Please help me with my serve

[Tennis108]

Hi all,

I'd really appreciate some advice on how I can improve my serve. I'm sure there are many things which can be worked on so I'd appreciate it if you could perhaps suggest the most important 3-5 points I should prioritize in order to improve? I've taken some videos from different angles in the links below. From memory I think only the second video's serve actually landed in.

(excuse the comment at the very end!)

Many thanks.

 

[J011yroger]

That's pretty good!

Somebody will come on here in about 5 minutes and tell you to use your lower body more and work on your toss and compare yourself to high speed video of pros.

J

 

[J011yroger]

Is it very cold there?

I never try to serve above 70% effort unless I'm sweating.

J

 

[Tennis108]

Is it very cold there?

I never try to serve above 70% effort unless I'm sweating.

J

Hey thanks for the reply. Yeah it was pretty damn cold! About 6 degrees when I recorded these last week. What is the rationale for not trying to serve above 70% effort?

Thanks.

 

[J011yroger]

Hey thanks for the reply. Yeah it was pretty damn cold! About 6 degrees when I recorded these last week. What is the rationale for not trying to serve above 70% effort?

Thanks.

You want to serve with all of your big muscles, and all your arm does is connect your racquet to your body like a string, so the body is the energy and your arm is the conductor. The looser your arm is, the better it conducts, the less energy you lose. My arm does not enjoy being whipped around until I am warm and have good blood flow.

J

 

[hurworld]

Is it very cold there?

I never try to serve above 70% effort unless I'm sweating.

J

The hotter it is, the more effort you put into your serves?

 

[J011yroger]

The hotter it is, the more effort you put into your serves?

Yea, if it's cold I just try to stay extra relaxed and use location over power and spin.

J

 

[Tennis108]

You want to serve with all of your big muscles, and all your arm does is connect your racquet to your body like a string, so the body is the energy and your arm is the conductor. The looser your arm is, the better it conducts, the less energy you lose. My arm does not enjoy being whipped around until I am warm and have good blood flow.

J

This is interesting thank you. Did you ask me about this because it looks like I'm using my arm too much in these serves?

 

[Dragy]

What’s that racquet?

You don’t use true conti grip, do you?
Don’t drop racquet head behind your head before you actually start the swing, keep it vertical or slightly tilted towards the right fence:

 

[J011yroger]

This is interesting thank you. Did you ask me about this because it looks like I'm using my arm too much in these serves?

No because you were wearing pants and a sweatshirt.

J

 

[J011yroger]

What’s that racquet?

You don’t use true conti grip, do you?
Don’t drop racquet head behind your head before you actually start the swing, keep it vertical or slightly tilted towards the right fence:

Correct! Start of the racquet drop is out of sync with the lower body.

J

 

[sureshs]

Same outfit on 3 successive days is unhygienic.

 

[Tennis108]

Same outfit on 3 successive days is unhygienic.

Same evening.

 

[Tennis108]

What’s that racquet?

You don’t use true conti grip, do you?
Don’t drop racquet head behind your head before you actually start the swing, keep it vertical or slightly tilted towards the right fence:

It's a Wilson but will have to check the model later today.

I do use a continental grip - perhaps it doesn't come through on the vids. Or, I'm not using it properly.

Ok thanks I will avoid bringing the racquet back too early.

 

[Born_to_slice]

Your left hand in TP looks great. You're opening racquet head too early but I have even more severe problem with that myself.

 

[Dragy]

I do use a continental grip - perhaps it doesn't come through on the vids. Or, I'm not using it properly.

It seems to me your index knuckle is put against bevel 3 more than against bevel 2 which goes for conti:

And generally your RF orientation looks a bit too open. Try doing same swing with true conti grip - don't make changes to compensate, accept angled contact and some spin, it's good. You'd figure it out later - how to spin more, how to flatten out.

 

[Tennis108]

It seems to me your index knuckle is put against bevel 3 more than against bevel 2 which goes for conti:

And generally your RF orientation looks a bit too open. Try doing same swing with true conti grip - don't make changes to compensate, accept angled contact and some spin, it's good. You'd figure it out later - how to spin more, how to flatten out.

Ok thanks I will work on these and upload at a later date.

By RF do you mean "racquet face"?

 

[Dragy]

Ok thanks I will work on these and upload at a later date.

By RF do you mean "racquet face"?

Roger Federer of course.


Joking. You are correct, racquet face.

 

[Chas Tennis]

On the second video, when your racket shaft is about horizontal and going toward impact, it looks more like a Waiter's Tray technique than a high level technique as is often the case with most active players. For single frame on Youtube videos, use the "." & "," keys.

Your camera did a superior job with court lighting at night but there is still too much motion blur. Video again in bright sunlight for less motion blur. Wear a short sleeve shirt and get a closer picture of your arm, especially the upper arm between the shoulder joint and elbow joint. Look for shadows of bones and tendons at the elbow area. Video from behind looking along the ball's trajectory.

I've posted many times on serves and described high level serves with internal shoulder rotation (ISR) with pictures and videos.

 

[Tennis108]

On the second video, when your racket shaft is about horizontal and going toward impact it looks more like a Waiter's Tray technique than a high level technique as is often the case with most active players. For single frame on Youtube videos, use the "." & "," keys.

Your camera did a superior job with court lighting at night but there is still too much motion blur. Video again in bright sunlight for less motion blur. Wear a short sleeve shirt and get a closer picture of your arm, especially the upper arm between the shoulder joint and elbow joint. Look for shadows of bones and tendons at the elbow area. Video from behind looking along the ball's trajectory.

I've posted many times on serves and described high level sevves with internal shoulder rotation (ISR) with pictures and videos.

Ok will do.

 

[Chas Tennis]

Ok will do.

The high level serve should have the upper arm oriented so that the risk of impingement is reduced. Todd Ellenbecker has a video in Tennis Resources called "Rotator Cuff Injury". The upper arm should not be at an angle to the shoulder joint that is too high. You should join Tennis Resources for about $30 and view that video, they have a collection of videos. There are many threads discussing this subject. High level servers are almost all examples of good practice regarding the arm angle throughout the motion.

Post by tennis biomechanics researcher David Whiteside, also read the thread

Question for Chas Tennis about "High Level Servers"

The usual suspects in 2014. https://tt.tennis-warehouse.com/index.php?threads/vaidisovas-high-elbow-in-her-serve.513485/#post-8756768 There was also a long TW post on Vaidisovas's high arm on her serve. I can't search it now although there are scattered references to it. The technique of...

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