Question about serve toss

[Nero_S]

I am just learning to serve. I have a question about serve toss in a flat serve. Everyone says you should toss in front of your body. But since you start your serving position in more or less closed stance, my question is do you toss straight in front of your body (to the net post - since you are pointing to that direction), or in front of your body but in direction of the net (in the direction perpendicular to the baseline). This confuses me a lot!!! TNX in advance for your answers.

 

[golden chicken]

somewhere in between, actually

watch this video of sampras: http://bm046.k12.sd.us/masters/cet750_reed/mastel_tennis_project/movies/sampras_serve.mov

note how his tossing arm is straight out in front of him, parallel to the baseline, but the ball toss itself is in an arc towards the net

 

[ondray]

There are lots of different ways to toss the ball. I think the ultimate goal is to make sure that the ball reaches the hitting zone consistently without having excessive spin on it. Of course, the tossing hand has to be fully extended for balance and the body has to be in the loaded position as well.

Looking at the modern game, the hitting zone for the ATP players are usually around 12 o'clock (taking their head as the middle of the clock). WTA players hits more around 12.30 to 1 o'clock. Most people say that tossing around 1 foot into the court enables one to hit the ball with more pace. I do that too but I have seen players who toss straight up near the baseline and hit bombs. I guess it's because everyone is bio-mechanically different.

Look at the pros' motions and try as many as you can since you just started learning it. The best bet would be to get a coach to observe and correct your motion.

 

[DragonFly]

There are lots of different ways to toss the ball. I think the ultimate goal is to make sure that the ball reaches the hitting zone consistently without having excessive spin on it. Of course, the tossing hand has to be fully extended for balance and the body has to be in the loaded position as well.

Looking at the modern game, the hitting zone for the ATP players are usually around 12 o'clock (taking their head as the middle of the clock). WTA players hits more around 12.30 to 1 o'clock. Most people say that tossing around 1 foot into the court enables one to hit the ball with more pace. I do that too but I have seen players who toss straight up near the baseline and hit bombs. I guess it's because everyone is bio-mechanically different.

Look at the pros' motions and try as many as you can since you just started learning it. The best bet would be to get a coach to observe and correct your motion.

Well, Justine HH's tossing arm isn't straight, it's bent at the toss. I think its important to make sure you aren't off balance.

 

[ondray]

Sorry for the misleading post. What it actually meant was the tossing hand has to be fully extended after the ball has left the palm. It's to balance the body. I personally toss with a straight arm but yea, some players do toss with bent elbows/wrists.