racket face open on kick serve?

bradio

New User
when hitting a flat serve is my racket face slightly closed at contact so as to hit the ball down into the court and for a kick serve is my racket face slightly open at contact and i hit up on the ball. i have read through posts but none mention the position of the racket face at contact for either serve as far as i can see.ty in advance.
 

bradio

New User
ty for the reply tennsdog, however the post does not answer the question i have posted. your thread states the racket should be in approximately the same place for each type of serve but does not state whether it is square at contact, open or closed..i had read that thread before..for a flat serve you would have to hit the top of the ball which would mean the racket is slightly closed and for the kick/topspin hitting slightly open from under the ball. is this correct or not? if not can u please explain..
 

TennsDog

Hall of Fame
I would say the racket face is square to the back of the ball at contact for any kind of serve. The racket face may be rotated sideways depending on the direction of the serve, but it would be pretty much virtical at contact. A flat serve drives through the back of the ball, but does not hit the top and push down. Keep in mind that even flat serves have some amount of spin, usually topspin. If you were to hit the top of the ball and impart topspin, the ball would have no chance of going over the net. For kick serves, the racket face is again virtical, not open. When I think about hitting my kick serves, I actually imagine my racket face closed at contact. This isn't the case, but it's just what I picture to help make sure I get proper contact. You don't need an open face because the speed and direction of the racket head will drag the ball up to give it the lift and spin it needs to get over the net and into the box. Does this clear it up for you?
 

bradio

New User
ty very much that does clear it up.i will give it a go when i hit the courts this arvo if it doesnt rain...much love..
 

JCo872

Professional
bradio said:
when hitting a flat serve is my racket face slightly closed at contact so as to hit the ball down into the court and for a kick serve is my racket face slightly open at contact and i hit up on the ball. i have read through posts but none mention the position of the racket face at contact for either serve as far as i can see.ty in advance.

Judge for yourself:

Kick:
http://www.hi-techtennis.com/serve/kicker_example.cfm

Flat:
http://www.hi-techtennis.com/serve_index.cfm

What do you see?
 
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