Too Tired to Serve?

[InSydeOut]

Hi all,

When practicing with my partner we usually save serves for last.
However, after practicing groundstrokes my arms are exhausted at that point, and therefore my serves feel/are awful.

Is this normal? Can you all bomb flat and kick serves at the end of your sessions? Is this fatigue due to a glaring flaw in my technique where I am using too much arm, not enough wrist or legs? Thinking maybe there is some kinetic chain link I am not using.

For reference I have consistent flat and kick serves when I am somewhat fresh.. although I will say serves are the weakest part of my repertoire.

 

[SystemicAnomaly]

I really don't ever recall this being an issue. But then I was pretty highly conditioned, aerobically & anaerobically, in my 20 thru my 50s. Also started playing (& competing in) quite a bit of badminton starting in my late twenties. So I became accustomed to hitting a lot of overhead shots (since ~60% of badm is overhead compared to tennis which might be closer to 10-15%).

One thing I might suggest is that, perhaps you have too much tension in your body and might also be ripping the racket too tightly. Most of the time your grip pressure should be about 2 or 3 (where 10 is a death grip and, at 0, the racket falls out of your hand).

The attention in your body should be somewhat similar. You can be intense & powerful while being fairly relaxed at the same time. If you learn to breathe properly and relax, your subconscious mind should figure out where the tension needs to be.

Perhaps some rope skipping, conditioning & plyometric training is in order. If you are experiencing fatigue in the shoulder, he might try The Thrower's Ten series of exercise to bulletproof the shoulder & rotator cuff.

 

[InSydeOut]

I really don't ever recall this being an issue. But then I was pretty highly conditioned, aerobically & anaerobically, in my 20 thru my 50s. Also started playing (& competing in) quite a bit of badminton starting in my late twenties. So I became accustomed to hitting a lot of overhead shots (since ~60% of badm is overhead compared to tennis which might be closer to 10-15%).

One thing I might suggest is that, perhaps you have too much tension in your body and might also be ripping the racket too tightly. Most of the time your grip pressure should be about 2 or 3 (where 10 is a death grip and, at 0, the racket falls out of your hand).

The attention in your body should be somewhat similar. You can be intense & powerful while being fairly relaxed at the same time. If you learn to breathe properly and relax, your subconscious mind should figure out where the tension needs to be.

Perhaps some rope skipping, conditioning & plyometric training is in order. If you are experiencing fatigue in the shoulder, he might try The Thrower's Ten series of exercise to bulletproof the shoulder & rotator cuff.

I will say my serve is currently going through a rebuild after switching to a heavier racket, and yes I may be gripping too tightly with higher tension in my body as a result.

I took for granted my ability to really whip my racket through the air with ease, and getting the timing and clean contact was a breeze. With a heavier racket I find timing and building up the kinetic acceleration is slower but necessary or else I will injure myself. But that has added complexity unfortunately.

 

[cha cha]

Good, that is how you will feel when serving in a match unless you do something about your stamina.

 

[SystemicAnomaly]

Good, that is how you will feel when serving in a match unless you do something about your stamina.

That's a good point. After they've warmed up & gotten into a rhythm, many players will do quite good. But after an hour or two the serve & stroke timing and consistency might drop off.

In my late 20s, my brother and I hit for 6 hours straight but very few breaks. Very little degradation in strokes. Did it a couple of times in my fifties for 5 hours. Surprised I could still do that but I was very sore afterwards.

Other than that soreness afterward, stamina was never an issue for me. That's what you see with the pros. Even though they might have some lulls in their performance, they are often quite good after three, four or even 5 hours.

 

[SystemicAnomaly]

I will say my serve is currently going through a rebuild after switching to a heavier racket, and yes I may be gripping too tightly with higher tension in my body as a result.

I took for granted my ability to really whip my racket through the air with ease, and getting the timing and clean contact was a breeze. With a heavier racket I find timing and building up the kinetic acceleration is slower but necessary or else I will injure myself. But that has added complexity unfortunately.

You might consider choking up on the grip a little bit for serves & for volleys. Perhaps by two or three centimeters. This will reduce the effective swingweight (MOI) of the racket.

 

[nyta2]

Hi all,

When practicing with my partner we usually save serves for last.
However, after practicing groundstrokes my arms are exhausted at that point, and therefore my serves feel/are awful.

Is this normal? Can you all bomb flat and kick serves at the end of your sessions? Is this fatigue due to a glaring flaw in my technique where I am using too much arm, not enough wrist or legs? Thinking maybe there is some kinetic chain link I am not using.

For reference I have consistent flat and kick serves when I am somewhat fresh.. although I will say serves are the weakest part of my repertoire.

i get tired too... but not in my arms,... in my legs, which affects my ability to hit up... i end up hitting all arm, and don't get the usual height and spin over the net
a while ago i recall a few coaches i respect, say they always start&end every practice session with serving because it's the most important shot, so i've often tried to follow that routine

 

[PKorda]

This doesn’t sound normal maybe if you’re above 75.

 

[Steady Eddy]

Probably best to quit practicing when you get that tired. All you're doing is practicing bad from. You don't want to ingrain that!

 

[PKorda]

Probably best to quit practicing when you get that tired. All you're doing is practicing bad from. You don't want to ingrain that!

To quote Tom Brady ‘you gotta make plays when you’re tired too fellas’

 

[ServeBot]

When I get tired my legs feel heavy and I lose the explosiveness on my serve. Arms aren’t an issue, I try to stay pretty loose.

 

[InSydeOut]

Probably best to quit practicing when you get that tired. All you're doing is practicing bad from. You don't want to ingrain that!

I served yesterday and another thought had occurred to me. I may have an overly complex approach to the serve.
When fatigued I simplified the serve back down to the basics. Hitting the sweet spot and getting the ball to behave the way I want it to. Slower swing, lower toss, etc.
Results were not far off from my normal serve all things considered.