New Serve Video

M

Munj

New User
Hi all,

Recently I have deconstructed my service motion and I wanted to post a video before my muscle memory becomes grooved to this new motion and learns bad habits. This video was taken after serving about 100 balls so I’m a bit tired but it’s pretty indicative of a typical serve. I play in a recreational league with mostly 3.5 players.

Here are my untrained thoughts on my video.

Pro’s
1. All serves went in, deep, decent pace, and bounced 3-4 feet high on the back fence. I’d like to add a bit more “pop”.
2. The service motion felt much smoother and fluid than my previous serve.
3. Toss is fairly consistent…maybe a bit too far to my left.

Con’s
1. Losing 20 lbs. wouldn’t hurt. :)
2. I think my racquet speed could be improved.
3. When my racket is in the take back position it seems too far to the left of my body when compared to the Hi-Tech videos I watched.
4. Knee bend could be improved, especially in the “trophy” position.

Please critique!!!

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=3993116773763379231
 
You are doing great good for you, I recomend that you relax more and bring the toss arm all the way up, bend knees, coil a lot more, and really get under the ball so you are looking up at it and hitting up at it.

To do this you are going to need a higher toss, you look really ready for this.

So everything is great you just need more of it, more depth, more relaxation, ect
 
Serve looks good. One thing I would reccomend is bringning your hand and forearm farther to the right before hitting the ball. This will create a greater snapping motion, and thus more power.
 
Sideways from The noes to the toes

Looks good !

Try to work on staying sideways more at the hit.

Think that you fron the net to fast and thus causing you to bend a bit at the waist!

think about leaving your right leg back more!
zheng1.jpg
 
You are doing fine, just try to focus when doing the toss and also toss the ball at 1 o´clock to get more speed. Try more knee bending.
 
The one thing that i notice is that you have your free hand almost in your pocket upon contact. That would cause you to pull the upper body down too fast and reduce the percentage of serves in play. Try leaving it up a split second longer and tuck it in closer to your upper chest as you rotate your shoulders through.
 
Toss is too low and it doesnt look like you are pronating at all. Looks like the racquet face is square all the way to contact. Both of those are robbing spin and speed from your serve.
 
Yes all your serves went in. Those were good but you were also in a rhythm. When I practice serve, I am more focused on my form. I would always make sure I pronate, fully extend, and contract my abs and waist. I would also bounce the ball more than couple of times.

You have to explode into your serve. I viewed the video couple of times. Those serves were more like pop-ins. Good luck!
 
Thank you to everyone for the advice. I also subscribed to www.hi-techtennis.com and got feedback via slo-motion video that was incredibly useful. I will be working on a few things over the next couple of weeks and I will repost a new video to show the before and after.
 
First off, thanks to everyone that posted advice. I have been working on a couple things that Jco872 and I have been reviewing and while my serve isn't where I want it to be I think it is slowly improving. In this video I tried focusing on extending my tossing arm fully and slowing down or pausing while in the 'trophy' position. Once I get these 2 things grooved a bit more I'll start focusing on other aspects. Please feel free to critique! Thanks again.

http://video.google.com/videoupload...388762&filename=wsb64__SnVuZSAyNCBTZXJ2ZQ.AVI
 
I'm curious to hear everyone's thoughts on Munj's feet position. Looks to me like the back foot is too far back and it causes his right leg to come through far into the court.

I suggested that servers either bring the back foot forward, or start with the back foot close up like Roddick.

I think this is what Beach was getting at when he said Munj needs to stay sideways more. I think because the back leg is so far back it messes up his balance.

Thoughts?

Also I think the extended toss looks great and the smoother more delayed motion looks great as well.
 
Yes jeff, I was working this write up and notice you pointed to the same thing. Here are my thoughts:

Here is my two cents worth. I’m no expert, but here is what I can see for you to get a little more out of the serve.

Left Hip location:

dsc003241er.jpg


This photo shows it very well. The coil. The hip is out there for the wind up. It also get him set to up and out into the court. It appears your body is behind you left foot. I see a little movement to get to that point, but it looks like you stop short. Maybe a balance thing with the right foot so far back keeps you from getting there.

See Gluteus Maximus and how it is the furthest point into the court area:

dsc003120ji.jpg


Personally, I seem to have a hard time with my feet that far apart. A balance thing. Maybe because of my short legs. If you try putting your feet a little closer until you get the feel of coil it might be easier. Then if you want that spacing with your foot move it back. Like Here:
dsc004030th.jpg


Again, see that hip location. That will allow you to explode up and out.

Rest look good to me.

You defiantly have the flexibility and athletic ability to do this. Looks good.

Also, anyone care to share what that little left foot toe lift does if anything?

Mike
 
SWEET pics!!!

Yes on all the above. Exactly right with the hip, the coil, the windup. The pics show it all.

One thing I would add is that a lot of people copy Pete's initial feet positioning, but don't realize that he slides his back foot right up to his front foot before hitting.
 
Those are some sweet pic's!!! I'm going to work on that bend/crouch position so that I swing my left hip more into the court just before exploding upward into the ball. Thanks again!!!
 
Look in those pics how the tossing arm remains straight as an arrow pointing up to the sky after the ball has been released. That's what I'm talking about!!
 
A couple of questions to Munj:

1) Do you use the continental grip on your serve? It's not obvious on the video.

2) When you hit the ball, the racket face seems pretty flat. Do you try to put some spin on the ball perhaps by hitting the ball with the racket face at an angle instead of flat?
 
IMHO you are serving with your arm, not your whole body. Think your arm is a cord attached to your shoulder and use your legs and core to push it up to make contact to the ball, you will be amazed at the pace that comes out of it.

I've been watching frame-by-frame video of pros serving and they all do the same, when they reach the trophy position they loose the arm and wrist and use their cores to push it up.
 
JCo872 said:
One thing I would add is that a lot of people copy Pete's initial feet positioning, but don't realize that he slides his back foot right up to his front foot before hitting.
Click to expand...

I am replying to a very old post, but I have to point out that I have seen dozens of different Sampras serves and he never slid his back foot in any of them. Surely you must have been thinking of someone else?

I am one of those people who copied Sampras's initial foot positioning. I have also tried the Roddick stance and went back to the Sampras stance as I feel more balanced with the latter. I think it is espcially useful when tossing to the left.
 
Fedace said:
I am trying out the pinpoint stance to get more power but it is pretty hard to master due to difficulty in maintaing balance, do you think i should keep trying this ?:confused:
Click to expand...

no.Stick with the platform stance if you are comfortable with it, the pin point stance gives no extra power.
 
very nice pics indeed. so judging by them, it looks like you are supposed to toss way up high...it looks almost 2 arms' length above the fingertips where the ball is
 
One thing I would add is that a lot of people copy Pete's initial feet positioning, but don't realize that he slides his back foot right up to his front foot before hitting.
Click to expand...

Absolutely agree. Also if you're doing pinpoint, make sure those hips are turned out not in. Alot of players go pinpoint and turn their hips into the court limiting them from power.

Question: What do people think about the front foot stepping. I notice Andy Roddick uses his front foot step almost like a baseball pitcher. Also Joachim does it too. Nobody else seems to do this and I believe this is a Great element to use in the future of the tennis serve.
 
munj: it looks like its got some heat on it despite not having perfect but okay technique. what racket do you use?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

F
Forearm roll during the serve
Replies
10
Views
1K
Trinity TC
Trinity TC
F
Question about "flat" serve in this video
Replies
5
Views
929
snoflewis
S
tennis-skater
help please! video included
Replies
21
Views
2K
magilligan
M
Moses Man
My serve... comments?
Replies
28
Views
2K
drakulie
drakulie
C
Critique my serves plz (video)
Replies
28
Views
2K
counterfeit25
C
Back
Top