Tennis ball throw distance

How far is your throw

  • Can't throw over the net.

    Votes: 3 1.7%

  • Can only throw into the service box.

    Votes: 4 2.3%

  • Can throw from one baseline to the opposite baseline.

    Votes: 12 6.8%

  • Can throw the ball to the fence.

    Votes: 16 9.0%

  • Can throw the ball over the fence.

    Votes: 142 80.2%
  • Total voters
    177
Are there any 16 year olds who can't throw a tennis ball behind the opposite baseline because I am 16 and it is impossible for me to throw the ball further than the opposite baseline?
 
I tried throwing indoors, so there was no wind factor.
I could throw a tennis ball to the area behind the baseline. If I throwed outdoors, the throw wouldn't reach the fence and definitely not go over it.

Despite the poor throwing distance, my serving speed record is 162 kmh (101 in mph). But then again, I'm not very athletic (I blame my genes) and I've been practising my serving technique a lot, whereas my throwing technique probably leaves a lot to be desired...
 
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Geez, didn't you kids play strikeout baseball using a tennis ball when you's were in gradeschool?
Most of my friends played that, and the faster pitchers could make the tennis ball whiz and appear to go OVAL from the backspin. At gradeschool level. Of course, they were all stars on the little league teams then, and most went on to junior and high school sports.
We even gave a "double" when the batter was beaned, as often times, when I hit someone, like my older brother (by 3 years), the red welt in his ribs would last for weeks. Just giving one base would be incentive to pitch at the hands lots.
And of course, lots of fights because getting beaned by a tennis ball at 11 years old can hurt a bit.
 
Roddick155mph said:
What can I do besides weightlifting to improve my throwing distance?
Click to expand...

As other have already said, weightlifting isn't gonna do that all much for improving your throwing distance. Have seen some very muscular guys who would have a tough time throwing the ball over the net, much less past the baseline.

It's all about improving timing , technique (throwing mechanics) and developing the fast-twitch (type II-a and type II-x) muscle fibers to generate power. Power is defined as speed strength. Medicine ball work and other plyometric exercises can help to improve the fast-twitch.
 
OrangeOne said:
Discussing two ridiculous things with the same person who can't use logic in two threads is double the waste of time.

Seriously... this thread is about throwing a tennis ball. It's about the correlation between throwing and playing, etc. Why post:



When the topic is about throwing tennis balls? Why even bother posting - there's hundreds of threads about tennis (thousands even), and yet this is a thread about throwing for crying out loud.

As for the car comments, it was a comparison, it wasn't to be taken literally, but I'm sick of spoon-feeding. Goodbye.
Click to expand...

good points but none of them change the fact that it was a bad analogy
 
lawrence said:
good points but none of them change the fact that it was a bad analogy
Click to expand...

It actually wasn't. Coming into a throwing thread and talking about not throwing because one has a racquet is NO different to going into a thread about walking and saying "I don't walk, I have a car".

Both useless and irrelevant.
 
NLBwell said:
Can't imagine anyone other than a young kid not being able to throw the ball over the fence from the baseline.
Click to expand...

I guess some people just lack imagination.

Of the people I know that play tennis (a looot of people from elite to beginners), I would say with confidence that more than half certainly couldn't complete the task.
 
Throwing a ball has always come naturally to me... I can throw it much further than just across the fence. I think you gotta relax... but maybe, it's because I used to play badminton. I think the badminton smash motion is much more similar to a ball throwing motion than a tennis serve motion. Anybody else play badminton and able to throw real well?
 
Roddick155mph said:
How far do you guys think that Andy Roddick could throw a tennis ball? I'd say he could throw barely over one fence.
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I cant believe this thread is still going.... wow

you guys realizing that throwing a tennis ball over the fence from baseline is very unremarkable.... I bet money that a top level 10 year old boy baseball pitcher could do it.
as stated before, a college buddy of mine could throw the tennis ball over the fence, and then over the ENTIRE next court, and over that fence as well.
I don't even know how much further he was throwing, but the tennis courts were only stacked 2 deep, so no point of reference really.

now, the interesting question - which I concede is actually possible, is this:
how many women players who can serve well over 100mph cannot throw the tennis ball over the fence from baseline? I would wager quite a few
 
I can't throw it over the net. Not even with a racquet. I think I might be hitting too flat. Maybe I'll switch to a Western grip and a Western wrist so I can hit and throw with a bigger margin of error.
 
Hello, Guazzelli I know that you are lying. I checked your biography and you are aged 24. You are at the 5.5 level. How could you possiblely not be able to throw the ball over the net when you are a 5.5 player.
 
Roddick155mph said:
Hello, Guazzelli I know that you are lying. I checked your biography and you are aged 24. You are at the 5.5 level. How could you possiblely not be able to throw the ball over the net when you are a 5.5 player.
Click to expand...
Because I have an Eastern wrist. I throw too flat and they don't pass the net. They keep hitting the netcord and landing on my side.
 
Correlation in throw distance and service motion and speed?

There is a definite relationship between being able to perform a throwing action and being able to play a decent serve with decent technique.

Using the throwing motion has long been used to teach the service motion.
The distance you can throw a tennis ball over the shoulder, is definitely an indication of being able to serve at a faster speed.
I have seen this many many times at all levels of play.
A person that does not have the proper muscle development or that is not able to throw over the shoulder will not have proper technique and will lack service speed.
Players with poor muscle definition will come through under the ball, as opposed to going up and over the ball.
The throwing motion and service motion requires the legs, core, and arms. Look at a baseball pitcher, or a person throwing a football. It requires coiling the body, bending the legs and accelerating with the arm and snapping with the wrist.

How to develop the proper motion and muscle strength?

A great way to practice the motion as well as increasing the muscle strength is using a small football( I prefer the soft ones) and have players throw the ball back and forth. Start closer to the net and work your way all the way back. Have them throw over the shoulder and make sure they use the body and legs.

A more advanced tip to improve service speed is serving 5 balls to the service block and then serve two balls to the back fence. Try to hit the back fence without having the ball bounce. Then serve to the service block again.

This will teach the player to use the same muscle speed and muscle memory to serve to the service block.

Caution: Have the player practice second serves first and then once the player is well warmed up, start practicing the first serve and apply the above mentioned tip.

This is a technique I used coaching a Div I NCAA team. We tracked their service speed and progression using the second tip. We managed to increase their service speed by 10 miles on average over a two week period.

Hope this helps.

Piet Faasen
onlinetennisforums@gmail.com
 
With my racket, I have no problem hitting the back fence or even hitting the ball over it. I have that problem if I just use my hand to throw the ball.
 
How far can you guys hit the ball with the racket? With my racket I can hit the ball about 150-160 feet at full power. The ball clears the fence and lands near the net of the next court
 
If you want to hit a tennis ball far, hit forehands with slight underspin, swing as fast as you can, and it carries the farthest.
Watch what the pros do when they win a match or get mad.
I've hit forehand underspins up to the 70th row seats, easily 200' back, at the old CowPalace in SF. How do I know? My bud Dexter was sitting watching from the 60th row quarter side during my 3rd round match in Q's.
 
Actually, since Roddick's 145 mph serve is hit flat horizontal with deadball, the farthest it might fly is maybe a little over 2 tennis courts. Tennis balls don't have much kinetic energy, have lots of fuzz, and tend to slow down and allow gravity to take effect.
Roddick would hit much farther using an underspin forehand....just like every pro when they want to smash a ball well away into the stands.
 
Yeah I agree because I heard that a 120 mph serve slows down to 60 mph just before bouncing at the service line and then at 50 mph at the opponent. So after a 120 mph serve clears the fence, imagining it is hit at an upward angle it will be at 45 mph by the time it clears the fence.
 
Is throwing the ball from one baseline to the opposite baseline a good distance that an average 16 year old can throw or is it way below average?
 
Roddick155.... if the fence between the two courts is there, and you're clearing ONE baseline, it's a good throw. If you're talking same court, most 12 year olds can throw that far...all the little league'ers for sure.
At 13, 7th grade, around 4'6" and maybe 65 lbs., I could throw a softball 183' for Presidential Fitness. I'd like to think that's far enough to get a tennisball over the fence.
 
I can throw the ball from one baseline to the opposite baseline of the same court about 78'. Is that average for a 16 year old or am I physically weak?
 
You are not weak.
You just can't throw far.
What motion? Overhand of course, pitcher's, catcher's, QB's, outfielder's, javelin thrower's ?????
Some motions go far. Other's are for accuracy with a compact movement.
I'm a gimp girl thrower right handed. Easy middle of back fence with the javelin thrower's motion. Back fence is 20' high.
 
^ Curious! Ignorance & his posts seems to have vanished from the TW forums. If it only was this easy to eradicate ignorance in the world. Perhaps we need another poster, Intolerance, so that we could rid the world of that as well.
 
Does throwing distance correlate to service speed? I am asking this because I can serve quite hard,around 80 mph but I cannot throw the ball further than the baseline on the opposite side of the court.
 
Roddick155mph said:
I am aged 16 and I can serve 75+ mph with ease, but why the hell can't I throw the ball behind the opposite baseline with ease. Maybe I am physically weak.
Click to expand...

Well, Just like there is a proper way to get the most from your serve...there is a proper way to throw a ball.

There are all kinda ways to throw a ball. In baseball, there are 5 I can come up with off the top of my head. But there is a weight/transfer thing you have to get correct to throw a ball it's farthest or hardest.

Plus if there was a bet on who could throw a tennis ball the farthest, I would let the other guy go first then I would dip my tennis ball in water just to add a little weight and then shake a little off. Probably would go farther?
 
Roddick155mph said:
Does throwing distance correlate to service speed? I am asking this because I can serve quite hard,around 80 mph but I cannot throw the ball further than the baseline on the opposite side of the court.
Click to expand...

I would say no (or only a slight correlation). I would think that your ability to throw a tennis racquet would have much greater correlation to serve speed.
 
I'm 66 and I can throw the ball over the fence easily. Yesterday I threw a ball about 120 feet when a ball from three courts down came bounding onto our court. (I was a baseball pitcher for about 6 years, so my experience may have helped a bit.) This is not a feat of strength, coordination, or much else. I'd bet most 12 year old pitchers could do the same with a tennis ball.

-Robert
 
i only tried this for the first time a few days ago. i don't know hot to serve correctly yet. i was able to get the ball past the baseline a few times. :-\
 
chess9 said:
I'm 66 and I can throw the ball over the fence easily. Yesterday I threw a ball about 120 feet when a ball from three courts down came bounding onto our court. (I was a baseball pitcher for about 6 years, so my experience may have helped a bit.) This is not a feat of strength, coordination, or much else. I'd bet most 12 year old pitchers could do the same with a tennis ball.

-Robert
Click to expand...

NICE~!

Seriously,

atta boy Walter "Big Train" Johnson! (acknowleding that you probably pitched during the presidential terms of YOUR "contemporaires" Teddy Roosevelt and Calvin "Mr Excitement" Coolidge --aggh! GOP'ers!...shoot me in the head!"..... or: was it (in the interest of accuracy) earlier?....i.e. James K. Polk, i.e. Young Hickory?...i.e. the (Dem.) Napoleon of the Stump?.... (FYI: Google: a Brooklyn rock band called "They Might Be Giants" .... song: James K. Polk)

i.e. during the era of the the GREAT New York Giant lefty...the pre-Warren Spahn...the truly great: Christy Mathewson? -lol)

That said (was a P/QB..P/DB as well):

Q: did your coach (calling from previous experience) go the "threaten to throw you off team" route had you been discovered to have thrown a "10-inning tennis ball/Spaulding" no hitter? The reason being that I remember to this day the very heavy "DON'T!" commandment during my "first day team meeting" .... a threat whose omminous tone gave me pause (knowing I wuz guilty).....I thought: i]"hell, a good part of my childhood was 'balancing' a competitive game of good ol' country hardball...vs....suburban stickball....vs.....semi-urban stoopball/stairball....."[/

We were told thusly: "if I hear of any of you pitching (local park) STICKBALL, you might as well pack yer bags.....you're history!"

That said, I have to admit, there were some warm, rainy days that I 'broke-the-rules' .... and the next day?: my rubber-armed gun was bicep-challenged.....dead arm...wierd feeling...of course being 16 years old....within 48 hours.....throwing that "1st pitch" #1 in TIGHT...VERY TIGHT on the hands somehow came to the fore.....

(sincerely): wasn't pitchin' great Robert?

As for "120 feet?" ..... lemme tell you young man: I suspect that if your presumably intact: "keep yer elbow up!" tenents are still firmly in place, that the "120 feet" threshold is a skippin'-a-stone-across-a-pond piece of cake.

Don't "open" the front shoulder....the throwing arm'll lag....YOU YANKEE-BASHING-QUASI-BOLSHIVIK!!! ;-)
 
Just to tell you guys, I remember playing in my high school tennis team a few weeks ago, and I asked my P.E teacher Isabelle to throw the ball as far as she can from the baseline and guess what? She couldn't even throw the ball over the net.
 
chess9 said:
I'm 66 and I can throw the ball over the fence easily. Yesterday I threw a ball about 120 feet when a ball from three courts down came bounding onto our court. (I was a baseball pitcher for about 6 years, so my experience may have helped a bit.) This is not a feat of strength, coordination, or much else. I'd bet most 12 year old pitchers could do the same with a tennis ball.

-Robert
Click to expand...

Wow, now I really feel inadequate (since I'm 9 yrs younger). With moderate effort, I can throw from baseline to baseline. This maximal effort, I just barely manage to hit the bottom of the fence. Guess that I'm throwing it 80-100 feet.

But then I throw primarily right-handed but serve primarily left-handed. In my case, there is absolutely no correlation between throwing distance and serve speed.
 
Since one is hitting the ball with an extension of the arm, and the other is throwing without any assistance, it would seem to me that everyone would be able to hit farther than they would be able to throw.

I played a lot of softball when I was younger, I first played left field and then went to short stop. So I threw a lot of balls, but never played football. From trial and error later in life, it seems that one needs both motions in the tennis serve .... anyone else see those parallels ?
 
Just to let you guys know, I throw the tennis ball with my whole palm including
the four fingers in contact with the ball. Is that an incorrect grip for throwing a ball for distance? I've heard that baseball players throw the ball with only two fingers on the ball.
 
Can't throw over the net. 3
Can only throw into the service box. 3
Can throw from one baseline to the opposite baseline. 10
Can throw the ball to the fence. 11
Can throw the ball over the fence. 104


Wow. 104!

We got some very good throwers here!

Getting a light tennis ball that slows down really quickly in the air, up and over a high fence...

If we were talking about golf balls I still might believe it, but a tennis ball?

I'm not denying thefact that a baseball player or someone who throws well would be able to do it, but 104 baseball players...

Unbelievable.
 
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