A good model for the serve?

[lobndropshot]

Please give your grade?



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9aqKZ...9&feature=plcp

[stotty]

Interesting, the part about turning the left knee in. I went into the stroke archive and noticed Federer does that too.

Are things like that taught or do they mostly happen naturally as a consequence of doing other fundamentals correctly? I often find when you highlight subtle things like that to the student, they tend to carry them out in an exaggerated manner...especially if the student is a young child.

I liked your clip...thought you condensed some good key points in that 1 min 46 seconds.

A thumbs up from me

[DougEng]

Model

Grade?
Hard to say...

The kid is fairly athletic so for potential and ability, maybe an A-

As for teaching and what is he probably being encouraged to do, average...
maybe B-

Some not-so-good things:
1) he's being encouraged to sway, not shift weight (many juniors sway due to weak core, high center of gravity, growth spurts). Note the toss is well behind the body....he's better off tossing along the the baseline (keep the arm position).
2) being taught to use a kick-like motion...if he's 12-13, that's ok...but I'd guess he's 11 and medical experts would cringe. If I'm wrong about age, then its fine (also what type of fitness program is important here). I'd personally like to see a flatter motion (if he can do that already) with more use of the body rotation throughout the swing (in the video, his rotation is exaggerated before contact and minimal on and after contact). Easier on a young body.
3) left hand blocks out power...note the hand position way to right side of body
4) "cues" are catchy and fun for coach and video but not always correct. The one definitely to ignore is serving is identical to pitching. Obviously not true.

Good things:
1) smooth backswing
2) relaxed/flexed wrist
3) ok power position and launch position (could improve)
which are more important anyhow.

Best,
Doug

[lobndropshot]

This is not my video I came across it while surfing the web. I do like that phrase relaxation= MPH.

Doug, I like your point about a fitness program and swaying v.s. shifting.

Is the palm down style or a fundamental? Dose it depend of the type of serve or the sex of the player? or is it a factor of grip?

Thanks

PC

[lobndropshot]

"I'd personally like to see a flatter motion (if he can do that already) with more use of the body rotation throughout the swing (in the video, his rotation is exaggerated before contact and minimal on and after contact). Easier on a young body."

do you mean more rotation after contact would be easier on a young body?

[DougEng]

Fuller Follow-through

"I'd personally like to see a flatter motion (if he can do that already) with more use of the body rotation throughout the swing (in the video, his rotation is exaggerated before contact and minimal on and after contact). Easier on a young body."

do you mean more rotation after contact would be easier on a young body?

Yes...tremendous strain on the joints in the decelerative phase (follow-through). He needs more space and time to decelerate or rotate completely. Most injuries due to high stress on joints occur in decelerative phases [M. Kovacs]. Most coaches would agree.

[DougEng]

"I'd personally like to see a flatter motion (if he can do that already) with more use of the body rotation throughout the swing (in the video, his rotation is exaggerated before contact and minimal on and after contact). Easier on a young body."

do you mean more rotation after contact would be easier on a young body?

I would worry less about kick, spin and velocity at this point too. Mostly good form and some hand speed.

[DougEng]

This is not my video I came across it while surfing the web. I do like that phrase relaxation= MPH.

Doug, I like your point about a fitness program and swaying v.s. shifting.

Is the palm down style or a fundamental? Dose it depend of the type of serve or the sex of the player? or is it a factor of grip?

Thanks

PC

Although some coaches would disagree, I would say palm down is style. Not fundamental. Palm vertical is the power (trophy) position is another style. Either way, the palm shouldn't open up immediately in the backswing, of course.

Palm open is a factor of forehand grips, excessively/early hand motion and/or wrist extension

[lobndropshot]

Thank you! Super helpful!

[don_budge]

Not the model for me...

I didn't think much of this service model and give it an F for failing grade. I am glad that it wasn't yours lobndropshot. There wasn't much redeeming value in it at all. Very forgettable in my book.

But if you continue to view the clip...the next segment is about variation steps perhaps of some interest to rosooki and his movement quest...but the most interesting segment is the third one which is about the slice backhand. I did like the observation of the coach when he describes the racquet going from "ear to ear". This is something that I can use.

Thanks for the clip.