Teaching How to Serve properly

[indyfob2008]

I'm helping a young girl (junior high student) and an older woman (late 30s) try to learn how to serve. They both do not have a sports/athletics background, especially sports that require you to throw a ball. So I'm having a hard time explaining how to accelerate during their serve swing. I think their motion is not bad, but their racquet moves through the serve at the same speed as their arm. Their serve lacks the proper "wrist snap" and pronation. It looks like they are almost shotputting and leading w/ their elbow. Any other instructors dealing with this common problem? their serve has absolutely no pace because they don't know how to correctly throw a ball? is this a sufficient explanation? I've been searching you--tube for drills that could help them understand what muscles to use for serving. they obviously do not know what parts of the arm and wrist to use on their serve. i watch them throw a tennis ball and realize this is going to take some time. any tips?

 

[skiracer55]

Okay, here's the Dave Hodge (my former coach)...

...serving drill:

- Go back to the service line, no racket, no ball. Just start doing a throwing motion, just as if you were throwing a baseball.

- Once that feels good, start throwing a tennis ball. Make sure to throw it up and out. This is the "throwing your racket up to the sky, then snapping the wrist" concept.

- Once you have that wired, throw one ball up with your non-racket hand, make sure it gets well up above your head and in front, and fire away at it with your throwing hand.

- Once that feels good, start with your racket in the back scratching position, toss, and snap! the ball down into the court. Try to bounce it as high as you can.

- That's the motion, now go practice overheads. Start in the ready position, when you see the lob, turn sideways, non-racket hand up and pointing toward the ball, racket held loosely but straight up in the other hand. Ball comes down, time it so you drop the racket into the back-scratching position, and pop it just as in the snapping drill, above.

Now you have an overhead, this will naturally elide into a serve. Some concepts on the serve...
Having said all that good stuff...here's some stuff my last coach (Sam Winterbotham, currently Head Men's Coach of the Tennessee Vols) told me that really helped straighten out my serve:

- Re your toss, as many other people have noted, it's not a toss, it's a lift. You're trying to place an egg on a mantlepiece. If you throw or toss it, it'll break.

- Beginners are taught to start the toss and backswing at the same time. The best servers get a lot of the backswing done before the toss. If you toss early, you have to adjust your swing to where the toss happened to end up. If you get a lot of the backswing done, you have a better chance of placing the ball where you want it for whatever you're trying to do with the serve.

- The power servers are using a Continental or even a little over toward the forehand grip from that. If you get into what is really a semi-Western backhand grip, you may get more spin, but you'll definitely cut down on the power, and you may not be able to direct the ball very well. Use Continental and adjust the swing path to get whatever spin or direction you want.

- The best servers are using a relatively simple, abbreviated backswing. Like a lot of other things in life, simpler is usually better. My backswing starts at waist level, goes out and up. I don't drop the racket to make a big loop. The fewer curlicues you have on your service stroke, the easier it is to come up with a toss that's as high as you need and no higher. If you have a lot of fruit salad on your backswing, you have to toss up into the stratosphere...and then hope you time it right.

- Serving, like all of tennis, is a leg sport, not an arm sport. Actually, it's a whole body sport. If you want more spin, power, safety, direction on your serve, get the legs, hips, shoulder turn, all of the parts working together.

- As Stan Smith noted, the wrist is the trigger. I'm talking about getting snap on the serve, which is the final link in the kinesthetic chain that gets power, spin, and all the other goodies on the serve. There are drills you can do to get more snap...like getting yourself into the back-scratching position, or whatever it's called these days, tossing, and trying to belt the serve down into the court as hard as possible...hard enough to bounce it over the fence is usually a good goal.

- Rhythm and sense of all the parts of the serve working together is definitely key. Another of my former coaches (Dave Hodge, former Men's Assistant at CU Boulder, current Men's Assistant at Stanford) gave me a great way to look at serving: The serve is the only stroke you hit that is not a response to the other player's stroke. Therefore, have an objective every time, even if it's "Okay, second serve, lots of kick and safety, straight down the middle." If your thought is "Hail Mary, full of grace, I hope this serve isn't a fault", guess what? You'll whap it right into the net. What he said was, make up a little video in your head of what you're going to do with the service motion and where that's going to take the ball into your opponent's service box. Take a deep breath, relax, and replay the video in real time. Works like a charm...

 

[sn1974]

are you trying to teach them the "throwing motion" or pronation? if you start talking about wrists and lower arms while at the same time telling them they need to be throwing with their shoulders and their lower bodies and not their arms... jeeze, that is a recipe for confusion. get the bigger issue taken care of first and then pronation will be much easier.

if you want them to get the right sensation (ignoring form for now) can you just have them start in back scratch position and practice getting the racquet up into the air? give them the correct shoulder positioning and tell them to keep their right elbow up and arm completely loose but otherwise don't micromanage. don't use a ball, don't even have them face the net (because the temptation to look forward even without a ball will be there).

once they get to the point where they are flinging the racquet UP with no help from their right arm you can move on.

 

[supineAnimation]

Personally, I think the correlation between throwing a ball and serving is more detrimental than helpful. Too often students learn to open their shoulders to their target, because that's what you do when you throw a baseball or football, prior to contact on the serve which greatly reduces the power and spin they will get on the serve. The serving motion is not like throwing a baseball or football and it is more akin to whipping a bull whip at a point in the air up and to their dominant side.

But to answer the original question, I teach the serve starting from the racquet/hand first and add each part of the body as they progress until we get down to the legs. Good servers can hit with power and spin using just their wrists and since all of the other parts of the body are designed to augment that action with the wrist at the end of the process, that's, in my opinion, the first and most critical place to start. Have them keep a nice loose continental grip and focus on snapping the wrist in adduction so that they're throwing the racquet on-edge up at the ball with as much "free" racquet-head speed as possible. Then teach them to pronate their arm, their entire arm, as late, and therefore as quickly, as possible. Once they can hit the serve into the box with the correct spin and adequate power, begin adding the other parts of the body - shoulders, chest, hips, legs. Good luck.

 

[papa]

Well, there are many methods used to teach the serving motion. One that I like is using old racquets out on a lawn area or using one of small plastic bats (walmart) that has some weight to it. The nice thing about the bat, is that it can be used very effectively on a court without causing any damage. However, both will mimic the serving motion when you throw them.

 

[saigonbond]

Greetings,
This is a common issue all tennis teachers encounter with beginning players, boys and girls, so you're not alone. Remember the simple fact is that proper mechanics and muscle memory takes time. Recording video is a great tool, so you can discuss progression and improvement.
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Here a 5 basic steps I use with my beginners learning to serve. I hope they can assist you:
1) When I start from "scratch," I simply begin with basic comfortable feet placement and basic ball toss with the fingertips.
2) Next, I begin them with the basic "frying pan" or "flyswatter" service motion just to get them comfortable with hitting the ball over the net. Forget the the waste-of-time "backscratch" motion and have them begin over their serving shoulder which will be somewhat parallel to the court.
3) Then, I would have them elongate their follow-thru after ball contact. For a righty, follow-thru to the left hip and freeze there (vice-versa for a lefty). Their head should be up facing the target area (like a hunting dog pointing). Don't emphasize where the ball lands (that comes much later), just have then try to get it over the net. Mechanics is more important.
4) Next, I would teach the proper grip (away from the frying pan/flyswatter). In my experience, this is the most difficult progression because muscle memory has not been acheived yet for most beginners with their serve (it will feel like they don't have the strength to do it). Don't worry about wrist snap, arm speed, or any of that. It will be like you're speaking Russian to them (unless they're Russian of course). That stuff comes much later. Have them repeat what they've already learned with the proper grip. This may take even a couple weeks for them to feel comfortable and develop muscle memory, so repetition is the key.
5.) Teach them the proper toss mechanics and technique. This may be your next most difficult task to teach and for them to learn and develop muscle memory.
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I would have them master these basic 5 steps before you move on and even mention things such as aiming and visualizing the target, elongating the arm swing, "trophy pose," spin, wrist snap, power, arm speed, and so forth.
Good luck, CHEERS!

 

[pvaudio]

I'm torn between teaching the eastern grip serve and starting with the continental. Here's why:

Eastern:
If you teach an eastern grip serve, players will be able to play real points almost immediately because the ball is very easy to get over the net and into the box. The problem with the eastern grip serve is that if players get too used to it, they will struggle immensely when transitioning to the continental or will forever use the eastern grip as many players still do and will never have a great serve.

Continental:
Learning the continental grip serve first is highly beneficial because if you start with what you need to finish with, you will never get purposely used to improper technique and will have a good motion from the get go. From there, all you need to do is refine and tweak it, not unlearn and relearn something completely new. The problem is that that racquet orientation is foreign to many students and makes it incredibly difficult to learn. That causes discouragement and doesn't allow them to play games and matches to teach them point play fundamentals because they can't even get the serve in, let alone use it as a weapon.

 

[papa]

Start with and stay with the continental grip. Although you might see quicker results with the EFH, you really don't want to get a player started in the wrong direction.

 

[sn1974]

I'm torn between teaching the eastern grip serve and starting with the continental. Here's why:

Eastern:
If you teach an eastern grip serve, players will be able to play real points almost immediately because the ball is very easy to get over the net and into the box. The problem with the eastern grip serve is that if players get too used to it, they will struggle immensely when transitioning to the continental or will forever use the eastern grip as many players still do and will never have a great serve.

Continental:
Learning the continental grip serve first is highly beneficial because if you start with what you need to finish with, you will never get purposely used to improper technique and will have a good motion from the get go. From there, all you need to do is refine and tweak it, not unlearn and relearn something completely new. The problem is that that racquet orientation is foreign to many students and makes it incredibly difficult to learn. That causes discouragement and doesn't allow them to play games and matches to teach them point play fundamentals because they can't even get the serve in, let alone use it as a weapon.

imo better off starting with continental and letting them serve underhanded into the box until they have a serviceable serve with a continental grip. one of the instructors at my club is doing that with a teenage girl who just started playing. at first i was horrified but actually it makes a lot of sense. it's not like a newbie serve is going to be more powerful anyway.

 

[supineAnimation]

Yeah; bad idea to start with anything but a continental. An eastern grip promotes one of the most common problems for beginners and one of the most difficult habits to break: swinging towards the target rather than up and to the dominant side.

 

[5th Element]

Use the PTR progressions for the serve up at the net first. She should be serving in under 30 minutes if done properly.

 

[audioaffliction]

imo better off starting with continental and letting them serve underhanded into the box until they have a serviceable serve with a continental grip. one of the instructors at my club is doing that with a teenage girl who just started playing. at first i was horrified but actually it makes a lot of sense. it's not like a newbie serve is going to be more powerful anyway.

Totally agree. My wife just started learning tennis and the serve has been the most difficult thing for her to pick up. She never played sports growing up and had to learn how to throw a ball properly.

But the most important thing when considering the eastern versus continental grip is this: Don't decide on behalf of your client(s). Explain the pros and cons of starting out with each grip. The eastern yields quicker short-term results, but presents more difficulties with stroke progression down the road. The continental can be so hard at first that the student ends up quitting in frustration. I think that it's important for anyone who's learning tennis to understand what the facts are and be prepared for what they will encounter.

 

[jmnk]

I'm helping a young girl (junior high student) and an older woman (late 30s) try to learn how to serve. [...] any tips?

so someone in her late 30s is 'older' now? I'm afraid to ask what I would be considered as...
on the serve tips. what helps me is practicing trying to hit the serve such that the balls goes on the fly over the opposite fence. I mean, I'm trying, as long as the ball gets halfway up the opposite fence it's fine. I've noticed that a player soon realizes that the only way to get the ball travel fast and far is by swinging faster.
Second, make a player pay attention to how he lands on the court. Often I find myself landing to the left, or even on my right foot (I'm right handed). If one tries to land on his left foot, he will find that it will make him --not-- to open shoulders, and to propel himself forward - as he should.

 

[Bottom_Edge]

Here's a drill I found useful for players to get a hang of the service motion.
Tie a ball in plastic bag with a string the length of a racquet (a towel with a know will do)
Have the player go through their service motion while keeping the string TAUT at all times.
This will enable to accelerate and snap with the wrist.