Relation between height and serves/overheads?

[racquet_jedi]

I'm pretty short (more or less of 5 feet) and I can hit every shot well except overhead smashes (problems with serves from time-to-time but serves are easier for me). Just wondering, will shorter players often have problems with overheads more than taller people, or is it just me and my timing?

 

[The_1337]

when you say you dont hit it well, do you mean miss the ball or hit it softly?

i dont think it's height if your hitting it soft, because im only a bit more than 5 and half and i can hit a pretty good overhead.

 

[firstblud]

i think shorter people naturally have a height disadvantage when it comes to anything overhead related... ie flat serves, smashes. it sounds like common sense to me, but i could be wrong. (i'm short as well)

 

[thundaga]

i wouldn't have thought that timing would be any harder for vertically challenged players but obviously they are more susceptible to being lobbed

 

[burosky]

Sure, there is a relation between height and serves or overheads. The closer your are to the baseline, the more height becomes a factor. There is a difference between a serve and an overhead though. Keep in mind that the serve is the only shot you can hit where you have control of the ball prior to hitting it. This is why it is easier for you to hit it. With an overhead, you don't have control of the ball prior to hitting it. Again, the closer you are to the baseline, the more difficult it will be to hit an overhead.

Here's a good tip for overheads. As you line up for the shot you want to make sure that if you were to just let the ball go down and hit you, it should hit you on the chest. This will ensure that you hit your overhead in front of you and will also promote good balance after the hit.

 

[kevhen]

Taller guy has more leverage for more power and also a much bigger margin of error when hitting overheads and serves due to his height and the court angles with respect to the net.

Shorter guy might want to work on slice overheads since they allow for a greater margin of error. Shorter guy will want to work on topspin and slice serves since they will be much easier to land in the box than hard flat serves.

 

[Solat]

hewitt has a very good overhead but he is not tall at all, so its more about movt and practice then physical dimensions