What's the easiest continental grip serve to learn?

[firstblud]

I'm having massive trouble trying to hit anything with the continental grip. I'm one of those newbies who had a consistent SLOW flat serve with an eastern FH grip.

I keep mishitting the ball with a continental, where it flies out of the court or thuds into the net. I"m clearly not hitting the sweetspot in any form.

What do you guys consider to be the easiest way to hit a serve with continental grip? SHould the ball be tossed a) directly in front of my face to my left, b) over my head, or c)to the right side of me?

I'm trying to see if my forearm is pronating and i think it is since my wrist naturally turns downward. It just seems extremely hard to time urself to hit contact ball at such a high level.

Thanks.

 

[goober]

Easiest Flat

next- slice

then- topspin

hardest is the twist

 

[OrangeOne]

Easiest Flat

next- slice

then- topspin

hardest is the twist

Agreed. Given that advice, to the OP - ball toss to the right, assuming you're a right hander.

 

[firstblud]

Agreed. Given that advice, to the OP - ball toss to the right, assuming you're a right hander.

ok so if i do that, would contact be made with the ball at the 1:00 position, assuming my front foot is at 12 and my back foot at 6?
Thank you.

 

[OrangeOne]

ok so if i do that, would contact be made with the ball at the 1:00 position, assuming my front foot is at 12 and my back foot at 6?
Thank you.

I'd have you tossing and thus contacting 'in line' with your right shoulder at time of hitting, if that makes sense. I don't really like the whole 'vertical view clock analogy', and I doubt it'd be as far as 1pm even if we were to use it.

And don't worry that you're spraying them, it's perfectly natural to be spraying them when learning a conti grip, but persist and persist - it's more than worth it....

 

[firstblud]

I'd have you tossing and thus contacting 'in line' with your right shoulder at time of hitting, if that makes sense. I don't really like the whole 'vertical view clock analogy', and I doubt it'd be as far as 1pm even if we were to use it.

And don't worry that you're spraying them, it's perfectly natural to be spraying them when learning a conti grip, but persist and persist - it's more than worth it....

thanks for the tip. i really appreciate the motivation as i spent about an hour trying to practice this and my shoulder got a lil busted in the process :-o

 

[OrangeOne]

thanks for the tip. i really appreciate the motivation as i spent about an hour trying to practice this and my shoulder got a lil busted in the process :-o

Take your time with it, half an hour of serving is enough for any serve, let along a new serve in my opinion. I've never understood the people who say they go and serve for 2-3 hours, it's just too much to be sane or productive!

It'll come, and when it does, you'll find adding the other serves to your arsenal relatively quick by comparison.

 

[firstblud]

ok i spent about 1.5 hours practicing serve... i made little progress, but at least it's progress. i'm having trouble AIMING my serve from the left side of the court and i tend to end up hitting the ball into the left box or it spins into it, lol.

any tips on an easy way to aim my serve? my follow thru is bad also when i try to hit it to the right because im essentially forcing it by controlling my arm to come down towards my right side of my body.

 

[firstblud]

bump

i just had a new idea thinking about it... if im serving from the left, should i just turn my position about 45 degrees clockwise?

 

[Sliceboy2]

I would suggest to start serving closer to the net (inside the service box), then work your way farther (on the TEE, then on the no mans land, then on the baseline). This way you work your power slowly without losing control. It will take time to toss consistently, each time concentrate on the sweetspot by avoiding to pull your head down early. Give the ball a good smack, without going wild. Eventually you'll get it.