Initiate your backswing & toss from the body turn. Maybe I should use the first one for a flat serve and the second one for slice serve (the usual second serve)? In terms of technique the most common cause for pain is trying to hit hard instead of looking to swing fast. But yes, the main principles still apply. It is this hitting moment that defines whether the ball is hit correctly (flat, topspin or slice) and cleanly or not. Read More » Slice Serve vs Kick Serve In Tennis – How and When To Hit Each One . You should consider placing a pinterest button on your posts. Photo: Bob Luckey / Bob Luckey. There is one more important part of the backswing & toss sequence, and that’s turning your body parallel to the baseline as you initiate the whole sequence. Boston Red Sox manager Nathan Eovaldi announced Friday that Nathan Eovaldi will replace Eduardo Rodriguez as the team's Opening Day starter Thursday against the Baltimore Orioles. Core muscles do at least in my case about 50% of the power in the serve. Being able to execute in just one or two innings of work is crucial to make the 26-man when camp breaks. My wife and I tried tennis about 33 years ago but gave it up. Since this is a feel-based exercise, we can exaggerate the rotation of the body in order to really feel how the racquet lags and then shoots out from our backswing through the contact zone. Now as I’m working on my serve, I get shoulder pain after some serving. 1/13 WTT Contender Series - everything you need to know! What technical correction would you do if you missed the basket by 20 cm on the left side of the ring? Looking forward your response. In my work with tennis players of all levels, I keep coming back to these fundamentals even when I work on more advanced skills like coiling the body more, jumping into the court, learning the kick and slice serve and so on. Swing path after contact with emphasis on pronation. ), I’ve found great usefulness and significant improvement thanks to your videos and all the suggestions, drills, crystal clear explanations that you share with us. They’ve hit thousands of them by now and they have the right feel of how to swing so that the ball lands in. Our passion lies in creating a family friendly tennis environment for players of all levels, ages and experience. A lot of articles and videos relate to power in the serve. Thanks, Sigurd. I purchased your Serve Unlocked course and really enjoyed it. I really tried to over-pronate it and just pushed it right at him. Over this time I have transformed my serve from the weakest and most inconsistent stroke in my game to equal strongest (with my forehand). All these movements must be present also when you just focus on your toss – hence, I consider backswing & toss as one step in this serving progression tutorial. It may be tricky and therefore takes some repetitions and time to master. Where are you located. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But, as I mentioned before, you really need to master the fundamentals of the serve technique which are crucial for learning how to hit a correct tennis serve with good power and consistency. Instead you need to follow step-by-step progressions that build the service motion from the ground up. So yes, your second serve in matches should be just a slow flat serve. Repeat this process of serving in two parts until you are quite successful with two key points: When you can toss the ball well and find your trophy position easily through a relaxed backswing, you’re ready to put your serve together. We stopped moving our body fluidly, making our movements now very mechanical. “I also kinda got away from what my gameplan was. You can live out your sports dreams against serious competition, playing as one of the Williams sisters' trying to win Wimbledon, or with some purely silly racket-sport fun. The following technical progressions of building a proper tennis serve can be used to correct your existing serve techniques if you find your serve ineffective. The assumption is that the 49ers are taking a QB with the third overall pick of the 2021 draft. You mention — in your email — that you have now Extended Version of "Serve Unlocked". The Miami Dolphins sent their No. Its crazy how deceleration can actually improve power, however, it makes perfect sense. If we at any moment of the serve stop the movement, we will lose power. I’ve just watched the articles that you mentioned. If so, I feel very much relieved in discovering that I don’t have to look for further major technical changes, specifically not to orient my body and raquet towards the target as I was uncorrectly told by my coach. They are simply exercises that exaggerate a certain point so that you feel it. There are two types of stances on the serve: the platform stance and the pin-point stance. 2. Thanks a lot for this wonderful feedback, Marian! /* setting alt tags to "" since that is the a11y recommendation given that the property name is the text of the href *. Thanks. What role do the core muscles play when serving? Amazing content, Tomaz, thanks a lot for all your insight. Have you ever considered tutorials for wheelchair tennis? The serve might look like that at first glance, which deceives us into interpreting the hitting part of the serve as one straight motion of the arm. Every article has at least one “gem”. This gives us a clear mental image of how the racquet and arm must move through the hitting part. These step by step serve lessons can also be used if you’re a total beginner and want to learn correct serving technique from scratch. How does this impact the Houston Texans and QB Deshaun Watson? That’s why it’s crucial that you grip the racquet correctly. I’ve thanked you in numerous posts but text tidbits on your blog here but those do not a meal make – so I will happily take advantage of your sale for ‘Serve Unlocked’ – principally as my small way of thanking you again… And then discovering what you are possibly keeping ‘fee based’ from your incredibly complete public serve curriculum…! Please look at the Aiming With The Arm vs Aiming In The Mind video under Mind Unlocked module. Instead we try to coil and create torque in the core that we then use to uncoil. If that works for you, then keep doing it. Therefore, imagine swinging towards the ball at a 45 degree angle leading with the edge of the racquet and following the first row of balls. Imagine toss more like “‘lifting” the ball rather than ‘throwing’ it. 3.8k plays. Only on very easy balls in the mid-court I would release the wrist a bit. When should I start learning kick or slice? When we teach serve technique in this analytical way of breaking down the whole complex motion into smaller parts since that’s easier to learn, we unfortunately also break down the natural fluid movements of the body. Thank you again for all that you have given to the tennis community around the world. Firstly, I wanted to thank you for the clear and detailed instructions but I wanted to ask your opinion on two details that have made a big difference to my serve. While in another video, e.g. The part where you put the balls on the court to show the 2-part swing path really helps. The backswing should be a relaxed swing backwards, as if your arm and the racquet are a pendulum that you swing backwards. Thank you. Thank you very much, Ken, I really appreciate it. I bought access to your videos as a gift for myself for my 65th Birthday and I did not expect that in just a few days I will begin to hit ball so fluidly and effortlessly. The reason I don’t want to move the wrist is because it changes the racket’s angle. The district schools that serve The Landings offer the only International Baccalaureate (IB) programs for all three levels of education (Phillippi Shores Elementary, Brookside Middle and Riverview High Schools). But keep in mind that, when it comes to correct serve technique, we actually decelerate and stop the body rotation at around a 45 degree angle between the baseline and the net. Yours’ If I were to play points I would serve at speeds where I don’t feel pain, that’s probably around 70% of my max speed. I have a question that I cannot find the answer, which somehow seems overlooked. Dallas has reunited the Falcons safety pairing of Keanu Neal and Damontae Kazee and thrown in some Jayron Kearse as they remake the defense. In fairness to DeChambeau he played a full and valiant part in an enthralling encounter. For example, should I start by practicing only flat serves first until I can do a full motion strong first serve, and during this time if I ever play a match my 2nd serve is just a cautious version of 1st serve? Thanks You’re very welcome, and thanks for the kind feedback! This article also addresses all of the above challenges of a tennis serve that are tricky to understand at first and often lead tennis players in the wrong direction. The platform serve stance is where the feet remain in the same position throughout the whole service motion. The Pinterest icon pops up when you hover an image in a post. Instead, it’s simply the inertia and relaxation of their body and the serving arm that swings the racquet in that direction. I toss the ball up, then start to take the racket towards the trophy pose, then do the swing. I have a flexible shoulder but I rush the serve which ends up with the waiter tray. First, I explain how to grip the racquet with fingers spread more apart and why that helps with pronation. Us and Canada Geography. The seven steps have I believe put me back on course to getting my serve right. Thanks a lot for this kind feedback and a good question. It’s always tough to go out and kick things off in what’s expected to be a heated competition, though King found himself facing a tough Blue Jays lineup doing just that. your video on 3 different tosses for 3 servers is very useful as well. Then place your left index finger in the “valley” between the thumb and the index finger of your right hand (for right-handers), just next to the bone on the thumb. Both serve stances in tennis are correct, but typically the platform stance is used by more explosive players and the pin-point stance is used by taller players that are not looking for so much explosive power off the ground. These cookies do not store any personal information. Good to hear you’re on the right track now! All of the sudden, I’m putting spin on the ball without even trying. Christiane. This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Rafael Nadal agrees to Bernabeu tennis match as Real Madrid chief eyes Roger Federer clash . Lesson Summary Let's take a few moments to review what we've learned about physical education and its history. Thanks for the Black Friday promotion! The body needs a few days to reprogramme the new movements. The serve toss is often quite tricky to master and is often times practiced on its own. You are simply accumulating energy in order to release it explosively into the contact with the ball. Namely, you can do the “Edges exercise” in which you always lead with the edge in any direction that you move your racquet. Jeff has developed a simple and unique coaching methodology that will accelerate your online tennis learning leading to more match wins and more fun on the court. Following you has improved it. The toes of the back foot are also roughly aligned with the heel of the front foot because you need to be stable in all directions once you initiate and execute your full service motion. I wonder whether this is a common weak point for other beginners like me, so that a special tutorial from you dedicated to this issue might be of interest for your community of followers. Thank you very much and I hope you do not regret having shared your tennis knowledge. (Springwood Tennis Club, Australia). No. This also starts the coiling phase from which you will generate a lot of power once you start uncoiling. The main drawback for me is that I’m not able to control the ball direction or, in other terms, I’m probably so focused in trying to shoot the ball to the left service rectangle that I lose control on the whole serve motion, resulting in a very confused and unsuccessful shot; if I can hardly hit the court, it is absolutely just for random coincidence! Also I often catch the ball above the sweet spot on the racket. It seems you’ve honed in on the exact problems rec players have and discovered simple ways to correct them. Well, I am still working on it, trying to keep some of you advice like a Mantra in my mind. “I just know how clumsy he is, so I was expecting it, to be honest,” Fleetwood said of his childhood friend. Here is a prediction for what the Vikings could do in 2021. How To Be At Peace With Mistakes In Tennis, Tennis Illusions – Roger Federer’s Forehand Technique, The Modern Forehand Drop & Wrist Lag Techniques Comparison, Tennis Serve Technique – 7 Steps To Correct Serve, Visual Tennis Learning – 6 Forehand & Backhand Visual Illusions, One- and Two-Handed Tennis Backhand Backswing Illusions, Tennis Forehand And The Role Of The Non-Dominant Arm. However, with some practice, you will surely master it and gain many more benefits from having enough time for your whole serving motion and more power from having more torque in your body. Basic serve stance gives you balance in all directions. When you watch the pros serve, you’ll see that they finish their serve on the left side of the body (for right-handers) and you may want to copy that. I know it seems like we hit the ball that way but it’s an illusion. Is it necessary to jump on hitting the serve or this is the result of the racket pulling the player up due to the circular motion? Thank you for the video, and this website!!! You can see many recreational tennis players with poor technique and yet very consistent serves. Twos Athletic Club is a family owned, professionally run tennis and fitness facility in business to serve the Northwest Ohio and Southeast Michigan tennis community. Try doing the drills in slow motion, John. The power move from the side: drop and turn happening at the same time. Thank you very much for this very easy to follow technique. Why Your Strokes Lack Power And How To Correct That, Serve Rhythm In Tennis And How To Find It, Yes, Rita, if the electronic scale keeps changing the numbers as you change the weight on it continuously then it…, Dear Tomaz, does it still work for a electronic scale, since it maybe not easy to find a mechanical scale…, And thank you, Robyn, for sharing your feedback! Hi again Tomaz and thanks a lot for your kind reply. 18 slides. I consider myself a “student of the game” and in the last 30 years I gathered extensive library of books, videos and DVDs from the best couches including Vic Braden, Van de Meer, Bolittieri and many others, I also have a membership in tennisone.com since 1996, and buy courses offered on line. Tennis Australia executive Jayne Hrdlicka faced a tough crowd when she took to the podium following the men's final at the Australian Open in Melbourne and was booed twice by unruly fans. This video on serving with very clear instructions even covering well justified reasons for the right way of doing the proper serve is really appealing. But when you initiate your serve, you will immediately start turning your body to the side, your dominant arm will start swinging back, you’ll start leaning and coiling, etc. It is a little bit rushed but at least a contininous movement. Hear the satisfying "ping" sound the ball makes when it hits the center of the racket. I have my daughter (8 yrs old) practicing this technique for 2 months because her previous tennis school taught her the pancake serve (waiter serve), which takes time to break the bad habit. The serve is a real tricky stroke, much more than any other in tennis, and so one needs to be patient in learning all the little nuances of the serve that eventually unlock it and make it a weapon. That’s because if you just try to toss the ball in the target you won’t move any other body parts in order to be accurate. I’ve explained this in the articles on adjusting and how to quickly improve accuracy of your shots. And that’s why most tennis players get the serve wrong and reach their speed plateau very quickly and cannot move beyond it. Toss high enough! This prevents you from holding the racquet tight as you go through your service motion and therefore creates a very fluid movement. Excellent tutorial. But what happens is that they do not actually swing or forcefully push their racquet to the left side. This is also the stage where I’d like to clarify the follow-through on the serve. Can’t wait to get on the tennis court to try this out. understanding how to integrate the toss into your service motion and how to troubleshoot it. None of them are actually correct serve technique! Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. Hope you are doing well. One is to ensure my palm is down during the backswing, which stops the wrist from bending when reaching the trophy position. One the best tennis training aids to do that is the Serve Master by Lisa Dodson. For more speed and no pain I am simply not physically prepared enough. Go through the various articles in the serve section and make sure you do the drills. Sorry for bothering you with such a long winded comment and thanks very much again for your outstanding way of teaching tennis! As you said, the service motion will be rushed and possibly tense. Tomaz – you are the best online coach. 1. trying to think (and want) to serve to the opposite side of the court while keeping the same stance, position and body/raquet orientation shack is in bad condition and is leaning against building. Am I right? Recently, we bought new rackets and gave it a try. Here, the racquet is slightly tilted with the bottom edge of the racquet aligning with the back of your head. Tom Brady posts a hilarious response to the Bucs retaining all 22 Super Bowl starters, Bryson DeChambeau tried to drive the green during Match Play, hit it 46 yards instead, NCAA Removes Michigan Hockey From Tournament Due To COVID-19 Protocols, Blockbuster trade strong indicator Jets looking to move on from Sam Darnold, Daniel Theis posts emotional farewell message after Celtics' trade with Bulls, Cardinals’ projected starting lineup on offense after free agency, Russian women sweep figure skating worlds podium for first time, Tommy Fleetwood topples Bryson DeChambeau with help of his caddie's brawn, Germany's shining midfield leaves Loew with selection problem, Reports: Marquette hires Texas coach Shaka Smart after Longhorns' first-round tournament exit, ESPN analyst says Patriots had the ‘most head-scratching move’ of free agency, Early prediction for the Vikings’ starting offensive line. Most players don’t work on their . In most cases the wrist is still bent as it was. You attempt a shot, see where it goes, and then simply “want it” to go somewhere else based on the feedback from your previous shot. If you’re having troubles mastering the toss, look into my ServeUnlocked course that dedicates an entire module to an integrated toss which happens simultaneously with the backswing. I hope this points you in the right direction of taming the most challenging tennis stroke. In both cases, though, we are using the principle of transfer of momentum which happens only when we decelerate the body. You use the Serve Master by swinging it in a continuous manner that simulates the whole service motion. Honestly, you’ve taught me a lot of things that my coach has never told me…!! "It's just my frustration kind of boiling over I would say.". It has been really helpful!! The best way to start serving correctly is to do a few serves in two parts and then take a leap of faith and do the complete serve from start to finish. Its really helped me in correcting my tennis waiters serve here in Ireland. If I’ve understood correctly from your lessons (and also by watching the pros on TV), body orientation and feet stance should be exactly the same from both sides of the midline. What I’ve observed on myself is that while I can now serve with some consistence from left to right (I’m a right-handed player), I have much more problems when attempting the serve from right to left. This effect creates a lot of racquet head speed with little effort. And the danger in this hitting part of the serve is that we initiate the swing up from a static position which in the long term might become a part of our whole serve technique. But if it feels naturally for you to serve in a pin point stance, then just go for it. Yes, the shoulder can hurt when serving, it is under stress. A Quick History Lesson on Tennis Balls. For right-handers, that’s forward and right, roughly at 45 degrees which then changes as pronation takes place. Dominique. King ended saying that he believed the second inning felt better than the first, which is good to hear. So we can actually turn our body all the way up to the point where we face the net with it. The principle of stretching your body and allowing it to snap back generates much more racquet head speed than the principle of tense muscles and thinking you want to be “strong” as you hit your serve. Hi Tomaz, The tricky thing about the stretch principle is that you must actually RELAX in order to allow your muscles to stretch, which is a very counter-intuitive thing to do just as you’re about to hit a fast serve. It’s time to say thank you for all your good advice. Therefore, I use the “bounce” element to make sure the racquet is moving and that the arm is loosened up before you swing up – because that’s exactly what will happen when you execute the whole tennis service motion. I’m studying your lessons with enthusiasm and every now and then some question rises up. Just a message to say thanks for this incredible coaching resource. This website uses cookies to improve your experience. Fleetwood’s drive ended on the cart path, but rather than take a drop this remarkably precise ball-striker decided the best option was to play it from where it lay. Originally tennis balls were made solely of rubber, but they were soon improved by covering them with flannel stitched around the rubber core. The tricky thing here is that the tossing arm is much more stiff as it’s lifting the ball accurately up towards the contact point while the serving arm has to be very relaxed. I’m still puzzling a lot over how to solve this matter, probably due to my lack of knowledge and experience about the correct technique. View full. The Minnesota Vikings offensive line is an important unit. Today I tried the technique, it really worked, so happy.