My video, finally!

[XFactorer]

I'm wearing the Nadal spring Rush/Crush crew (white w/ the aster pink stripe) and the blue AO '09 shorts.

Anyway, critique my serve! There are random other players in the video, too...

1) My two backhands are from volleys and I was trying to dip it low to my opponent cross court (I'm on the ad side)

2) there's a ball that bounces out and I do some stupid twirly forehand turn. Ignore that.

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

 

[10nistennis]

I'm guessing you're the asian guy?


Well, if you are, here are some things I noticed.


1) You are not extending your left arm/shoulder, and it is level with your right shoulder. At the same time, you are not dropping your right shoulder while in trophy pose.


2) It seems like you are dropping your left arm awkwardly. See how travels across your body first? It will hinder your serve motion.


3) It wouldn't hurt to have a little more back bend.

After that, there's really nothing major I noticed. You have decent knee bend, you are jumping into the ball, you keep your head steady.

 

[pvaudio]

I'm guessing you're the asian guy?


Well, if you are, here are some things I noticed.


1) You are not extending your left arm/shoulder, and it is level with your right shoulder. At the same time, you are not dropping your right shoulder while in trophy pose.


2) It seems like you are dropping your left arm awkwardly. See how travels across your body first? It will hinder your serve motion.


3) It wouldn't hurt to have a little more back bend.

After that, there's really nothing major I noticed. You have decent knee bend, you are jumping into the ball, you keep your head steady.

This is not good technical advice so I wonder why people on here keep mentioning it. Bending your back for the sake of bending your back is going to cause injury. It's not supposed to do that and is only going to bend during the serve due to the natural motion. Putting stress on your lower back to create more pace is the worst way to add power.

 

[XFactorer]

I'm trying to work on more shoulder rotation. But I can see that I don't even turn enough on this serve.

 

[LeeD]

Finish raising your tossing hand higher.
Much lower right elbow for ALL YOU GUYS !!
Turn your BACK to the reciever when prepping.
You have nice leg spring, but most of it is purely upwards. Move in some too.
Archer's bow, with rackethand lower than your right shoulder, but it's the archer's bow that gives that appearance.
All you guys are losing out on easily 20% racketspeed with your high elbow MartinaNavritilova trophy.
You guys are NOT GIRLS. Don't swing like one.

 

[Ripper014]

I like how you stay down anchoring yourself to the ground when you are hitting the ball. I will let other provide the negative comments.

 

[XFactorer]

I like how you stay down anchoring yourself to the ground when you are hitting the ball. I will let other provide the negative comments.

Thanks. Those two backhands aren't normally how I'd hit a regular backhand. I had two opponents at net and I needed to rip the ball down low. Luckily it only took two backhands and the following volley went wide.

 

[XFactorer]

Finish raising your tossing hand higher.
Much lower right elbow for ALL YOU GUYS !!
Turn your BACK to the reciever when prepping.
You have nice leg spring, but most of it is purely upwards. Move in some too.
Archer's bow, with rackethand lower than your right shoulder, but it's the archer's bow that gives that appearance.
All you guys are losing out on easily 20% racketspeed with your high elbow MartinaNavritilova trophy.
You guys are NOT GIRLS. Don't swing like one.

A) Thanks for the feedback.

B) Don't generalize how males and females hit a ball.

C) So, I should work on extending my tossing hand higher and lowering my racquet hand/shoulder more?

D) What's this high elbow thing? Which elbow is high? Tossing hand or racquet hand?

 

[PeterFig]

Everyone looks better in slow motion ( including myself )

But all kidding aside - as mentioned before you really used your legs well on those two backhands. Great stability.

I think in general (on pretty much all your shots) you have good technique but it all seems a little 'bunched up' to me. You just need a bit more extension - including on your non-dominant hand. However you do have some good fundamentals so some tweaks are all that's needed.

 

[new_tennis_player]

The slow-mo is awesome, don't let anyone tell you otherwise.

I was too mesmerized by neon blue in slow mo to offer up any critique to be honest; it was chariots of fire-esque.

 

[XFactorer]

The slow-mo is awesome, don't let anyone tell you otherwise.

I was too mesmerized by neon blue in slow mo to offer up any critique to be honest; it was chariots of fire-esque.

Heh, it's neo turq! Or Neptune blue (depending on which item you were looking at)

And my backhands don't normally look that crazy with the cramped style. I generally do get more extension, but when two players are at net and I'm just trying to hit it as hard as I can and dip it at their feet, that's what comes of it.

 

[Russell93]

To help with your serve, kicking your hip out more towards the court will allow you to get more shoulder turn and explode into the ball.

 

[XFactorer]

To help with your serve, kicking your hip out more towards the court will allow you to get more shoulder turn and explode into the ball.

Left hip? Or right hip? And what do you mean by kicking my hip out more?

 

[Ripper014]

Everyone looks better in slow motion ( including myself )

But all kidding aside - as mentioned before you really used your legs well on those two backhands. Great stability.

I think in general (on pretty much all your shots) you have good technique but it all seems a little 'bunched up' to me. You just need a bit more extension - including on your non-dominant hand. However you do have some good fundamentals so some tweaks are all that's needed.

Actually Peterfig hits big and looks pretty good in full motion as well don't let him kid you.

 

[saigonbond]

Greetings,
1.) You never reach trophy positon on your abbreviated takeback. Your right elbow should be pointed down(at the very least it should look like an L) with your left arm completely extended. Instead, you're making a Y like your doing Village People YMCA giving you little racquet head speed.
2.) Keep your left arm extended up after the toss longer.
3.) Stay sideways when you step up with your right foot. Currently when you step up, it causes your body to completely face the net. You can't get any uncoiling and shoulder rotation this way, robbing you of power and spin.
Good luck, CHEERS!

 

[xinunix]

This is not good technical advice so I wonder why people on here keep mentioning it. Bending your back for the sake of bending your back is going to cause injury. It's not supposed to do that and is only going to bend during the serve due to the natural motion. Putting stress on your lower back to create more pace is the worst way to add power.

I agree that back bend achieved by simply bending the back especially with closed hips is dangerous. However you can achieve more power by getting more coil in your trophy pose by throwing your leading hip forward into the court as you go back into the trophy pose. That results in a more fluid kinetic chain with the energy from your leg bend driving you up and into the ball as opposed to just vertical extension. The key is to start with your leading hip, not just bending your back.