Nadal's serve

edmondsm

edmondsm

Legend
I have learned a thing or two over the last few years about tennis technique from personal interaction with people that are good at the game, as well as the great tips/instruction section of this forum.

I have always heard that one of the most important aspects of a good tennis serve is to pronate the racquet arm as you bring it above your shoulder. I have observed that many great servers do this.

When I watch Nadal serve it's almost like he does the complete opposite. He holds the racquet in as supinated (opposite of pronated) position as possible. It seems to me that this would greatly inhibit your ability to snap the wrist effectively at contact point, creating the desired pace.

Many of you know much more about technique then I, so let me know if my analysis is off. Is this whole pronating thing not as crucial as I've been told?

610x.jpg


1235112.jpg
 
Last edited:
It was not supination in this picture. It was like neutral or more pronation. However, whether it is a pronation or not doesn't matter in the preparation. To generate power in serve, you need to snap the wrist from supination to pronation.
edmondsm said:
I have learned a thing or two over the last few years about tennis technique from personal interaction with people that are good at the game, as well as the great tips/instruction section of this forum.

I have always heard that one of the most important aspects of a good tennis serve is to pronate the racquet arm as you bring it above your shoulder. I have observed that many great servers do this.

When I watch Nadal serve it's almost like he does the complete opposite. He holds the racquet in as supinated (opposite of pronated) position as possible. It seems to me that this would greatly inhibit your ability to snap the wrist effectively at contact point, creating the desired pace.

Many of you know much more about technique then I, so let me know if my analysis is off. Is this whole pronating thing not as crucial as I've been told?

610x.jpg


1235112.jpg
Click to expand...
 
080825 said:
It was not supination in this picture. It was like neutral or more pronation. However, whether it is a pronation or not doesn't matter in the preparation. To generate power in serve, you need to snap the wrist from supination to pronation.
Click to expand...

So do I have the terms mixed up? In my head when I picture the wrist snap I see it go from a pronated position to a supinated one. So maybe my terminology is backwards.
 
Yeah, I think this was what happened. In serve, I prefer to start with pronation in preparation and then it goes to supination and back to pronation during the wrist snap.
edmondsm said:
So do I have the terms mixed up? In my head when I picture the wrist snap I see it go from a pronated position to a supinated one. So maybe my terminology is backwards.
Click to expand...
 
Breaking of the wrist and snap is completely different thing than pronating and supinating on serve, it is not possible for the wrist joint itself to supinate or pronate, this occurs at the elbow joint and in the forearm.

Hold your hand out in front of you and turn your wrist over that is supination and pronation, not the bending of the wrist.
 
I'm sure he does pronate, when I look at it, his motion is just different. He doesn't drop his racquet, he just takes it straight up. Thats what they're teaching the kids now a days, because the racquets are so powerful.
 
I think during the backswing, supination is definitely wrong because it faces the racket toward the sky. That's not what Nadal is doing in that picture. You just pronate to the extent that is necessary to keep the racket face relatively parallel with the ground.
 
Lsmkenpo said:
Breaking of the wrist and snap is completely different thing than pronating and supinating on serve, it is not possible for the wrist joint itself to supinate or pronate, this occurs at the elbow joint and in the forearm.

Hold your hand out in front of you and turn your wrist over that is supination and pronation, not the bending of the wrist.
Click to expand...

Yeah so this is what I'm talking about. If you look at the pictures I posted, Nadal's palm is facing downwards, and Sampras's is facing away from him body...on the same plane as his chest. I know that they might not be in the exact same point in their respective motions, but the difference is pretty stunning IMO. The main difference seems to be that Nadal takes a really long time to get the racquet back. He gets it above his shoulder but not in the sort of position where it's ready to come forward.

Roddick's serve is an anomaly. Yeah it's unorthodox but it's also one of the best serves the game has ever seen. You can't say the same about Nadal's, not even close, which is why I'm curious about it.
 
Last edited:
Lsmkenpo said:
images


Look at Dents forearm position this is supinating on serve not the breaking of the wrist.
Click to expand...

OK good. Now if you look at Nadals arm it is in a much more similar position to Dent's then Sampras's. I know we are talking about a picture where Dent has already followed through on the serve, but just in terms of arm position, Nadal is more supinated after the toss.
 
rubberduckies said:
I think during the backswing, supination is definitely wrong because it faces the racket toward the sky. That's not what Nadal is doing in that picture. You just pronate to the extent that is necessary to keep the racket face relatively parallel with the ground.
Click to expand...

Nadal's racquet face is parallel to the ground I guess, but Sampras's is completely perpendicular to the ground, as is Federer's when he is in the same position.
 
umm im really confused here
are you guys getting nadals takeback mixed up with pronation and supination etc?
the pronation doesnt occur till your swing, so that image makes no sense really
 
lawrence said:
umm im really confused here
are you guys getting nadals takeback mixed up with pronation and supination etc?
the pronation doesnt occur till your swing, so that image makes no sense really
Click to expand...

Right, it's everybody comparing completely different positions during the motion.
 
lawrence said:
umm im really confused here
are you guys getting nadals takeback mixed up with pronation and supination etc?
the pronation doesnt occur till your swing, so that image makes no sense really
Click to expand...
It helps to supinate at the bottom of the racket drop, since this gets the racket farther away from the body and accentuates the pronation which occurs later. Pronation occurs at the top of swing when you hit the ball. Nadal pronates. Just watch this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J--1bFxdmC0
 
Last edited:
Nadal has one of the worst serves in the top 50, luckily the rest of his game play is good.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

Xenakis
Murray Not Pronating On His Serve?
Replies
18
Views
3K
drakulie
drakulie
S
Supination timing during serve
Replies
5
Views
2K
Kevo
K
yemenmocha
Serve Pronation & golfer's elbow
Replies
31
Views
14K
Chas Tennis
C
G
Nadal's Serve
Replies
14
Views
2K
fedtennisphan
fedtennisphan
F
Help with serve probation
Replies
1
Views
688
BlueB
BlueB
Back
Top