Cindysphinx
G.O.A.T.
I went to Legg Mason last night. After the Roddick match, they had a fun little contest. They had various USTA league players, men and women, 3.5 and 4.0. Each person got three serves. The person with the fastest serve (measured by radar) that landed in would win $250 (I assume one prize for each gender and level). Roddick stood nearby and provided, um, color commentary.
Here's what happened, as best as I can remember. (If anyone else was there, do chime in to correct anything I get wrong).
First up: The 3.5 men. First guy was older and very heavy. I think he banged 88 or so on his serves, with the last two landing in. I think the next guy did something similar. Neither had especially good form, pretty typical stuff. All right. So the serves I see in 7.0 mixed are probably about 85 mph.
Then the 3.5 women stepped up. The first one was slender and small and had a total frying pan grip, so pronounced that I could see it from the top level of the stadium. No racket drop, knee bend, shoulder turn. Nothing But Arm. She hit 58 mph, with only one serve going in and the others going long. The other 3.5 woman was much older, and she hit the mid-70s, I believe. Now, I think my service motion is a lot better than these ladies, so maybe that means I am in the 80s? I dunno.
Then the real fun began, with the 4.0 men. First guy up is a younger guy. He rears back and totally blasts his first attempt. And by "blast," I mean painted the baseline. 99 mph. Second attempt was faster, at 100 mph, this one landing a few feet inside the baseline. At this point, the guy knows he has to get this next serve or he will be eliminated. This calls for some spin, some margin for safety, right? No sirreee Bob. He rears back and crushes another one near the baseline. No soup for you.
At this point, Andy told the other 4.0 guy that he would take one of his three serves. Andy steps up, and we are expecting he is going to fire one in the 130s. Nope, he served the most pathetic, 1.0-level, frying pan, moonball push serve you ever saw, which was too lame for the radar even to register a speed. Still it landed in.
Now it was time for the second 4.0 guy to serve. All he has to do is put *any* serve into the box and he is the winner. Any sane person would just kick one in, and then have some fun with the last two serves, right? Apparently, this fellow had just finished soaking in a frothy bath of testosterone, because he just couldn't bring himself to play it safe. Three 100 mph serves, none nowhere near the service line.
Can't remember the 4.0 women, sorry. I was laughing too hard at the 4.0 guys who cannot, no matter how many people are watching and how much is on the line, take something off of their serves.
As for me, I was surprised to see how many mph you can rack up with abysmal form. I mean, the second serve kickers a lot of the pros were hitting were registering into the 80s and 90s (although their flat serves were between the mid 110s-130s). So just the physics involved with the swing, racket and ball will get you up to 60 mph, apparently, even if you disregard all principles of technique. Getting a serve in while hitting 100 mph must be awfully hard.
Now. And if any of you reading this just happened to be one of the contestants . . .
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
Go work on your serve. Right now!
Here's what happened, as best as I can remember. (If anyone else was there, do chime in to correct anything I get wrong).
First up: The 3.5 men. First guy was older and very heavy. I think he banged 88 or so on his serves, with the last two landing in. I think the next guy did something similar. Neither had especially good form, pretty typical stuff. All right. So the serves I see in 7.0 mixed are probably about 85 mph.
Then the 3.5 women stepped up. The first one was slender and small and had a total frying pan grip, so pronounced that I could see it from the top level of the stadium. No racket drop, knee bend, shoulder turn. Nothing But Arm. She hit 58 mph, with only one serve going in and the others going long. The other 3.5 woman was much older, and she hit the mid-70s, I believe. Now, I think my service motion is a lot better than these ladies, so maybe that means I am in the 80s? I dunno.
Then the real fun began, with the 4.0 men. First guy up is a younger guy. He rears back and totally blasts his first attempt. And by "blast," I mean painted the baseline. 99 mph. Second attempt was faster, at 100 mph, this one landing a few feet inside the baseline. At this point, the guy knows he has to get this next serve or he will be eliminated. This calls for some spin, some margin for safety, right? No sirreee Bob. He rears back and crushes another one near the baseline. No soup for you.
At this point, Andy told the other 4.0 guy that he would take one of his three serves. Andy steps up, and we are expecting he is going to fire one in the 130s. Nope, he served the most pathetic, 1.0-level, frying pan, moonball push serve you ever saw, which was too lame for the radar even to register a speed. Still it landed in.
Now it was time for the second 4.0 guy to serve. All he has to do is put *any* serve into the box and he is the winner. Any sane person would just kick one in, and then have some fun with the last two serves, right? Apparently, this fellow had just finished soaking in a frothy bath of testosterone, because he just couldn't bring himself to play it safe. Three 100 mph serves, none nowhere near the service line.
Can't remember the 4.0 women, sorry. I was laughing too hard at the 4.0 guys who cannot, no matter how many people are watching and how much is on the line, take something off of their serves.
As for me, I was surprised to see how many mph you can rack up with abysmal form. I mean, the second serve kickers a lot of the pros were hitting were registering into the 80s and 90s (although their flat serves were between the mid 110s-130s). So just the physics involved with the swing, racket and ball will get you up to 60 mph, apparently, even if you disregard all principles of technique. Getting a serve in while hitting 100 mph must be awfully hard.
Now. And if any of you reading this just happened to be one of the contestants . . .
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
Go work on your serve. Right now!