Video learning kick serve. Pls help critique

[hieu1811]

I took a video of myself practicing kick serve, pls scroll forward to 1min onwards

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=npdJXJFMLRE

I'm trying to finish with head of racquet downwards, like a "Dirty Diaper" that someone taught in youtube.

I'm looking for tips, pointers that help correct my technique/ motion before I continue to practice, because I'm not entirely sure if my technique/ motion is right yet.

Thank you very much

 

[Mr.Lob]

I took a video of myself practicing kick serve, pls scroll forward to 1min onwards

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=npdJXJFMLRE

I'm trying to finish with head of racquet downwards, like a "Dirty Diaper" that someone taught in youtube.

I'm looking for tips, pointers that help correct my technique/ motion before I continue to practice, because I'm not entirely sure if my technique/ motion is right yet.

Thank you very much

Well, your at the far end of the court, which is good for seeing ball placement and kick, but not so much technique.

 

[Curiosity]

You need not worry about your racquet work going up to the ball.

You should, on the other hand, learn a full serve that will allow you to generate racquet head speed going up. This means you need to learn to use your legs, tossing arm, and synchronize with these your swing. When you are coming off the ground up to your kick serve, shoulder higher and not coming around so much, you will be on track. Watch this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CnMolTSCUqo

 

[hieu1811]

I used to have a decent flat serve, with full motion, including backswing, pinpoint stance, leg jump. But i found it very difficult to do that, and brush up on the ball.

From tennisplayer.net, they advise to start learning kick serve with backscratch position, so that's where I start, trying to simplify things first. I also try to change from pinpoint to platform, which makes it easier to have a feeling of brush up the ball.

 

[unclenimrod]

Hard to see your technique from this distance…but it looks solid. The simplest advice is often the best: hit up and out. It appears you do that…and once you incorporate your legs you will really see a kick after the bounce.

 

[Nellie]

To my eye, you take good practice shadow swings for a kick serve (swinging along the baseline) and then you swing forward through the ball on the actual serve and don't brush up at the ball.

 

[Tight Lines]

Although it's hard to tell, it looks like you are practicing correctly.

IMO, however, your racket hitting side should face the back fence rather than toward you immediately after you hit the ball (the "out" part of up and out motion). Jeff Salzenstein says it should face the server. But if you look carefully in his video, his racket hitting face does point to the back fence before it comes around to face him. That will provide you with more kick and more consistency.

Try that and see if that helps. JMHO.

Harry

 

[Bdarb]

Not bad, especially considering it looks like you don't use your legs at all. Start doing that and I bet you'll get some really good action on it.

 

[hieu1811]

After a few more sessions of practice, this time from back view, which would be easier to see:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wIWKqIpAfbs

 

[xFullCourtTenniSx]

Need to swing the head up and out. You're just rolling the ball.

http://www.feeltennis.net/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/racquet-across.jpg

You have 0 pronation on your kick serve. And that's not an exaggeration.

 

[LeeD]

You're definetely getting the correct toss location and motion.
Now, really concentrate on higher net clearance, usually around 2', and good DEPTH, so your ball bounces at the deepest part of the service box.
Short twist serves do no damage, and are easily crushed into your court. Your deeper twist serves actually reverse kick, and also bounce kinda high. Your target height at the baseline is around 5' high bounces, and it goes higher with more practice on good net clearance and depth.

 

[Chas Tennis]

This thread has some interesting discussions.
http://tt.tennis-warehouse.com/showthread.php?p=8286694#post8286694

Look at the frames from a kick serve in replies #30, 31 & 32. The high speed video of the serve, 240 fps, is in reply #32.

Compare your serve frames regarding the angles. For example, compare frames at impact regarding the forearm-racket angle. At 30 fps you will only catch one of these frames. The frames show internal shoulder rotation , the final joint motion that is mostly used to develop racket head speed for the serve.

It looks as if you are not doing the ISR and are moving the strings across the ball. I think that I saw that as a learning technique but it is not a high level kick serve with the ISR pace. In the pro's serve his arm is mostly straight and rotating very quickly.

For some useful camera angles, serve checkpoints search TW and typical serve analyses search: camera behind Chas Tennis

Search threads here on the kick serve.
http://tt.tennis-warehouse.com/showthread.php?t=496272

 

[JonC]

It looks fine - just too slow. Figure out out to hit it faster - use more body - throw the racket more at the ball while keeping the racket on edge (of course). Use more wrist as well - ulnar deviation - like waving, then let wrist break at release. The racket head moves faster in a kick serve than a flat serve (at least it feels like that). Finally, think of keeping your body more sideways - you may be doing this enough but experiment - you should feel like you're purposefully staying sideways as opposed to rotating around and forward - like a flat serve.

 

[RetroSpin]

You have several issues. Your contact point is too much over your right shoulder. You want to feel like it is in line with your left ear. Also, you need to keep your right shoulder behind you more. The combination is making it difficult for you to generate kick spin.

Your arm and wrist appear pretty stiff as well. You want to feel your wrist going from radial to ulnar deviation, kind of like you have the racquet cover on and unzipped and you are trying to sling it off.