Throwing distance and serving speed

TennisVet

Rookie
Inspired by Roddick155mph's poll, does throwing distance vary directly with serving speed?

Here's my take on this:
Assuming the angle of the throw is constant, a person who throws a tennis ball with a faster speed would result in the ball flying farther. Just like in the formula d=rt, the distance would increase when the rate would increase assuming the time stays the same. So a person throwing a ball with a faster arm acceleration would make the ball fly farther. This can relate to serving speed. The speed is determined by the force generated by the player can the power transfering to the racket. Well F=ma according to Newton's second law of motion, the force would increase as acceleration increases, that is when the mass is constant (which should be the case since the mass doesn't change before the person serves and during when the person serves). So if the person swings his arm faster in an attempt to make the ball fly faster, that would mean an increase in speed. The resulting serve would fly faster. So I would say throwing distance and serving speed vary directly.
 
If two people had the exact same serving technique and one could throw faster than the other, I would expect the one who could throw faster would serve faster (assuming the technique is good).
Since technique differs so much, I don't feel like it has alot to do your service speed at lower levels. I am by no means a pitcher, and would assume my throw speed is fairly low compared to alot of hs tennis players, but I think I could beat most of them in service speed. I've spent alot of time working on my form.
Besides, half the battle is connection on the ball. If someone can throw 100mph and frames it, compaired to someone who throws 70mph and hits a sweetspot.....
 
Last edited:

BU-Tennis

Semi-Pro
One of the best ways to improve your serve is to get an old racquet, and go through your service motion releasing the racquet at the top of the swing, or where you would make contact. The racquet shouldn't go too far, as if you were throwing for distance, but should instead go almost straight up, i would say at about 75 to 80 degrees from the ground trajectory.

Serving a tennis ball is often compared to throwing a ball. So if you can throw a ball further through proper technique then, yes, your serve would probably be faster than, say, someone who can throw a ball a little further but by simply muscling the ball.
 
One of the best ways to improve your serve is to get an old racquet, and go through your service motion releasing the racquet at the top of the swing, or where you would make contact. The racquet shouldn't go too far, as if you were throwing for distance, but should instead go almost straight up, i would say at about 75 to 80 degrees from the ground trajectory.

Serving a tennis ball is often compared to throwing a ball. So if you can throw a ball further through proper technique then, yes, your serve would probably be faster than, say, someone who can throw a ball a little further but by simply muscling the ball.

Why does the racquet need to be old? Can't I go out and buy a new $200 racquet and use that? J/K.
Do you have video of this being done correctly?
 

akthe47

New User
Throwing distance would equal throwing speed in a linear world or if you could measure the distance traveled in 3d vectors. How do you measure how far a ball has traveled from a serve, especially when you have to serve in a targeted location like a service box? How do you calculate force lost to the first impact? I'm not sure how throwing distance could even be measured to be honest.
 

SystemicAnomaly

Bionic Poster
... So I would say throwing distance and serving speed vary directly.

You've made some fallacious assumptions here. While throwing a ball and serving a ball both employ somewhat similar throwing motions, they are not the same throwing motion -- the mechanics are different. Try throwing racquets instead of throwing balls to more closely simulate the service action.

Another problem is that throwing a ball for distance requires something approaching a 45 degree launch angle. Serving requires a much greater launch angle than this. If you attempt to simulate a 45 degree launch angle when serving, you will not get a decent racquet drop and, in turn, will not achieve your fastest serving speeds. The actions of the arm & body are significantly different for the serving motion than for throwing a ball for distance.

I'll speak more about this in my next post. Note that FYB had a video on racquet throwing. Not sure if this is still on Will's site.
 

GuyClinch

Legend
One big difference is that with a throw - you don't have the timing issues you do with a serve. That is to say your in total control of the throw so your "drop" won't get rushed.

I was watching this guy serve with NO racquet drop at all. Yes you can do it. And his serve wasn't the worst I have seen. However if he learned to time a racquet drop into his motion his serve would be a ton bigger..

So while throwing distance might have an impact on your MAX potential serving speed. Most people are operating well below that level..

Not only that (and I have pointed this out before) a tennis ball is too damn light. Your racquet and ball weighs 13 ounce -the ball 2.

Plenty of people can throw a heavier baseball faster then a wiffle ball. A tennis ball might measure arm velocity but whats important is how fast you can move the heavier mass of a racquet and ball.

Pete
 

Blake0

Hall of Fame
If two people had the exact same serving technique and one could throw faster than the other, I would expect the one who could throw faster would serve faster (assuming the technique is good).
Since technique differs so much, I don't feel like it has alot to do your service speed at lower levels. I am by no means a pitcher, and would assume my throw speed is fairly low compared to alot of hs tennis players, but I think I could beat most of them in service speed. I've spent alot of time working on my form.
Besides, half the battle is connection on the ball. If someone can throw 100mph and frames it, compaired to someone who throws 70mph and hits a sweetspot.....

From what you said in the beginning of your post, i'd disagree. Because the serve heavily depends on timing and the toss, too. So if the faster throwing guy serve's timing was off or his toss wasn't in a good position, the slower throwing guy could possibly throw faster then him (depends on how much slower, and how much speed the faster throwing guy loses).
 

SystemicAnomaly

Bionic Poster
Getting back to the launch angle idea: On a tennis serve, the racquet head is launched upward from the racquet drop at a steep angle, perhaps 75 degrees or more, in order to make contact with the ball. Contrast this with throwing a ball for distance -- more like 45 degrees.

There is typically more body coil for a serve than for a ball throw. This would translate to a bit more body rotation incorporated for a tennis serve. When throwing a ball, while not necessarily horizontal, the shoulders are much closer to a horizontal plane as the torso rotates. Compare this with the shoulder-over-shoulder action of a tennis serve.

I've previously mentioned the extreme racquet drop on the serve. This is not really implemented when throwing a ball. There are other diffs, but from what I've discussed thus far, it should be clear that the throwing motion for a tennis serve and for throwing a ball are significantly different (despite the obvious similarities).
 
i think serving speed does relate to throwing a ball under very extreme circumstances. imagine two people and they both throw a tennis ball as far as they can. they both employ the exact same tactic and use the exact same launch angle. then they both serve. both toss in the exact same spot, both have the exact same form for serving, and both hit at the exact same angle into the same spot into the court. the person who can throw further would also be able to serve faster according to physics, but we must realize it is near impossible to find two people that have the same EXACT form to prove this true
 

ubermeyer

Hall of Fame
I recently tested this. I started chucking tennis balls. At first, they barely went over the net, but within 5 minutes I discovered the optimal trajectory and launched some over the fence. I wish serving was this easy, I still have a extremely consistent serve which I can probably walk faster than.
 

SystemicAnomaly

Bionic Poster
One more thing to consider...

I serve left-handed yet I can throw a ball nearly twice as far with my right arm than with my left. I am not unique in this respect. I currently teach a couple of lefties who also throw much better with their right arm. I have come across quite a few other players in the past that throw balls with one arm yet serve with the other. A few of these were players who threw left but served righty.

I'd be willing to bet the Rafa Nadal probably throws a ball better with his right arm than with his left. But then he is a rather unique case since he is a natural righty who switched to playing tennis left-handed as a junior player.

The bottom line is that throwing a ball for distance and serving a tennis ball are sufficiently different actions so that the ability to throw a ball a great distance does not necessarily equate to serving speed.
 
Top