Serving: first vid

anubis

Hall of Fame
Alright guys, go easy on me :) I've never had a day of "formal" instruction in my life, just self-taught. I'm not looking (yet) to add 30 or 40 mph to my serve, I just want to get the fundamentals down. Just looking for ways to improve, bad habits to unlearn, and have a solid form.

It's only 3 shots, but even though you couldn't see any of them, they all went "in". It's very consistent, just very very weak. People usually stand almost at the service line and better opponents can just smack the crap out of it and end it right there.

I recorded it quickly before my team showed up yesterday for a practice.

Obv. i'm a 3.0 player (self-rating).

Thanks :)

http://youtu.be/9-L9rXc8pno
 

blipblop

Rookie
My initial thoughts.

Pros: Your setup and initial motion looks good. Toss height is good. Grip is fine. You have a good idea of what the kinetic chain needs to be.

To-do: Bend your knees more. Toss the ball further out in front and more to your left. Right now you are falling away from the shot and reaching out to your right to meet the ball. Your momentum should carry you into the shot and into the court. It's a cliche, and whether or not it actually is true is a debated topic on these boards, but I think in your case focusing on "hitting down on the ball" will come in handy. When you are ready for more speed, then focus on shoulder turn and wrist pronation.
 

Jonny S&V

Hall of Fame
Coming from someone who had low contact problems, I would say that you could afford a little bit more extension into the serve. That being said, it's still a good-looking motion and has a lot of potential. :)
 

anubis

Hall of Fame
Thanks for the comments :)

So are you saying that I need to throw the ball into the court, like the below image? It's just a crude drawing on my part.

It seems to me then the ball is going to make a parabola beginning from the toss up and then land, perhaps a foot or two into the court, if I just let it drop. Is that correct?

servedp.jpg
 

Jonny S&V

Hall of Fame
Thanks for the comments :)

So are you saying that I need to throw the ball into the court, like the below image? It's just a crude drawing on my part.

It seems to me then the ball is going to make a parabola beginning from the toss up and then land, perhaps a foot or two into the court, if I just let it drop. Is that correct?

servedp.jpg

Correct, your toss should land slightly into the court (the distance dependent on height and grip).
 
There is plenty to like about your serve: nice tossing technique, good racquet take back and swing with pronation.


Clearly you are swinging your right leg around too much.

And this leg swing is symptom that you are just swinging your shoulders from right to left horizontally.

You don't have the vertical shoulder over shoulder action of all really good servers, and as advocated by Jim McLellan in this video - not only because it gives more power, but is important to prevent incurring a rotator cuff shoulder injury:
Preventing Rotator Cuff Injury - You've Got to Drop the Left Shoulder http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lTRvxaBMh8s

And you are missing a major component of power in a serve: forming a "bow shape" in the trophy position, and then rapidly "reversing the bow".
Note that this reversal of the "bow shape" is initiated by throwing the left side of the body forward as you cartwheel shoulder over shoulder as just mentioned above in "drop the left shoulder."
Watching this video clip of Soderling Serving clearly shows this big body action:
Robin Söderling serve slowmotion http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a56pvP1i6x8

In other words, you want to get your trophy position to get to this bow shape and steep shoulder angle, so you can then reverse both in the serve motion:
4555174973_279x427.jpg



Here's how to do it.

sampras_serve_04_0402.jpg


After release of the ball, keep bringing your arm up and up and up until it is straight overhead and keep it straight overhead (as you are already doing) into pic 4.
But then you've got to let your front hip protrude forward to counterbalance the upper body lean back toward the fence, as Will Hamilton from Fuzzy Yellow Balls urges in this video:
Tennis Lesson: Serve Tips: Lead with the Hip http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HgeYmEScfgQ

Notice that Sampras above "leads with the hip" in pics 5-9.

And that the only way to maintain your balance as you do this is to "bend your knees", as Sampras also demonstrates in pics 5-9.

Although the sensation you will have is not really "bending your knees", but that of doing a squat
body_weight_squat.jpg

but with your left arm raised.
(In fact if just do a squat with your left arm raised straight up, your front hip will automatically go out and you will form that "bow shape" - you don't have to push that hip out there at all - your body will just do it! Try it now and see!)

So that position of a squat with your left arm straight up is really what you are seeing as the aggressive trophy position in the pic of Djokovic above and pic 9 of the Sampras sequence.
[Notice also that the chest is pushed up at the ball, and to maintain your balance your heels will have to lift well off the court, with the lean back not from arching the back, but from leaning back at the knees.


Out of that aggressive trophy position, dropping your left shoulder straight down as you throw the left side of your body into the court will give you that vertical shoulder over shoulder action and dramatic "reversal of the bow shape" just like Soderling, Sampras and Djokovic!


One more thing.
Instead of swinging your right leg around as you now do, you will land more going forward, landing on your left leg, with your right leg extending back to counterbalance all that upper body weight going forward (instead of just rotating around horizontally from right to left):
Leg Kick on Tennis Serve http://blip.tv/fuzzy-yellow-balls/leg-kick-on-tennis-serve-1190196


I think everything in the following video reinforces what I've recommended above:
Nick Bollettieri-Sonic Serve.wmv http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ajoZ0f7hw-A

Good luck!
 

damazing

Rookie
One further suggestion to all of the good advice above - it didn't look like you had good racquet head speed. If you could accelerate more from the trophy position to contact that would help.

Think of it this way - if a player was standing in the service box taunting you for your short serves and you wanted to hit the ball into his waist how hard/fast would you swing?
 

mental midget

Hall of Fame
this has probably been covered, but-

toss further in front. lean in to the court hips first. don't pronate around the edge of the ball so much, but through it instead, cutting it just slightly. be as loose as possible.
 

zapvor

G.O.A.T.
you are using virtually just your arm. your body isnt turning facing the net until way after contact. thats the most glaring off the bat.
 

ATP100

Professional
For your level, looks fine, keep practicing.

Side note, look to see if the returner is ready.
Then, look at ball only from than on till point is over.
 
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