Trust the Serve Throwing Motion

TimothyO

Hall of Fame
The last couple of days I've focused on the throwing motion often discussed in serve instructions. I relaxed as much as possible and told myself to "trust the throw". I imagined the racquet as a giant arm and hand and throwing the ball. The ball just happened to be in the air. Pronation, follow through, and power were SO much easier.

So to fellow beginners trust the throw. Throw with abandon. Truly see yourself throwing rather than hitting. Break through the hitting wall and try throwing instead.
 

HunterST

Hall of Fame
You're definitely right. I also think it helps to visualize that you're throwing directly at the ball. That is, I think of striking the tossed ball as if I were going to throw another ball up and hit the ball. This helps because when you throw a ball the pronation occurs at the release. Therefore, by visualizing the release point as where the ball is, the pronation occurs at the right time.

This feels like you're going to hit the bottom of the ball and make it go way long, which it sometimes does. But I find that, as long as the toss is out in front, it works very well.
 

LeeD

Bionic Poster
No biggee.
I just played 3 sets of 4.0 doubles where I should have been the lame duck, but I was like second best. Didn't pick up a racket in 3 weeks and 4 days.
Warmup consisted of a TOTAL of 3 groundies and one volley.
Serves were "these go" when it was my turn.
Now, an hour later, my butt is sore and so is my hitting shoulder.
 

HunterST

Hall of Fame
No biggee.
I just played 3 sets of 4.0 doubles where I should have been the lame duck, but I was like second best. Didn't pick up a racket in 3 weeks and 4 days.
Warmup consisted of a TOTAL of 3 groundies and one volley.
Serves were "these go" when it was my turn.
Now, an hour later, my butt is sore and so is my hitting shoulder.

Haha good job, LeeD. I gotta ask, though, what does this have to do the throwing motion on the serve?
 

TimothyO

Hall of Fame
Glad you guys see it the same way. It is key to the loose arm and natural arm pronation.

Natural is the right word for pronation with this mental approach. I naturally pronate when throwing a football but when I serve I often see pronation as something distinct from the other bits. I understand the issue but under those circumstances it feels artificial.

When I view the motion as a throw I no longer need to think about pronation...it just happens naturally with all the relevant benefits.

Didn't get to serve today (still can't hit and run around due to ankle) but I hope to pursue this more tomorrow.
 

LeeD

Bionic Poster
??
I haven't been able to run or jog in 3 years now.
I still play singles and doubles, it's just a temporary handicap that I can overcome by hitting with better placement and hitting smarter.
I hobble around every moment on the court, have reduced coverage, but that is part of the game of life....you make do with what you got.
In singles, I still can't cover nearly alley to alley, and in doubles, I let deep lobs go for winners, but that's nice for the opposition.
And yes, maybe it will take foreever to heal, but life is not worth living if all you do is wait for the right moment to live.
 

user92626

G.O.A.T.
The last couple of days I've focused on the throwing motion often discussed in serve instructions. I relaxed as much as possible and told myself to "trust the throw". I imagined the racquet as a giant arm and hand and throwing the ball. The ball just happened to be in the air. Pronation, follow through, and power were SO much easier.

So to fellow beginners trust the throw. Throw with abandon. Truly see yourself throwing rather than hitting. Break through the hitting wall and try throwing instead.

Guys, if you want to graduate out of the beginner level, I'm afraid you'll need to understand the server mechanic completely. That's not the same as asking you to be able to do it, but understanding is the first step. When you understand it, you can practice and change it up to fit your physical tendency and also learn different serves, eg different spins, first, second, etc.

(d@mn, I should make a good coach...lol)
 

TimothyO

Hall of Fame
Guys, if you want to graduate out of the beginner level, I'm afraid you'll need to understand the server mechanic completely. That's not the same as asking you to be able to do it, but understanding is the first step. When you understand it, you can practice and change it up to fit your physical tendency and also learn different serves, eg different spins, first, second, etc.

(d@mn, I should make a good coach...lol)

No, really? Horrors! Here I thought I'd be at the 2012 US Open with this one bit of understanding.

Well, I suppose I'll just have to soldier on.

Any other breathtakingly insightdul observations that help beginners?

:)
 
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