The Roddick Service Motion..

egn

Hall of Fame
You know so I always noticed Roddick's service motion was different than a lot of other pros, but now I'm wondering is there anyone else who seems to have a similar motion or am I crazy? I've been searching all over for service motion clips and the closest I seem to have is Jo Willy..going to start going through old matches. However how did Roddick come up with his motion I guess is what I'm wondering and is it that much different or is it just his mannerisms? I mean I imagine there has to be some big key factor because he's 6'1" and can still serve as hard if not harder than Karolvic when he is on..
 

egn

Hall of Fame

Ross K

Legend
Lots of pros of course use abbreviated or semi-abbreviated motions. Here's some of the most well known... Gasquet... Monfils... Nadal... Roddick too of course...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6eG37UZsur8

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n76f2KJ36yA&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HGtBSuckrLY

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=muKDqiVer0k&feature=related

FWFW, I love this kind of serve motion and use a semi-abbreviated form of it myself... it's simple (there's less that can go wrong compared to older, traditional serve motions) and effective... and anyhow, it has been around since Roscoe Tanner and beyond probably!

R.
 

Fedace

Banned
Can you guy tell me why Not more Amateurs and College players aren't copying Roddick's motion ??? You see TONS of amateurs and college guys copying Sampras and Federer's serve motion but you almost NEVER see anyone trying to emulate Roddick's motion......
IS it cause it is so UGLY ?????????????
 

drakulie

Talk Tennis Guru
Can you guy tell me why Not more Amateurs and College players aren't copying Roddick's motion ??? You see TONS of amateurs and college guys copying Sampras and Federer's serve motion but you almost NEVER see anyone trying to emulate Roddick's motion......
IS it cause it is so UGLY ?????????????


It could be because there has always been a train of thought that the abbreviated motion could lead to shoulder injuries, due to being more stressful on the shoulder. Even when Roddick first came on the scene, many were claiming his shoulder wouldn't last.
 
But, the only thing different about Roddick's motion is the way he takes the racket back. Every pro serve after they get into the trophy pose is the same including Roddick's. So it wouldn't make any difference to the shoulder.
 

Fedace

Banned
But, the only thing different about Roddick's motion is the way he takes the racket back. Every pro serve after they get into the trophy pose is the same including Roddick's. So it wouldn't make any difference to the shoulder.

Roddick has tremendous leg and Knee bend that no amateur can duplicate. That is where all his power comes from not from that funky looking motion...
 

Fedace

Banned
It could be because there has always been a train of thought that the abbreviated motion could lead to shoulder injuries, due to being more stressful on the shoulder. Even when Roddick first came on the scene, many were claiming his shoulder wouldn't last.

I was actually told by Bolletieri's camp that motion puts less stress on the shoulder. and it should be used for people with shoulder and back problems.....:):)
 

[d]ragon

Hall of Fame
From what I recall, Roddick got his motion (The Abbreviated Motion) by luck just clowning around one day in practice. When he started doing it, he and his coaches noticed how much more power he was getting so he stuck with it.

Here it is in slow motion:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SZbxKuLEP_o

Actually the story I heard was that he was getting frustrated with his serve so he decided, without thinking, to just really hit the ball as hard as he could.
 

Pidgeon

Semi-Pro
There was a video of this on ATP !!!
It came down to this ;
Roddick had a conventional service motion until he decided (during a match)
to change his motion and hit the ball as hard as he could and so he did and it just worked for him....
Reason why other players cant do this is because he has a really flexible shoulder !!

He also said that the extreme knee bends (ie; Boris Becker,...) aren't needed to have a great powerful serve ...

I will look for the video tonight, at work now :)
 

Tennis_Bum

Professional
It could be because there has always been a train of thought that the abbreviated motion could lead to shoulder injuries, due to being more stressful on the shoulder. Even when Roddick first came on the scene, many were claiming his shoulder wouldn't last.

Yes, I read that somewhere too but obviously that is not the case with him and others who have used it.
 

Limpinhitter

G.O.A.T.
From what I recall, Roddick got his motion (The Abbreviated Motion) by luck just clowning around one day in practice. When he started doing it, he and his coaches noticed how much more power he was getting so he stuck with it.

Here it is in slow motion:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SZbxKuLEP_o

Roddick's windup is a little inartful to look at. But, from the peak of his toss onward, it is like most of the big serves, pretty close to the same.
 
I was actually told by Bolletieri's camp that motion puts less stress on the shoulder. and it should be used for people with shoulder and back problems.....:):)

thats right. roddick's motion actually puts less stress on the shoulder than the full windup. I once blew out my shoulder in the middle of a match after playing so much and doing so many tourneys non-stop week after week. I actually won the match and am still with the abbreviated motion, but I'm looking to change back to my old windup. wow, i cant believe im actually agreeing with fedace about something. :D lol
 

mtommer

Hall of Fame
Can you guy tell me why Not more Amateurs and College players aren't copying Roddick's motion ??? You see TONS of amateurs and college guys copying Sampras and Federer's serve motion but you almost NEVER see anyone trying to emulate Roddick's motion......
IS it cause it is so UGLY ?????????????

It may be because Sampras' and Federer's motions are so "classic". As tennis has been around for awhile, the service motion, in general, is pretty refined as to what works. Since timing is so key to decent serving, I suspect it's easier to feel the timing with classic and time proven motions.
 

Don't Let It Bounce

Hall of Fame
Bolletieri convinced a few WTA players in the late 90's to adopt a very similar motion, IIRC.

I suspect it is more a matter of coaching bias than any special characteristic Roddick, Monfils, et al possess. I shared that bias for many years: my understanding of serve development priorities was such that Roddick's motion appeared to me to introduce unnecessary tension in the upper arm and shoulder. It also has what classical serve coaching would call a major hitch. I changed my mind after reading a really insightful analysis of Roddick's serve, after seeing what a colleague (who was trained the same way I was) had done with his academy juniors' (especially the girls') serves, and finally after doing it with my own serve and seeing improvement even in an old dog.

It now seems to me that the prep movements that Roddick and others eliminate add nothing to the acceleration phase, and if that's so, it makes the hitch irrelevant. I suspect too that the simplification of the overall motion speeds overall learning by freeing students to focus on higher piorities (aligning hand acceleration with body extension, etc).

We may be in the middle of a transition in how serves are commonly taught, similar to the one in the 80's with groundstrokes.
 
D

Deleted member 45559

Guest
as for juniors and copying roddicks serve motion i did just that im 17 years old. im being 100% honest when i say that if you put us beside each other serving you could not tell the difference except that i serve lefty. its a very useful and quick motion not much to go wrong but i do see alot of people "imitating" it wrong. my fastest clocked first serve was 129mph and thats because when everything is done correctly, his serve works. so many people just wanna "look" like it without manufacturing the mechanics right
 

tennisDMD

New User
I used to serve with an abbreviated motion and like mainly because there were fewer aspects that related to timing that could go bad and mess up the serve. It's an easy to time compact shot, and a great service motion. I actually think his service motion looks sweet.
That said, I've switched to traditional service motion that's since alleviated the stress on my shoulder. Technically though, it's a more difficult shot because to hit it properly, you need a fluid motion with good timing to maximize the potential energy transfer when you strike the ball. If my shoulder could handle it, I'd go back to the abbreviated for sure though.
 
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