Second serve by Jeff Salzeinstein
- Thread starter revolutiontenniz
- Start date
Curious
G.O.A.T.
Those were the two words that came to mind when I was thinking about Djokovic's serve today.
Dolgopolov85
G.O.A.T.
Need to see this vid. My single biggest issue.
heninfan99
Talk Tennis Guru
Well, obviously, he was top 100 in the world unlike the other coaches.
I wonder what was the rank of the Top Tennis Traning guy.
nvr2old
Hall of Fame
Really good info as always from him IMO. Has ATP credentials obviously to back up his techniques.
Agree but I Jeff is the exception to the rule. Not many former ATP pros doing online instruction I would guess (haven't done a search I'll admit). I'd guess he could make a lot more money doing videos and selling them but I get the impression he really wants the average player to improve and is not all about the money. Kudos to him for this. At least the Top Tennis Training guy (is it Clay?) is also trying I think to provide solid instruction. Doesn't seem like a bad guy either. Many people here give instruction tips and even profess to be instructors yet I don't see any online presence or attempt (other than the TT board) to instruct (again could be wrong on this). Jeff's instruction would not help my wife at all since she is a total beginner. Lots of ways to learn and lots of levels of instruction needed for different people.
Dartagnan64
G.O.A.T.
Very nice vid with some solid tips. I think every adult rec player should look to model this kind of simple technique. Platform stance, not overly high toss, good shoulder turn, straightforward throwing motion.
S&V-not_dead_yet
Talk Tennis Guru
SystemicAnomaly
Bionic Poster
Novak's serve is certainly cleaner, more effective & more reliable than it was prior to 2010. However, I believe that Jeff's serve is simpler -- as well as clean and effective. Novak's employs a more extreme staggered rhythm which appears to require a fairly high toss (from inspection of his serve in 2013). Jeff actually studied the extreme staggered rhythm of Pete (Sampras) in depth. Seems he's gone with a much simpler (less staggered) serve action.
Some years back Todd Martin adopted an abbreviated serve motion (to minimize stress to his damaged shoulder). His motion appears to be even simpler than Jeff's. Either Todd's or Jeff's service motions are worth considering. Now some out there may inform us that Todd was not successful in correcting Novak's serve problems (back in 2010). However, Novak's unwillingness (or inability) to adopt the abbreviated serve rhythm, should not dissuade you from considering Todd's simple/clean serve motion.
http://www.hi-techtennis.com/serve/martin_serve.php
Curious
G.O.A.T.
I find simplicity in Djokovic's upright posture and the tossing arm not going all the way down to his thigh at the beginning of the toss. You might be right about T.Martin's serve though. I tried it only a few times and felt a bit weird but will consider doing it again. I'm wondering if maybe a lack of rhythm could be a problem with his serve in terms of getting power.
SystemicAnomaly
Bionic Poster
While many find the very abbreviated serve of Todd Martin very easy to copy, some ppl do not feel comfortable at all with the timing/rhythm of the serving arm wrt the tossing arm. Some may not get quite as much power/RHS either. If this is the case, you might try something closer to the serve rhythm of Justine Henin. Her right elbow is a tad high as she gets to her trophy position -- but it appears to drop into place as she starts to drop the racket head. Her racket arm prep is closer to Jeff's than it is to Todd's. But it doesn't seem the she coils as much as either Todd or Jeff. Quite good in other respects tho'
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SystemicAnomaly
Bionic Poster
View from other side for Henin at 3:46 in this video. A bit more coiling is evident in this video view than the other vid.
revolutiontenniz
Rookie
I think everyone should mimic Jeff's serve.
I like how he goes from starting position to trophy pose just by moving his elbow to the "right" place, very straightforward and fluid. Also the angle between his forearm and biceps is 90 degree (unlike Djokovic < 90 degree) which keeps the throwing motion as simple as possible. (The bigger the angle, the simpler the swing).
I like how he goes from starting position to trophy pose just by moving his elbow to the "right" place, very straightforward and fluid. Also the angle between his forearm and biceps is 90 degree (unlike Djokovic < 90 degree) which keeps the throwing motion as simple as possible. (The bigger the angle, the simpler the swing).
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