Chris Lewit: The Serve Part 4

[jeffreycounts]

Let's discuss Part 4 of Chris Lewit's Serve series, using the Winnng Pretty formula. A reference for a great serve is our current featured post of Jakub Mensik. Do you see any (all) of the technique Chris teaches?

[stotty]

A great article. The best of the series so far with some great videos covering teaching methods I haven't come across. I have never considered covering the landing in and the elements surrounding it in such a comprehensive way. I found that really useful and interesting.

One question for Chris:

In one of the clips, you encouraged the girl not to spend too long in the loading position. Earlier in the article, though, you mention encouraging a higher ball toss to give players time to work on the second stop. I prefer to teach a higher toss as well, as it allows players to ease into the power position and then engage the leg drive at precisely the right moment. But isn’t the amount of time spent in the loading position at least partly governed by the height of the toss? So wouldn’t a slightly higher toss naturally lead to a longer pause in the loading position?

[clewit]

A great article. The best of the series so far with some great videos covering teaching methods I haven't come across. I have never considered covering the landing in and the elements surrounding it in such a comprehensive way. I found that really useful and interesting.

One question for Chris:

In one of the clips, you encouraged the girl not to spend too long in the loading position. Earlier in the article, though, you mention encouraging a higher ball toss to give players time to work on the second stop. I prefer to teach a higher toss as well, as it allows players to ease into the power position and then engage the leg drive at precisely the right moment. But isn’t the amount of time spent in the loading position at least partly governed by the height of the toss? So wouldn’t a slightly higher toss naturally lead to a longer pause in the loading position?

Thanks very much and I could have clarified that better in the article. When learning how to serve in the early stages, I like a higher toss and I don't mind a long "amortization" phase in the knee bend. But we know from sport science research that spending longer in the knee bend leads to power leakage. To reconcile this paradox, as my players lock in the checkpoints, I gradually encourage them to bring the toss down and spend as little time as possible in the knee bend. Hope that makes sense.

[clewit]

Thanks very much and I could have clarified that better in the article. When learning how to serve in the early stages, I like a higher toss and I don't mind a long "amortization" phase in the knee bend. But we know from sport science research that spending longer in the knee bend leads to power leakage. To reconcile this paradox, as my players lock in the checkpoints, I gradually encourage them to bring the toss down and spend as little time as possible in the knee bend. Hope that makes sense.

[clewit]

A great article. The best of the series so far with some great videos covering teaching methods I haven't come across. I have never considered covering the landing in and the elements surrounding it in such a comprehensive way. I found that really useful and interesting.

One question for Chris:

In one of the clips, you encouraged the girl not to spend too long in the loading position. Earlier in the article, though, you mention encouraging a higher ball toss to give players time to work on the second stop. I prefer to teach a higher toss as well, as it allows players to ease into the power position and then engage the leg drive at precisely the right moment. But isn’t the amount of time spent in the loading position at least partly governed by the height of the toss? So wouldn’t a slightly higher toss naturally lead to a longer pause in the loading position?

And you are right that a higher toss generally correlates to a longer time spent loading.

[stotty]

Thanks, Chris. One more question I forgot to ask:

When you say you get players to 'jump', do you mean a conscious, deliberate jump?

I have always discouraged players from consciously jumping for fear it will lead to a disconnection in the kinetic chain and destroy smoothness. Instead, I tend to emphasize driving up with the legs and extension through contact — the legs coming off the ground becomes a natural byproduct rather than a forced action.

Are we on the same page but getting there with slightly different language? Is there an advantage in getting players to consciously 'jump' over getting there another way by asking them to focus on 'driving' up?

I have occasionally asked players to jump when it isn't happening as a byproduct of driving up, but not often.

The other thing I might ask is whether jumping/driving up is a big a factor as we think? Michael Stich had a great serve and yet hardly came off the ground at all. He could serve in the 120's all afternoon. I sometimes think in our quest for muscle, service motions have gotten worse.

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

Just curious...as always.