Tips For Hitting With A Lot of Depth and Top Spin Serve Help?

[UW_Husky88]

Hi,

I'm reworking my game right now and I think, since I'm making too many errors, that I'm going to focus on playing deep, well-placed shots and slowly add pace as my consistency picks up. Therefore, I was wondering what some quick tips are for hitting with more depth? I've tried adding a top of extra top spin, but that usually causes me to shank and hit wimpy shots that still don't have depth, so what else should I do? Also, speaking of shanking of top spin, I'm having a LOT of trouble getting my top spin serve back together. After not having played for a while, my top spin serve, normally my strength, is now completely worthless and I frame it frequently. Any tips for getting more pace of the top spin serve and not shanking it all the time?

Thanks!

 

[LeeD]

Consistent rally ball groundies, aim 4' above the net, but swing only 70% effort.
Topspin second serves, aim 3' over the net, aim 2' short of opponent's service line for safety.
If you hit 120 mph first FLAT serves, your fast second serves should go 90 mph, and your safe second serves should arc in around 70 mph with the fastest swing you can produce consistently.

 

[Kirko]

I had to take lessons to learn how to hit a twist serve tried and tried on my own as a kid, what helped me was choking up on the racket handle & arching my back. I had to be shown many times; though worth it I guess a serve that really chews up club players at just about all levels until you run into a guy who took lessons on how to return one choke up on the grip really helped me only way I can hit it

 

[Tyrus]

This answer sounds, and probably is as arrogant as possible, but to sum it all up.

stay focused on the ball.

Worry about nothing else.

Obsess over that little yellow ball flying all over the court.

Its a super hot pair of titties, you DON'T want to take your eyes off it.

Hit it out in front so you can SEE it as you hit it.

If you want depth, hit it higher over the net, that loopy ball might look stupid, but you would be surprised at how offensive that shot is when your opponent's back is to the fence.

for the serve, make sure that ball is tossed behind your head so you pretty much have to hit up on it.

But, again, the one thing that it all comes down to, is staying focused on that ball.

You wouldn't take your eyes off a nice pair of titties would ya? treat the ball the same.

 

[JRstriker12]

Hi,

I'm reworking my game right now and I think, since I'm making too many errors, that I'm going to focus on playing deep, well-placed shots and slowly add pace as my consistency picks up. Therefore, I was wondering what some quick tips are for hitting with more depth? I've tried adding a top of extra top spin, but that usually causes me to shank and hit wimpy shots that still don't have depth, so what else should I do? Also, speaking of shanking of top spin, I'm having a LOT of trouble getting my top spin serve back together. After not having played for a while, my top spin serve, normally my strength, is now completely worthless and I frame it frequently. Any tips for getting more pace of the top spin serve and not shanking it all the time?

Thanks!

For groundstrokes, I'd say aim higher over the net. If your ground strokes have a lot of top spin and you aim lower, then they will drop short in the court. Aiming for 4-6 ft of clearance over the net could help.

Another factor is considering trying to hit through the ball more. If you are trying to add more spin to your strokes and it's landing short, odds are you are just brushing up on the ball in an effort to create spin, but not hitting through it enough to go deep.

As for the top spin serve. It may just take time and practice to get the stroke back.

On thing though - are you dropping your head on the serve? I find that I tend to shank my kicker when I drop my head instead of looking up at the ball through contact.

 

[dozu]

at the risk of sounding like a broken record - the key is really the kinetic chain.

OP is making many errors, so without a vid we don't know what the issue is..... if there is a problem in the chain, then aiming higher won't help, as it will lead to hitting out of bounds...

so post a vid, let us exam the chain, then we go from there.

if the chain is good, then even if the net clearance is too low, at least the depth should be consistent... i.e. consistently short..... but if there is a flaw, then you will have the symptom of big 'spray angle' - i.e. poor directional and depth control.

 

[LeeD]

I assumed OP was consistently hitting short, meaning he HAS strokes, but doesn't know how to lengthen them.
ADDING TOPSPIN DOES NOT LENGTHEN you ball. Flattening your stroke lengthen's your shots, if you keep the same height clearance over the net.

 

[shindemac]

This should probably be two topics so we know which issue is being addressed. After a long break from the game, it will take awhile to get your strokes back. Same with your serve. You just need to give it some time, and it'll come back. Also this is the main reason why practice is important, esp. when learning a new serve like the topspin serve. Even if you do well in one practice session, you need to keep practicing it until it's ingrained in your muscle memory. If you've forgotten it so easily, then consider practicing your serve more.

Consider sampras. After he retired, he didn't touch a racket for a few years. But after he came back and played some world tennis, he said his serve felt the same.

 

[MNPlayer]

I think a lot of folks, when learning topspin groundstrokes, go through a phase where everything is short and soft. I know I did. I still have trouble getting enough on topspin serves to make them offensive. You have to swing pretty fast to hit both topspin and pace. It makes sense - you are putting energy in two dimensions instead of just one. Keeping a loose arm and wrist helps. All that stuff people are saying about hitting higher over the net is true too if you want depth.