Someone give me some tips on my tennis serve please!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=52txn8z0O8I
Thank you!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=52txn8z0O8I
Thank you!!
My Serve Tips
- Thread starter shepps_7
- Start date
You have a really nice serve. The follow through of your racket isn't quite complete, if you want to improve something.
Check out these these two videos and watch how the racket goes to other side of the body
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sAwER8eztPs
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kGWdoNobnCM&feature=related
Check out these these two videos and watch how the racket goes to other side of the body
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sAwER8eztPs
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kGWdoNobnCM&feature=related
WildVolley
Legend
You are stepping forward on all of these serves and foot-faulting every time. Back up so your serves are legal, or work on stepping back slightly with your front foot at the start of the serve (Roddick, Federer) instead of forward into the serve.
You seem to have a nice lift into the serve, your motion is definitely forward into the court, and your shoulder over shoulder is good. I think you could stand to move the toss just slightly to the left to get a little more natural pronation into the ball, but I might be wrong.
You seem to have a nice lift into the serve, your motion is definitely forward into the court, and your shoulder over shoulder is good. I think you could stand to move the toss just slightly to the left to get a little more natural pronation into the ball, but I might be wrong.
S
StuckInMalibu
Guest
Do you serve and volley? Seems appropriate for your service motion.
fuzz nation
G.O.A.T.
I don't see anything horrible going on.
You may be able to tap into a bit of extra free energy if you try enhancing your rotation as you hit. As you put your toss up, you can experiment with turning your shoulders just a little more away from the court so that you're a little more "loaded up" and ready to uncoil slightly more through contact.
It might feel like you're opening your chest up to the sky more broadly, but you don't want to go after any funky contortions. This can potentially give your swing to the ball a little more space to accelerate. Just keep the progression smooth and loose.
You may be able to tap into a bit of extra free energy if you try enhancing your rotation as you hit. As you put your toss up, you can experiment with turning your shoulders just a little more away from the court so that you're a little more "loaded up" and ready to uncoil slightly more through contact.
It might feel like you're opening your chest up to the sky more broadly, but you don't want to go after any funky contortions. This can potentially give your swing to the ball a little more space to accelerate. Just keep the progression smooth and loose.
naylor
Semi-Pro
Just a couple of quick thoughts.
When you serve a fault on a first serve, is it normally fractionally long past the service line? If so, it may well be that, because you step forward, you move in too much under the tossed ball (i.e. it's not as far in front of you at contact as it should), so at contact the initial trajectory is fractionally more horizontal than it should.
The other thought is about your toss - and I think it's probably related to the first point above. For me, it looks a fraction too low, when you hit the ball your arm is still bent at the elbow. Seems to me that, because you do end up fractionally too far in and underneath the toss, you actually lower the toss and keep your arm bent to be able to then hit the ball still flat but from (what feels like) right above or even fractionally behind your head.
Tossing the ball higher and further in wouldn't cure this - you'd simply step further forward and over the service line.
I think the cure for this stepping over the line might be if you placed your right foot a bit further behind you (i.e. you turned your back more to the net). This would make your serve motion a bit less linear (forward) and a bit more around, so you catch up with the ball at contact point because your shoulders are rotating, you right shoulder is coming around and upwards and past the right shoulder, and this gives you some momentum also to jump into the court on your serve and follow forward if you want to S&V. Also, as you're rotating more into the toss, you can progressively get the toss a little bit higher and allow your arm to extend higher and straighter - but most importantly, also reaching further into the court - at contact. And as you now hit the ball more naturally slightly higher and in front of you, you no longer need to step forward with your left foot to reach it.
Coming from Bristol, you'll be familiar with cricket - fast bowlers keep their left shoulder forward, but when they get to the crease their left arm comes down to help the right shoulder come through, slinging over and around quickly. In tennis the shoulders rotate on a flatter plane than in cricket, but you still need the right shoulder to rotate from behind and get in front of the left shoulder, to add power from the trunk rotation into the serve. Otherwise, all the power in your serve only comes form the shoulder and the arm.
When you serve a fault on a first serve, is it normally fractionally long past the service line? If so, it may well be that, because you step forward, you move in too much under the tossed ball (i.e. it's not as far in front of you at contact as it should), so at contact the initial trajectory is fractionally more horizontal than it should.
The other thought is about your toss - and I think it's probably related to the first point above. For me, it looks a fraction too low, when you hit the ball your arm is still bent at the elbow. Seems to me that, because you do end up fractionally too far in and underneath the toss, you actually lower the toss and keep your arm bent to be able to then hit the ball still flat but from (what feels like) right above or even fractionally behind your head.
Tossing the ball higher and further in wouldn't cure this - you'd simply step further forward and over the service line.
I think the cure for this stepping over the line might be if you placed your right foot a bit further behind you (i.e. you turned your back more to the net). This would make your serve motion a bit less linear (forward) and a bit more around, so you catch up with the ball at contact point because your shoulders are rotating, you right shoulder is coming around and upwards and past the right shoulder, and this gives you some momentum also to jump into the court on your serve and follow forward if you want to S&V. Also, as you're rotating more into the toss, you can progressively get the toss a little bit higher and allow your arm to extend higher and straighter - but most importantly, also reaching further into the court - at contact. And as you now hit the ball more naturally slightly higher and in front of you, you no longer need to step forward with your left foot to reach it.
Coming from Bristol, you'll be familiar with cricket - fast bowlers keep their left shoulder forward, but when they get to the crease their left arm comes down to help the right shoulder come through, slinging over and around quickly. In tennis the shoulders rotate on a flatter plane than in cricket, but you still need the right shoulder to rotate from behind and get in front of the left shoulder, to add power from the trunk rotation into the serve. Otherwise, all the power in your serve only comes form the shoulder and the arm.
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Good you cured that "sampras" rocking back on heels thing. He doesn't seem to lift his left foot, but most other's who copy his motion do footfault on critical points.
Your motion is good enough for 4.0 level tennis. A lower trophy position rackethand takeback would give you a little more power. As said, your followthru is not consistent, and sometimes right of your body....not good except for twists out wide. Try to followthru across your body to the left side on every serve, even serves out wide. You can vary your body position under your toss to hit out wide.
You don't seem to swing very fast, maybe playing cautious or trying for consistency. Swing faster when for real.
You seem tall and athletic. Good things.
And very nice to see a real service motion on vid.
Your motion is good enough for 4.0 level tennis. A lower trophy position rackethand takeback would give you a little more power. As said, your followthru is not consistent, and sometimes right of your body....not good except for twists out wide. Try to followthru across your body to the left side on every serve, even serves out wide. You can vary your body position under your toss to hit out wide.
You don't seem to swing very fast, maybe playing cautious or trying for consistency. Swing faster when for real.
You seem tall and athletic. Good things.
And very nice to see a real service motion on vid.
WildVolley
Legend
Wow, LeeD, I think this is one of the first players here you've complimented.
I tend to agree. I think shepps_7 is on his way to developing a serve that can work as a real weapon. The key is to keep using the video to assess your progress and to keep your shoulder healthy.
I tend to agree. I think shepps_7 is on his way to developing a serve that can work as a real weapon. The key is to keep using the video to assess your progress and to keep your shoulder healthy.
Solat
Professional
the key for me here is what more do you require out of your serve? You have a more then competent action to get power and its obviously quite conducive to serve and volley because it is a very linear motion as mention before.
You would certainly gain from a better shoulder turn into your toss, this would give more power from your core however it may throw out your timing so it is something you need to be aware of.
Your feet are interesting as you are a toe dragger but dont utilise a pinpoint leg drive. This is what drives your forward motion, you could narrow your stance and try to serve a more traditional platform stance and aim for more vertical drive.
I would expect that the weakest area of your serve would be your topspin serve as you have such a linear motion and you also have a slightly open face take back on your swing so it doesnt bode well for the vertical acceleration and ideal racquet angle on contact. This is hypothesis as it looked like you hit two flat serves and the third looked like a flat/top hybrid as tho you wanted to hit a toppy but the toss was too right
You would certainly gain from a better shoulder turn into your toss, this would give more power from your core however it may throw out your timing so it is something you need to be aware of.
Your feet are interesting as you are a toe dragger but dont utilise a pinpoint leg drive. This is what drives your forward motion, you could narrow your stance and try to serve a more traditional platform stance and aim for more vertical drive.
I would expect that the weakest area of your serve would be your topspin serve as you have such a linear motion and you also have a slightly open face take back on your swing so it doesnt bode well for the vertical acceleration and ideal racquet angle on contact. This is hypothesis as it looked like you hit two flat serves and the third looked like a flat/top hybrid as tho you wanted to hit a toppy but the toss was too right
What kind of serves are you hitting - I ask because on a couple, you are hitting below your apex, not rotating your shoulders and finishing to the right. If you are hitting a flat serve this way, you are losing power. You look to be decently big and tall to have a weapon of a serve.
If you are hitting a kick serve - you are opening your shoulders too soon and not brushing up at the ball.
If you are hitting a kick serve - you are opening your shoulders too soon and not brushing up at the ball.
Tim Tennis
Professional
Great advice. Your motion was so smooth and easy, nothing forced about it, great serve.
Best regards,
Ed
Tennis Geometrics
RoddickAce
Hall of Fame
I have no technical advice to offer because your serve is way better than mine, but you might want to prevent your left foot from moving too forward in your service motion to prevent potential footfaults.
LuckyR
Legend
It looks like you were not hitting them nearly as hard as you could. Were you holding back to keep the ball in? In addition I wonder of you motion would be the same (or similar) going for the sideline in the deuce court (a more natural motion for a RHer, IMO).
I'd be interested in seeing a new video without this foot fault. Not because I don't believe you, but because I notice that you're not really using your right leg to push off at the end. It looks like you took a small step with your right foot, followed by a next step with your left foot forward (causing the foot fault), then you exclusively power up with your left leg to jump into the ball, with your right leg straight and lagging behind, not contributing to anything anymore. I think you can get more pace if you use both legs to power up. I think it would also help you coil up better and more if you have knee bend on both legs at the same time.
So I'm curious now that you've fixed your foot fault whether you make better use of your right leg or not. Your stance in the video is neither pinpoint nor platform. With pinpoint, people step up their right foot and power both legs up. With platform, people stay put and power both legs up. You're kind of reverse pinpoint because you stepped your left foot and power only your left leg up.
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