Roscoe Tanner's serve

[arnz]

I just recently saw a video of Tanner's serve at tennisplayer and I absolutely loved the quick motion. I knew of him before, but that was the first time I actually saw a serve of him in real time. He looked like he was already in his 40's though but would love to see his serve in his prime.

Does anyone know of any sites/books that discuss/teach Tanner's serve? And any links to any videos of him at matches in wimbledon, us open etc. or just clips of him serving would be great, whether for sale or free. Thanks

 

[Ross K]

Maybe do a search of Tanner+abbreviated serve+roddick (or something similar.) I remember a previous post about how to get film of the Tanner serve. And I also clearly recall reading all about the shared characteristics of the Tanner and Roddick serve (I was learning the abbreviated serve motion at the time.)

 

[paulfreda]

I think Tanner's serve was analyzed in a Vic Braden tape about 20 or so years ago. Tape may very well be available. They were discussing how high the ideal toss is and that you want to hit it at it's peak where the ball is moving slowest [not at all at the peak].

Tanner had a very low toss and I beleive this allowed him to get maximum wrist motion and thus racquet speed on his serve which was regarded as about the best around at that time.

This contrasts with those who try to hit it as high as they can to maximize the downward angle in to the service box and thus first serve percentage. Many pros hit the ball with a very high toss but few that I can think of are regraded as great servers. Ivanisovic had a low toss as does Lubicic to name two of the greats. [But an exception to my generalization is the tall blonde lefty Aussie who has a great serve and often wins at doubles. So much for my 'rule'.]
JMHO

 

[arnz]

Hey Ross,

I don't think that Roddick's serve looks much at all like Tanner's serve, although they do both have very quick motions. Roddick is another huge server, but for aesthetic reasons I don't like it very much. However I can't find the link that you say you saw, maybe its not in the Tips/Instruction section?

Paul,

Yes Tanner serves with a very low toss, in fact I see that the ball is still on its way up and his racquet is already going to the contact point although he does contact it at the peak. You can only see this in the slow motion though, on the real time movie it looks like he hits it on the rise. He must really have been confident on his toss to always go to the same spot, otherwise he would totally miss the ball !!

Also he doesnt extend his tossing arm up, he releases the ball when his tossing arm is around the shoulder/head area. I'm basing this on only a few seconds of 2 clips that I saw and I'd like to see more to really internalize it. I see Braden has a tape on serving, kinda expensive at 40 dollars, but if it has more clips of Tanner I'd be interested

 

[Trinity TC]

i haven't seen Tanner's serve in decades but I do recall that he seemed to start his racquet swing well before the ball toss. It looked like he was tossing the ball up into the path of the swing. It's radically different from what Roddick does but similar to old film I've seen of Bill Tilden with the way the toss and swing are coordinated.

 

[Stroke]

Video of Tanner serving is on the Braden tape "the Serve". Tanner was Braden's ultimate example for the service motion Braden teaches. On the tape, Braden clearly shows Roscoe hit his serve at the apex of his toss, it is somewhat of an illution that folks think they see him hitting it on the rise. If you are truly interested in studying Tanner's service motion, the Braden tape is worth the $40.

 

[arnz]

So Tanner was Braden's boy huh? I might just spring for that tape. In the meantime I just bought a copy of the Australian Open 77 match from epay, cant wait till I get it.

Its always fun to discover new things in tennis for me, and this new one is nearly 30 years old...lol