When to start tracking the ball on return of serve.

[steve s]

Both of the servers I played against a few days ago said my low toss, no racquet drop serve gave them problems. I saw on the other side of the net two picture perfect servers with a little arched back and a smooth fluid serve that I wish I had.

One said he tracks any serve from when it leaves the hand, and the other said when the ball starts down from it high point. Think I hit my serve when it is going up or has just stop rising. They had nothing to read. I was sliding it out to their forehands making them stretch,and mixing it up.

When do you start tracking the ball???

For any "quick servers" out there, do you toss the ball up and hit it with the racquet, or do you toss the ball into the racquet. If you do not have a low toss this question is way over your head.

I will keep swinging

 

[LeeD]

Track it as it leaves the racket.
I find, at 4.0 and higher, nobody has trouble with low toss serves after the second or third game.
It's the execution and placement of the serves that everyone has trouble with, not the toss height, which a low toss can fool once or twice, but no more.

 

[steve s]

Thank you for speaking for all 4.0 and up players. You are playing in your own dream world.

 

[LeeD]

Problem is, you talk from a 3.5 reference point.
Toss height is easy to counter, you just watch the warmups, then you react accordingly.
YOU, as a inexperienced player, thinks you low toss can confound Rafa and the whole ATP. Wrong, they have seen it for 12 years already.

 

[Dragy]

Track it as it leaves the racket.

I would agree here. All this serve reading from toss is a cool story, while just slight delay with ISR/Pronation changes the serve significantly, which might be done intended or unintended on rec level. Same for top/slice spin ratio.

 

[Surion]

Problem is, you talk from a 3.5 reference point.
Toss height is easy to counter, you just watch the warmups, then you react accordingly.
YOU, as a inexperienced player, thinks you low toss can confound Rafa and the whole ATP. Wrong, they have seen it for 12 years already.

Problem is, you are an old idiot.

You are always speaking for everyone on this board, despite the fact, that you are a single person and furthermore, most of the time telling nonsense.

 

[spaceman_spiff]

The only problem I have with low-toss servers is that I have to speed up my pre-split step preparation a bit. But it's not a big problem for me.

The real difficulty for me is people who toss high. I like to keep the ball and the player in my field of vision when I'm returning, but I can't do that when the toss is really high. I have to choose to focus on one or the other, so I don't get as much information before the ball is hit as I do when facing a medium or low toss.

 

[steve s]

Hey Lee, when you upgrade your chop backhand to a slice backhand, and your push bloop forehand to a flat forehand I will upgrade you to a 3.5. I do like your nice fluid no effort serve.

I am shocked that you think Rafa could handle my serve.

 

[Deleted member 23235]

The only problem I have with low-toss servers is that I have to speed up my pre-split step preparation a bit. But it's not a big problem for me.

The real difficulty for me is people who toss high. I like to keep the ball and the player in my field of vision when I'm returning, but I can't do that when the toss is really high. I have to choose to focus on one or the other, so I don't get as much information before the ball is hit as I do when facing a medium or low toss.

Exactly, low tossers disrupt my natural rhythm of returning...
I tend to step in on the toss up,
land and load as the ball peak,
start the hop-up part of the split step as the ball descends,
hopeful timed it well, so i'm landing around the time of contact...

when someone has a short toss (eg. hit on the way up), i have to abbreviate everything, and start the hop-up part of the split-step as soon as they toss..

in reality it's not that big a deal, and i probably already adjusted just taking (catching) their practice services (i practice my split step timing when they are practicing their serve,... without actually returning it)...

 

[steve s]

Spaceman and NY ;Sounds nice if all the service are the same speed and spin. Think your split and first read, if the ball is left or right or toward body gets one out of kilter. The two 4.5s, I was playing said they had trouble. Your blanket statement that all "quick services" are no trouble is just too simple. Please rethink the last time you played a descend low tosser(WHAT EVER THAT IS), and if you quickly adjusted.. It you did no problem.

I rarely play with 4.5 doubles players, so feedback from better players was helpful.

 

[SystemicAnomaly]

Problem is, you are an old idiot.

You are always speaking for everyone on this board, despite the fact, that you are a single person and furthermore, most of the time telling nonsense.

Seems that you're fond of insults -- like labeling others as idiots.

Thank you for speaking for all 4.0 and up players. You are playing in your own dream world.

With responses like this, my guess that others would be less inclined to provide you with advice. I know that I was going to provide some feedback until I saw this.

 

[Mack-2]

Seems that you're fond of insults -- like labeling others as idiots.



With responses like this, my guess that others would be less inclined to provide you with advice. I know that I was going to provide some feedback until I saw this.

Well said. I was also going to provide some of my advice but he changed my mind.

 

[LeeD]

No offense taken....
I usually play with the USTA League 4.0 crowd, and they're peers, like PapaMango and Shroud.
Once they see a few low toss serves, they ADAPT, get ready sooner, and return my serves.
Same with the few 4.5's who play with us, and the fewer 5.0's. First time around, they have a bit of trouble. Third time around, it's no deal whatsoever, because they've seen better.
Even when a low 4.0 like me sees a 5.0 serve, and Papa and Shroud know Freedom and Noah, WE get used to it after 3 whiffs, and can return them low and short NML depth. It's the VARIETY they throw at us, the fast first serves, the wide sliders, and the high kicks, that we can't handle, not the toss height or quick action.
Against most of my tennis buds, from 3.5 to 5.0, I can TELL them which serve I"m doing, and if I do it right, they can't do much with it, if I do it wrong, I can't do much with their returns. EXECUTION trumps disquise, low toss, or high toss.

 

[Laver777]

I watch the angle of the face of the racquet before impact to give me an idea of where its going first. I toss forward and straight in front so Im jumping into it and hit with the racquet. Its a fairly low toss Im hitting it just as its starting to drop.

 

[steve s]

Still like your fluid serve. I guess placement and variety of spin and speed is the key. I feel the low toss gives me easy power with no wear or tear to my shoulder or arm.

You grip selection suggestion for handling a tough server is starting to work well for me.

 

[LeeD]

I often alternate between high toss and low quick toss serves.
Not so much a tactical strategy, but more sun and wind related.
Both work, both can miss. What matter's is how often, and exactly WHERE, I place those serves.

 

[torpantennis]

I track the ball straight from the moment when toss has not even started. That kinda makes life simpler, and makes it impossible to lose focus. ROS has always been a strong point of my game.