Leg kick: Does anyone have a real understanding?

[bman]

From "the upward swing, part 2"

"The lack of a leg kick back indicates insufficient angular momentum to hit a big serve" and "A leg kick to the side indicates too much lateral angular momentum"

So, I have three players. One has a Huge side leg kick, one has a decent size leg kick to the side, and one has almost no leg kick, but what he does have, is to the side. Can someone, in english, tell me the root of these problems and how I can fix them?

[GeoffWilliams]

Video tape, and compare to the pros with good serves.

[johnyandell]

Make them model the kick you want--knee bend to kick back--without the ball--with the hoppity hope at the end. Make them stop and look at the right position. Then let them serve. Stand behind them with a TennTube blocking the wrong kick direction so they kick the tube if they miss the model.

[don_budge]

Definition please...

bman...what exactly do you mean by leg kick? Leg kick back? Side leg kick? I am not certain what action you are referring to but it sounds like an interesting question?

[bman]

At the end of the serve, all great servers reach a position where they land on the left leg (right handers) and the right leg is high in the air..that's the position I am referring to as the leg kick. Brian G mentions it at the end of "the upward swing pt 2" article.

[marc_stingley]

side kick

I had a discussion with a developmental specialist and she mentioned something called "angle of separation." Basically, in younger students, its the ability to rotate your upper torso autonomously from your lower body. Younger students will sometimes rotate their entire body (legs included) because they haven't acquired the strength, flexibility, and/or coordination. A lot of "side kickers" that I've come across finish with their left foot pointing towards the left net post. So they pivot through their serve because they can't coil without bring their legs around with their torso which leads to a side kick.

I'll have students work on their ability to coil first (they serve in an open stance with their toes facing the net, where they focus on serving by rotating from the core). Then (from a standard stance) I have them work on their balance and kick in a pretty similar manner the Mr. Lyondell had described above.

I don't know the age of your students, and I don't even know if I'm on the same page as you, but I found the whole angle of separation thing to be somewhat fascinating. Good luck though. 1st post!!

[johnyandell]

Marc,

Thanks for posting and keep it up! Interesting that this could be a developmental issue, and I wonder if it could also relate to the problems young females often have trying the platform stance, and their natural tendency to drag the back foot up in the motion?

John Yandell

[bman]

That was a great post Marc. I sort of just wrote it off to "opening too soon" with the side kick, but, as on the forehand, what does opening too soon mean exactly and how is it remedied anyway?

These are college aged guys I am working with though, so I do not really think it is developmental.

Video is probably the only way you could get an understanding of the issues of these specific players I am dealing with.