Serve “practice” with my eyes shut?

[kayak4water]

I watched this video about improving my serve rhythm and timing. Amazingly, in the last drill Ryan hit balls with his eyes closed—I suppose 30 years in tennis confers that ability. I took about sixty swings yesterday with my non dominant hand (FYI, dominant side shoulder pain) believing that my four years playing was not gonna get me anywhere close to hitting the ball. Surprisingly, I hit the ball maybe eight times, with most of them striking the ground about 15 to 20 feet in front of me. I tried this today, and one ball struck with the top of the frame landed in the service box after a loopy flight. Haha. I even struck a few balls with the sweet spot of the strings— they also hit the court in front of me. It would be easy to claim that my bare-bones pre-visualization helped some.

The most significant gain from this exercise was achieving a feel for the service motion and where my hands were during the motion. Will this exercise translate to a better serve with my eyes open? Note to self: Stay tuned.

Meanwhile, I’m all ears. Er, eyes.

 

[Bagumbawalla]

I like the idea of serving with eyes closed and have tried it myself.
Unfortunately my serve is more effective when the opponent
closes his eyes.

 

[Dragy]

I guess it’s easier with low-toss motion. With higher toss, although still interesting in terms of setting up full rhythm, it may be tough to do successfully.

 

[nyta2]

i like this drill for getting the ball and swing, in "approximately the same area"...
really helps focus on the feel of how each part is executing...
i consider it a success if i can load normally, and hit anywhere on the strings, and somewhere over the net.

i tend to use it when helping someone who has a hitch in their serve... (eg. like pausing in the scratch-the-back position)

 

[TennisDawg]

Another progression on this is to put a bucket over your head.

 

[SystemicAnomaly]

Another progression on this is to put a bucket over your head.

This guy plays guitar fairly well with a bucket "over" his head. I suppose the same can be done playing tennis

 

[Cerdany]

Getting "catching fly with chopsticks" vibes from this.

 

[Cerdany]

This guy plays guitar fairly well with a bucket "over" his head. I suppose the same can be done playing tennis

Playing guitar requires zero hand to eye coordination.

 

[SystemicAnomaly]

Playing guitar requires zero hand to eye coordination.

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[BlueB]

 

[tennis3]

 

[TennisDawg]

…….

 

[BlueB]

This guy plays guitar fairly well with a bucket "over" his head. I suppose the same can be done playing tennis

 

[nyta2]

so all you bucket head haters are saying you can't do the drill, right?

 

[TennisCJC]

so all you bucket head haters are saying you can't do the drill, right?

I tried it many many years ago and made contact but don't recall actually liking the drill. I will try again for laughs next time I am practicing serves. I usually don't have a bucket handy so will have to close my eyes. I'll report back.

 

[nyta2]

I tried it many many years ago and made contact but don't recall actually liking the drill. I will try again for laughs next time I am practicing serves. I usually don't have a bucket handy so will have to close my eyes. I'll report back.

it's definitely not a satisfying drill... which is why most people don't do it/like it, and think it's stupid.
i guess kinda like how some folks don't like mini tennis...
that said, i first learned the drill from someone who has coached a top 5 atp player... with a damn good serve ;P

 

[fuzz nation]

I watched this video about improving my serve rhythm and timing. Amazingly, in the last drill Ryan hit balls with his eyes closed—I suppose 30 years in tennis confers that ability. I took about sixty swings yesterday with my non dominant hand (FYI, dominant side shoulder pain) believing that my four years playing was not gonna get me anywhere close to hitting the ball. Surprisingly, I hit the ball maybe eight times, with most of them striking the ground about 15 to 20 feet in front of me. I tried this today, and one ball struck with the top of the frame landed in the service box after a loopy flight. Haha. I even struck a few balls with the sweet spot of the strings— they also hit the court in front of me. It would be easy to claim that my bare-bones pre-visualization helped some.

The most significant gain from this exercise was achieving a feel for the service motion and where my hands were during the motion. Will this exercise translate to a better serve with my eyes open? Note to self: Stay tuned.

Meanwhile, I’m all ears. Er, eyes.

I've never gone as far as trying to hit a serve with my eyes shut, but I've become a huge fan of dialing in a natural tempo for a better serve.

When I'm coaching somebody on this, I like to have them take a couple normal full service motions without hitting a ball to get a feel of their best tempo. Then when they hit a ball, they can tell if they're maybe rushing the racquet to contact or pausing too long to wait for a high toss. That can pave the way toward helpful self-adjustments.

I'm not a golfing heavy, but I know that many teaching pros in that sport (or is it simply a "game of skill"?) will really preach about getting proper tempo for a shot/stroke ahead of almost everything else. I aslo get the feeling that if a tennis player can hit decent serves with their eyes shut, they're kinda-sorta showing off an insanely consistent toss, right?