Improving Your
Service Rhythm

By Doug Eng, EdD PhD

In the first two parts of this series, I presented a new way of looking at the serve based on rhythm style. I identified 3 rhythm styles in the pro game: Abbreviated, Classical, and Staggered. (Click Here.) We then identified pro players who used each rhythm, and how rhythm correlated with other technical elements in the motion. (Click Here.)

Rhythm style is a function of the height of the racket arm at the time of the toss release. In the Abbreviated, the arm is highest, around shoulder level. In the Staggered it is the lowest, around the hips. In the Classical it is in between, pointing straight back, horizontal to the court, or something close.

The racket arm position at the release in the Abrreviated, Classical and Staggered rhythms.

Now in this third article, let's see how adjustments related to rhythm style have the potential to improve any player's serve. First, we'll look at the changes made by two pro players, Rafael Nadal and Maria Sharapova. Then we'll see how this new perspective can help players at all levels.

Kaizen

The Japanese have a word, "Kaizen." Kaizen literally means improvement, but is used in a larger sense. Kaizen refers to the process by which small changes have large effects. This is how it can work with rhythm style and the serve. My belief is that by making small adjustments, you often see dramatic improvements in outcome.

For example, reaching slightly higher at contact, even if just 2 inches, opens the window for a higher service percentage. If you can get 5% more first serves in play, that might mean winning 2% more points on your serve.

Winning 2% more points on serve might make the difference in winning a critical match. So what seems like only a small improvement can end up making a big difference in result.

The best test of Kaizen is against players of equal ability. There may be some players you can beat 80% of the time and others you will lose to 80% of the time. Against those players, Kaizen may have little effect on the outcome.

But, against players with whom you play evenly, a small change resulting in a few more points has a big effect. This can be the real test of how much you have improved. If you can beat players at your own level more consistently, you gain confidence in your new stroke and game. And the benefits can mushroom from there.

I think we see a great example of the Kaizen effect in the changes my fellow writer Jeff Greenwald made in his serve. These were relatively minor technical adjustments, but the effect on his serving percentages helped him win a national hardcourt title. (Click Here.)

I have seen this same kind of effect many times in my own coaching, especially with experienced tournament players. Even in one hour, a seasoned player can make an adjustment that changes match outcomes.

Nadal

Now let's see how Kaizen applied in the case of Rafael Nadal. In 2007 and 2008, Nadal made small changes to many parts of his game during his run to number one, which included wins at the French, Wimbledon and the Australian.

He started to mix in more net play. He flattened out his groundstrokes slightly at times. And he improved his service motion.

These changes in his serve started with his rhythm style. When Nadal emerged on the tour, he served with an abbreviated motion. But he has now moved to a motion that is closer to the classical than the abbreviated.

You can see this in the click through video. At the release of his toss, his arm is farther away from his body and lower, and pointing almost directly to the back of the court.

The change in rhythm opened to the door to improvement. As we saw in the second article, the abbreviated rhythm is usually paired with a narrow platform stance.

But changing to a classic rhythm allowed him to develop a pinpoint stance, to increase his weight shift and to reach farther into the court on contact. To make this all possible, Nadal also adjusted his toss, moving it slightly farther into the court.

The result was that Nadal was able to turn his hips more and generate a flatter faster ball. It has been reported that he has exceeded 130 mph in practice, and in match play he has increased his ball speed 10mph or more. Here we have a example of the Kaizen effect in action at the highest level.

Sharapova

Another fascinating example is the cycle of changes Maria Sharapova has made on her serve. Sharapova had one of the best serves in women's tennis. Then last year, she had a shoulder cuff tear, requiring surgery. During her comeback, she initially struggled with her service motion. But more recently she has regained at least some of her former effectiveness. What happened?

Her original service motion was based on a staggered rhythm with the racket arm below hip level when she tossed the ball. She used a pinpoint stance and had great hip rotation into the shot. Like most staggered rhythm player's she also had quite a high toss.

After surgery, presumably in an effort to protect her shoulder, Maria changed to an abbreviated rhythm. But this was a complete mismatch with the other technical elements in her motion. Because of her toss, she was now waiting for the ball to come down. She was still using the pinpoint stance and continued attempting to rotate her hips through the motion.

This pairing of rhythm and technical elements was a complete mismatch. Maria struggled with an unnatural, hybrid delivery and had some disastrous serving performances. In the high speed video clip you can see her racket appearing to slow down and almost stall around the top of the backswing.

To her credit, Maria must have realized that the problems were related to this rhythm change. Thereafter she moved back toward a staggered rhythm, winning a tournament in Tokyo with a dominating service performance. I predict that if she stays with a staggered rhythm, she can move back toward the top of the tour.

The point here about rhythm and technique is critical. Different players have succeeded with all three rhythm variations, but there is a constellation of other technical elements associated with each. While there is room for at least some variation within each rhythm style, there is a limit. To play with certain rhythm a player must be able to synthesize it with other fundamentals that may be natural and difficult or impossible to change.

Your Serve

So how does all this apply to you? What rhythm style best suits your current motion? Should you adjust your rhythm style to other technical components in your swing? Or should you instead adjust those components to your rhythm?

There is no one answer. If there were, you would see much more uniformity in the motions of top players, and players at all levels. It's possible to change the rhythm style and keep certain technical elements, or vice versa. But let's review the parameters for evaluating changes that are likely to be effective and might end up producing Kaizen in your game.

Abbreviated

Is the abbreviated rhythm right for you? Probably the first factor to look at is toss height. Some players are able to adjust their tossing height to fit the various rhythms, but others have real difficulty. If you are naturally comfortable with a high toss like Maria Sharapova, then the abbreviated rhythm is probably not suited for you.

High tossers in general are going to more comfortable with either a classical or a staggered rhythm. And the higher your toss, the more likely you will be most comfortable with the staggered option.

If however you naturally like the low toss, the abbreviated motion is a possibility. In addition to the lower toss, the abbreviated rhythm has fewer moving parts and a shorter backswing, so potentially it can be simpler.

If you have trouble generating spin, the abbreviated rhythm may also help. With the narrow platform stance, the leg drive is simpler and mostly upwards, and that tends to naturally produce spin.

There are potential pitfalls however. The abbreviated motion can lead to hitches and loss of power. Achieving a full racket drop may be more difficult as the abbreviated backswing tends to require more shoulder flexibility. It also requires the player to move the racket more quickly from the side position used in the wind up to the full drop and then up to contact.

We can see how all this works with incredible effect in the serve of Andy Roddick But few other top players have successfully adopted the abbreviated motion and Andy may be more of the exception than the rule, with his rare combination of flexibility and racket acceleration.

Another factor to consider is body rotation. Some players like Pete Sampras or Roger Federer turn quite far away from the ball in the wind up. To do this they start from a wider stance, with an offset between the front and the back feet. Roger does this with a classical rhythm, while Pete's is mildly staggered.

Although abbreviated players such as Roddick turn somewhat away from the net, the narrow platform stance restricts this turn. The low toss is also a constraint here, as serves with more body turn are slower developing.

So if your tendency or desire is to use less rotation, the abbreviated rhythm may work. If you tend to or want turn more and use more body rotation, then you need to consider other rhythm options.

Staggered

What about the staggered rhythm? Our study showed it had certain advantages and tended, at least for the men, to generate the most forward motion with the front foot landing being the furthest into the court. So as a strategy for serve and volley this can make sense.

But there are other factors to consider her as well. Many staggered players tend to use various versions of the pinpoint, where the back foot slides up to, and even around and to the right side of the front foot. So if you have a natural propensity for the pinpoint, you may find the staggered rhythm coupled with the higher toss is an effective combination.

An extreme pinpoint is especially common on the women's side. And here another factor comes into play. This is the position of the toss and the amount and type of spin. In general on the women's side there is a tendency to make contact further to the right. This means a flatter delivery.

The four factors go together. A staggered rhythm, an extreme pinpoint stance, a high toss, and contact more to the player's right. This allows the women to maximize speed on the serve, hitting relatively flat with some sidespin, but little topspin.

This combination may maximize the serve first strike capability. it is probably most valuable for taller less mobile players such as Lindsay Davenport, Sharapova, or Dinara Safina.

But even a supremely athletic player like Venus Williams uses this combination. And Serena Williams' serve is basically a slightly less extreme version : a staggered rhythm, a moderate pinpoint, and a high toss, though her toss is lower than the players mentioned above.

So if you have naturally high toss as well, and want to hit the ball hard and flat, the staggered rhythm and the associated elements could be right for you.

It could also be a solution if you lack power on your serve due to limited shoulder range of motion. The extra time to load the legs with the higher toss, as well the greater linear forces could result in added ball speed.

But it definitely should be noted that the staggered rhythm can be difficult to time especially with windy conditions or nerves. This could be a contributing factor to the widely noted serving problems on the women's tour, with many of top players prone to inconsistent first serves and double faults. My feeling is that the classical and abbreviated lend themselves to higher spin rates and fewer double faults.

Classic Rhythm

Which brings us to the classical rhythm. As noted in the first two articles the classical rhythm is the most flexible of the three variations.

We see pros use the classical variation with either platform or pinpoint stances. We also see classical rhythm combined with different amounts of body turn, different toss heights and placements, and different amounts and types of spin.

You don't need to look further than Roger Federer's motion to see the simplicity and fluidity of a classical rhythm. In Federer's case he combines this with one of the biggest turns in the pro game, and a ball position at contact that is more to the left than many players, resulting in additional topspin.

Another great server with a Classical rhythm, Mark Philippoussis, has a body turn similar to Federer, and a left ball position at contact, but combines this with a pinpoint stance and a higher toss.

Andy Murray, another top player with classical rhythm, also uses a pinpoint stance, but has a lower toss than Philippoussis. But Murray has less body turn, and makes contact more to the right than either Philippoussis or Federer.

Because of this kind of flexibility, I feel the classical rhythm suits the greatest number of players. It most easily allows players the freedom to develop their own style.

This is why your tennis pro probably started you that way in the first place. But that does not mean that you shouldn't experiment with the staggered or even the abbreviated rhythm if that is your inclination and you can incorporate compatible technical elements.

Final Subtleties

Although I have arbitrarily defined three rhythms, it's important to note that the categories aren't set in stone. You can see this in the defining characteristics of the rhythms themselves.

Note the differences in height and angle of the racket arm and the angle of the racket face - all for servers with classical rhythms.

Note how the photo sequence shows the subtle variations in the arm position at the ball release for 4 players all with classical rhythm: Roger Federer, Maria Kirilenko, Andy Murray and Ana Ivanovic.

Compare the differences in the height and angle of the arm and the angle of the racket. Federer's arm is pointing almost straight back with the racquet head facing down. Kirilenko's arm points more to the side and is slightly higher at the release. Murray and Ivanovic are somewhere in between.

These small variations may or may not make a difference for these players, or make a difference for others. Tennis players are only human, and the only way to tell for sure which changes really work for you is through experimentation and practice. But one thing is for sure, the more you understand about your own service motion, and the possible combinations of rhythm and technique, the greater the chance that your experiments will produce a Kaizen experience in your game.