A New Year's Serve

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New Cue for the McEnrueful

Why not? Haven't I hit this special forehand-- though sparingly-- for a long time by now?

The original cue, which worked quite well, was down and up with both arms. Followed by forward hips rotation to lower rear shoulder in aeronautical banking. A very "connected" shot in other words, with arm not doing anything separate but moved entirely by the torso. Shoulders, i.e., the transverse stomach muscles, then cream the ball by coming both around and up at the same time. The ball, with a little topspin but not much, I guess, goes low like a laser darting deep into the opposite court.

New cue which can turn good shots into absolute killers: Down and up with both arms (as you turn bod back just as before). Now just crank hips with all the abandon you want. Wrist stays straight as before. There is no laying back of it. The grip is composite or "Australian" to use Ellsworth Vines' vocabulary, i.e., between a continental and eastern. I've got my thumb on a pointy ridge for reference but turn hand farther around the barrel for a normal topspin forehand and have thumb more wrapped by now. The training wheel of thumb tip to a pointy ridge in that case is gone.

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No. Things Change Every Day. Nothing Wrong with That

The hand turns over and rises to ear as hips turn back.

Toss no longer happens as upper body turns back but is withheld through that.

So what is going on with your two arms during this phase of the serve? Nothing.

Toss happens during forward hips drive, which also sets the shoulders bat, i.e., lifts the elbow to the shoulders line.

Using this pattern in actual play with only one service session first to try and make things gel, I often couldn't stop myself from tossing too soon but this didn't hurt me overly much. Tossing late into a sound serving mechanism is a fun idea and is just a matter of persistence, I believe, with positive result to be accelerated by thinking and miming while off the court in bed and shower, taking a walk etc.

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What If...

What if you separate wind-up and toss in that order, i.e., in reverse order from a conventional serve?

Now the hand turns over and rises to ear as tossing shoulder winds up.

Now you toss as rear leg drives to invert elbow.

And it is gut to continue racket rise on shoulders bat before the arm extension combined with ISR with body jackknife caused by forearm kick in the gut just before contact.

If this doesn't work I revert to previous post-- difficult but can be done.

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From Arm Thought to Body Thought

Now that one has a better idea of what he wants the arm to do, he needs a rear leg thrust that will A) send rear hip slightly over front hip while B) most effectively helping back hip to accelerate around.

That is how rear leg thrust ought to work in a good serve? Send rear hip up and around at the same time?

I speak here about an old fashion grounded serve, not a Michael Jordon serve where you start by elevating feet off of the court through the use of both springs.

With slight leftward lean achieved during shoulders wind, the upper body (think transverse stomach muscles) will now pick up and increase the acceleration.

Then comes the kick in the stomach (though from your forearm, your own opposite forearm). The continued and ever faster shoulders rotation combines with jackknifing diver's push over the ball. With left leg driving straight at the same time.

To reiterate with something new: The front heel goes up with hips backward turn. The rear heel goes up with shoulders backward turn.

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Orphans at Indian Wells and Key Biscayne

Did you know, reader, that all the pro players wearing the Nike uniform are orphans?

Me neither. And it isn't true.

But they LOOK like orphans. Imagine them as all coming out of the Nike orphanage dorm at dawn and repairing to adjacent tennis courts wearing their identical uniform.

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Reverse See See

I almost have forgotten my see sees. Shy fish that they are, they have swum down into the dark depths of consciousness. For weeks or months I haven't hit a single one despite playing doubles twice every week.

And then yesterday one emerged from the murk as I, right-hander, was playing deuce court. My service return landed short in the diagonal alley due to lots of topspin. See! See! "Best shot of the day" said Mike Finan, a generous if former repo man.

Did I attempt another? Not yesterday. I just took my riches home where I began to think of other things that included reverse see sees.

To be sure, as of today, I've only hit the reverse version from self-feed. But these shots can go high so as to clear the net if they display sufficient sharpness of angle.

I'm hitting a see see right now with bent arm and less raise of the elbow to buy time to wank the forearm smoothly and forcelessly way out front. Then roll the arm and racket. That simple.

Reverse see see: Straight arm. And hit the ball almost behind one (one will have to wait for the ball to get there). A true patting of the dog as high elbow descends, arm straightens, mondo and dog pat and push are one and the same, the straight arm is close behind one, and there is no wish whatsoever to rotate body into the shot.

See this reverse see see as twisting arm blended with just a bit of bowl (as in the sport of bowling) to open the racket face.

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Reversible Cues

One can in present service design start the knees and hips as in a conventional golf stroke.

At the same time though from a separate fulcrum one can take the racket tip around while keeping elbow on line with rear edge of bod.

We already experimented with clinging the elbow to bod edge but now push it out a bit.

The farm gate turn of forearm now will open the racket a bit.

But starting with the elbow out like this may obscure the farm gate feel.

A new idea begets another. How far out or rather up is the elbow from address position onward?

If the elbow though out is still a bit low it can naturally rise an inch or two as part of right arm squeeze.

I put this squeeze in tandem with the rising-shoulder-and-separately-rising-elbow toss.

The strings are to left of one's bod and therefore can go all the way to ear.

This will lift elbow a bit at end of squeeze.

Then the elbow will invert, which inversion finally lifts it to shoulders line.

Then the elbow will continue upward still on the shoulders line as a result of the rotation of upper bod.

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Elbows Slightly out at Address

If one has tossed for decades with a straight arm, ice cream cone, and then started tossing one day with a right-angled arm, ice cream cone, and that worked too, it should be nothing to toss, ice cream cone, with arm set at 135 degrees.

I want to start serve now with elbows held slightly out. The biggest change will be to the hitting arm which also will be set at 135 degrees. If one still does the farm gate thing, the strings are going to open as they go around.

Fine! Let them. Just start with them square. Pitch gets to where you want but later. And racket tip travels farther with the same effort. How could that be bad?

Well, the reason for this big change is to make time for elbow to lead for longer so that energy from arm extension combined with ISR will not expend itself too soon.

The elbow turns up but with a motion smaller than I was using. This makes time for elbow to continue upward thanks to rotation of the shoulders which are set on a slight leftward lean. The axis of the shoulders rotation, in other words, is on a tilt.

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Tighten, Loosen-- Seems like a Good Pattern for Day to Day Service Development

The "tight" part was starting serves with front heel raised. The "loosen" part, carried out on another day, is restoration of heel rising as the result of hips rotation just as one can do when hitting a forehand only in reverse since we're talking here about backward coil.

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Amalgamation

hand hand serve
hand toss serve
hand hand serve

This mantra, now arrived at, predicts a new change emanating from the principle that simultaneity is usually better than sequence.

First "hand" is farm gate rotation (forearm going around parallel to the court) and hips turning around with weight on flat back foot at the same time. Raised front heel from address helps one keep weight back during this phase. The racket goes around from two different fulcra, in other words, with sequence between them no longer taking place.

Second "hand" or toss is conditioned by tossing shoulder winding up as toss hand goes up too as shoulders wind around while weight glides onto front foot with rear leg coiling like a spring.

Enough to think about for now.

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Simplification (but only if one Likes it)

Address the serve with front heel up. One more extraneous action removed!

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Two Elements Down the Line; Three for Crosscourt

Just want to try this tactic for a match or two then forget it.

Am talking about one-hand backhands that are gradual straighteners.

The elements being discussed in order of their importance are 1) scapular retraction, 2) straightening of the arm, 3) level swinging of the elbow from one's shoulder socket.

1) and 2) for down the line. 1), 2) and 3) for crosscourt. A blend in all cases. Along with worship of simultaneity. And followthroughs left to tend to themselves.

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Note

If using the fuller loop offered in # 3519, one could start it coincident with toss and make it as fast as the racket work behind Alexandr Dolgopolov.

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Moving Slowly Toward Seamlessness

Dividing the service action into five sections is something that a left brain dominant lawyer would do.

I've done it so maybe I qualify as a lawyer although Judge Gorsuch would disagree.

To mitigate the damage, I look now for a better mantra: Hand Hand Serve.

That sounds more right brain but the lawyer in me will quickly re-assert itself. What are all the actions in the first "Hand?" In the second "Hand?" In the term "Serve?" Does "Serve" imply ESR, ISR and scarecrow finish as well? Etc., etc.

We can delve deep beneath the three words but ought to do so only at a place where we still have a question.

First "Hand" takes the racket around. The front heel goes up but the hips rotate farther than that.

Second "Hand" is the toss section in which one shoulder winds up while the other winds down.

It seems a shame not to use the lowered hitting shoulder for longer runway up to the ball.

But getting the hitting hand low just then may build too big an upward downward and upward loop to the ball. Maybe the hitting hand folded upward from the elbow during the toss. That is what I have been doing. Such a "squeeze" creates a down and up loop rather than an up down and up loop.

Of how much loop are we you he she I it and other rotorded servers capable? Out on the court to determine that.

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At Last Some Compensation for One's Rotordedness

The bod does not care whether one's elbow is lifted to shoulder level or is pressed into one's side. If the player is rotorded, i.e, cannot twist his humerus very far, the physical limit will assert itself at the same place in either position.

Right-angled arm with elbow pressed into side therefore will send you a signal as to when you should twist your hips thus raising your front heel.

This logic will quickly translate into a sensuous cue, i.e., you will get the result of the logic but won't have to think at all.

The cue: Hand and forearm, like a farm gate, go round until they don't want to or can't go round any more. At that point elbow makes the hips turn thus lifting front heel.

Refined further, the hand lifts the front heel. You get to this happy simplicity through training yourself but once there can make a single move with the hand from then on.

This is just a new count one in a five-count serve that I have been working on for a long time.

To combine two previous counts into one as I just have done indicates that I should make a different mental break in my motion if I wish to retain five-count design.

I choose to put the break between contact and one's scarecrow finish.

With all of this part of an evolution in which there will be no counts or breaks at all.

Thus:

handtosskickthrowcrow
handtosskickthrowcrow
handtosskickthrowcrow

The first serve here was hard slice, the second soft slice, the third with early ISR.

Andy Roddick and Pete Sampras will not be able to use this system. Their humeral range isn't short enough.