at your video again, this Swing path for kick serve seems okay to me (To be absolutely sure,at least a Slow-mo 60 fps is needed). I Still think your toss is the culprit here, it's a flat serve toss.