SloMo of supposed 142-mph serve
- Thread starter PeteD
- Start date
This was posted on Reddit but I couldn't find much more about it . . .
If it is true, it proves what I have been saying for years: first serves are hit down on the ball.
Can OP provide the context of the link?
Shaolin
Talk Tennis Guru
I agree with you. The only serve not hit down on the ball is the kick.
PeteD
Legend
The link is here:
https://www.reddit.com/r/sports/comments/3bb67t/slow_motion_tennis_ball_during_a_142mph_serve/
One of the comments says the vid comes from Rod Groom, owner of Flex Infinity, of Tasmania, AU.
Bobby Jr
G.O.A.T.
You don't know what angle that footage was taken from, or even if the camera was level. To suggest it confirms you idea about serves being hit down on is pretty muppet-level stuff.
Interesting. You can see how the momentum transfer exaggerates the difference in speed between racquet and ball after contact. Initially, the racquet tip is traveling nearly as fast as the ball is about to.
There is no ground angle to reference. Not everyone hits the ball this hard or has the same height and jumping ability. Whether you can hit down depends on all of these things.
Most serves need to be hit up more than this, so the general advice people give of hitting up still holds true.
There is no ground angle to reference. Not everyone hits the ball this hard or has the same height and jumping ability. Whether you can hit down depends on all of these things.
Most serves need to be hit up more than this, so the general advice people give of hitting up still holds true.
SystemicAnomaly
Bionic Poster
Yes, it is Adam Kennedy. Pretty tall guy. Here is more info on the filming of that serve:
http://www.rsvlts.com/2015/07/06/142-mph-tennis-serve/
This video actually shows just the opposite. Sure, the racquet appears to be slightly closed at contact -- very slightly. However, the racquet does not move in a downward direction until the ball has already left the strings.
Take a very close look at the top edge of the racquet relative to the top edge of the image. The gap between the racquet tip and the top of the image frame is narrowing just prior to the racquet contacting the ball. The tip continues to move up, very slightly, during contact and for a short time after contact. Clearly, the racquet motion is NOT down on the ball.
D
Deleted member 743561
Guest
Looking at that video for the 1st time here. That is amazing, and it looks like the ball is struck *just* after reaching that apex (seems to be in suspended animation for a moment). I've heard different ideas about the ideal point in the tossed ball's arc at which contact should occur, and in fact this does seem to vary pretty widely amongst top pros.
Thoughts?
Thoughts?
SystemicAnomaly
Bionic Poster
I believe that you are correct about the ball being struck very near the apex in this video. I appears that it is just starting to fall as racket is nearing the ball. Despite the lack of falling, the ball has a component of topspin after it leaves the stringbed. Seems the the racket face would have to be moving upward at contact time to accomplish this. However, it has been suggested that the topspin is due to a pocketing effect. Not sure about that (but perhaps).
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