Yikes ! (seeing my serve on video)

[evikshin]

Hello,
It's been 6 years since I last saw my serve on video. I haven't really played since then due to being busy with work. However, watching Wimbledon 2012 has inspired me to play again. Decided to video my serve. I was shocked by what I saw! It appears that I have a huge hitch, and my legs do funny things on the upward swing.

It FEELS as if I'm serving perfectly smooth, but as they say, VIDEO DON'T LIE!

I get good power, but my first serve percentage is too low for my liking.

Please help!
Thanks (links below)

Rear view http://youtu.be/i4Z79AiLPbA
Front view http://youtu.be/9Uu-PUiqR0k
Side view http://youtu.be/EvCobSk4RFY

[bman]

Hate to break it to you but I think your serve looks pretty good!

[GeoffWilliams]

sampras motion

sampras serve oh
sampras serve sideways

sampras french open

[GeoffWilliams]

sampras serve

becker oh shot
sampras oh shot
henman shot

[GeoffWilliams]

ryan harrison against Stakhovsky, aussie open

Consistency? Jump higher. Commit more. Bow the left hip out, so your shoulders can go straight/up/down and gain more coil on trophy. Flip frame under your elbow at an angle more.

[evikshin]

Thanks Bman!
Today I really worked on trying to land more balanced, but it is very hard. I've ingrained the motion of landing hunched over like Henin and Roddick. I will post a new video as soon as I straighten out my finish. I will also try to film myself hitting the corners, to see if I'm keeping my toss the same.
E.

[evikshin]

Thanks for the photos Geoff! Those are damn lovely.

I especially like the bird's eye view of Sampras. Really shows his how flexible and limber he is, with his radical body rotation. Speaking of Sampras, I spent 1.5 hours practicing my serve with the ball toss going more left and in front. Initially I had trouble getting pace. But then I started getting used to it, and found myself hitting a hard, topspin drive type of serve. Consistency was great. I will try and film it this week.
E.

[GeoffWilliams]

He tosses more to the left, about 11-12. Jams his shoulders into a parking meter slot. ARches his back until the last moment. Bows the left hip out. Delays/drags the racquet drop off trophy. Never makes a toss error. As goes your toss, so goes your serve. Ask Ivanovic. Shot spot analysis showed her toss in a 4' range. Delay causes whip. Just look at Henman, full bow, and his frame has not dropped at all.

[don_budge]

Ingredients...and chi.

It looks to me evikshin...that you have all of the ingredients of a fine service motion. The service motion, like a good golf swing, has a large component of rhythm which is what you are lacking. Particularly in the backswing department. The backswing is a swing that is one continuous and flowing motion that blends into the forward swing as seamlessly as possible. The acid test of a service motion is how does it hold up under pressure. How does yours hold up? You may have some issues...under pressure and otherwise.

When looking at your motion I see a couple of points where you seem to lose the element of seamless and if I was an acupuncturist...this is where I might insert my needles to increase your flow...of chi. It is all about energy. Think tai chi...know what I mean? If not...I can explain.

[bman]

I wouldn't use Sampras as a model. Too much coil...normal humans with normal shoulders can't get over the top of the ball from that position. Henman is good as is, of course, fed.

[GeoffWilliams]

The 11 oclock toss postion allowed him to go to the back hand. He tossed a little to the right to go out wide, but not so much that it was readable. Excellent command of the toss. I never saw him catch one since 89.

[evikshin]

It looks to me evikshin...that you have all of the ingredients of a fine service motion. The service motion, like a good golf swing, has a large component of rhythm which is what you are lacking. Particularly in the backswing department. The backswing is a swing that is one continuous and flowing motion that blends into the forward swing as seamlessly as possible. The acid test of a service motion is how does it hold up under pressure. How does yours hold up? You may have some issues...under pressure and otherwise.

When looking at your motion I see a couple of points where you seem to lose the element of seamless and if I was an acupuncturist...this is where I might insert my needles to increase your flow...of chi. It is all about energy. Think tai chi...know what I mean? If not...I can explain.

Hi Don, I'm not too sure what you mean with the Tai Chi reference. Can you explain please? Also, I'm assuming that you are referring to the massive pause that I have at trophy position, right? It does feel like I wait an eternity before exploding up at the ball. Ever since I was young, I've always had a pause, never successful at making the backswing through transition through impact a continuos motion.

Thanks!
E.

[GeoffWilliams]

All the top servers lag the drop. Delay adds power as the frame has to catch up to the shoulders. Fed does, Becker, Sampras, Raonic, etc. When Sampras begins his drive up, the frame has not even reached vertical yet. I say, accentuate that pause, and lag it even more, as that is a natural way for you.

[don_budge]

Chi...the track of your energy

A couple of Observations first...

Rhythm...different players have different interpretations about the cadence of the service motion. In your case it appears that your weight has immediately been shifted back to the back foot instead of a gradual shift that is dictated by the turning of the shoulders. Are you imitating Sampras perchance.

Once you go into your motion it appears that initially you take a very slow and deliberate backswing but you do not complete the backswing motion. Instead of swinging the racquet back and then up into position you appear to rather abruptly lift the racquet into position to go forwards when your hand is at its lowest point in the backswing. You have abbreviated your backswing with this lifting motion and interrupted the flow of energy. Your motion lacks fluidity.

When looking at the method in which you are tossing or lifting the ball into position to hit it looks to me as if you come to a rather pronounced pause at the bottom of your motion and then it appears that you have tossed the ball out of the view of the camera...so it is not possible to see how high you have actually thrown it. But if your ball is coming down more than a decimeter from the highest point to the point where you will actually hit it you have thrown it too high. Remember that on windy days or days when the sun is unusually bright it is much more advantageous to have a lower toss. I feel that a lower toss encourages better timing also...aka rhythm.

Ok...so what am i talking about when i mentioned the word chi (or Qi). Take a look at the first photo that geoffwilliams has been kind enough to present to us. Here we have a yellow line that somehow is tracking the path of the Pete Sampras service motion. Let’s take a look at this line and make the analogy of a roller coaster car traveling on a track. This line represents a continuous and uninterrupted flow of your tennis racquet or your "service chi". The easiest way to think of the rhythmic nature of a service motion is to allow gravity to work its magic as much as possible. By using gravity to dictate the speed of the racquet head and the rhythmic nature of the swing we can maximize all of the potential energy in the stroke. Try to keep in mind that the motion is a swing and the ball gets in the way of your swing...your motion looks to be more of a "hitting" motion. You will find that there is more consistency in a swinging motion than a hitting motion because of the superior rhythm.

With all of the stops and starts that are presently inherent in your motion you are impeding the flow of your energy (your chi) that should flow into your motion climaxing into the impact with the ball. First of all...to initialize your motion i would start with a couple of rhythmic bobs of the racquet head before you allow the racquet head to begin its descent into your backswing. Starting a motion from a static position is often a difficult proposition especially in the presence of pressure and that is why you see golfers performing a waggle or a forward press before they go into their swings...it helps to get the ball rolling so to speak. It helps to get the racquet and the arm swinging.

The Fix...

So keeping in mind that yellow line that illustrates the track of the Sampras service motion...please read this from a thread called “Racquet snaps the wrist on serve” from June of 2011 here on the forum. Go ahead and read the whole thread as tennis_chiro chirps in with his “figure eights” drill which you would do well to train on. The fascinating aspect of chi, as in Tai Ch,i is the nature of movement...one movement flows into the next. I guess if you really think about it...tennis is somewhat akin to being a martial art in itself. You have the tennis racquets as swords...you have the tennis balls as your opponents testicles. This is serious stuff!

"Here we go...hold on to your hat! One thing that we must clarify before we go into any kind of explanation about the motion is the pressure of your grip. Sam Snead referred to the grip on his golf club as holding it with only so much pressure as you would hold a live bird. We only hold on with our hand tight enough to not let go of the racquet. We maintain only enough pressure in the entire arm, forearm and wrist to swing the arm and racquet back into position in one piece without disturbing the exact position that it is in at the setup position. We must eliminate all sources of tension and resistance when we are attempting to use pure gravity to dictate our motion. From this relaxed and confident position at setup we need only to release the racquet with our left hand that is supporting it, and allow the weight of the racquet head to merely fall upon the line of the track all the way back to the fence until it reaches a position at the top of the hill. From the starting position, the roller coaster car begins its decent down the first hill until it reaches the bottom where it will begin its assent slowly up the second hill all the way to the top. Remember the track is along the line that we created with our feet towards our target and it extends all the way back. Keep the racquet on this track. By allowing gravity to dictate the direction and speed of our backswing we will create the position back in our swing where the laws of gravity make the most sense and the least number of things can go wrong. In fact nothing can go wrong...just like the roller coaster. By dropping the racquet head and allowing the weight of it to travel smoothly in front of you and only using the energy of your weight transferring to the back foot by slowly turning your shoulders and allowing your arm to freely swing back into position, we create a position where the racquet will naturally drop behind us at free fall speed into what you are referring to the “pro drop” position.

Now this is where things get a bit interesting...and exciting. Thinking about this point of the motion where the racquet makes a loop starting at free fall speed, behind our backs and how it relates to a roller coaster, we can imagine where the cars of the ride go into a loop and the riders are actually upside down on the track with only gravity to keep them glued to the track. This is where the riders of the roller coaster are screaming at the top of their lungs and their faces are contorted with the g-force that is plastering the tissue of their faces to their skulls. It’s in the loop, baby! This is where the drive of the legs, the turning back of the shoulders and the thrusting or throwing motion of the racquet combine to exponentially create an incredible amount of speed with very little effort. You can imagine that the line a piece of pencil would draw if it was attached to the tip of the racquet...this is your track for the roller coaster of your serve."

Any questions?

[evikshin]

A couple of Observations first...

Rhythm...different players have different interpretations about the cadence of the service motion. In your case it appears that your weight has immediately been shifted back to the back foot instead of a gradual shift that is dictated by the turning of the shoulders. Are you imitating Sampras perchance.

Once you go into your motion it appears that initially you take a very slow and deliberate backswing but you do not complete the backswing motion. Instead of swinging the racquet back and then up into position you appear to rather abruptly lift the racquet into position to go forwards when your hand is at its lowest point in the backswing. You have abbreviated your backswing with this lifting motion and interrupted the flow of energy. Your motion lacks fluidity.

When looking at the method in which you are tossing or lifting the ball into position to hit it looks to me as if you come to a rather pronounced pause at the bottom of your motion and then it appears that you have tossed the ball out of the view of the camera...so it is not possible to see how high you have actually thrown it. But if your ball is coming down more than a decimeter from the highest point to the point where you will actually hit it you have thrown it too high. Remember that on windy days or days when the sun is unusually bright it is much more advantageous to have a lower toss. I feel that a lower toss encourages better timing also...aka rhythm.

Ok...so what am i talking about when i mentioned the word chi (or Qi). Take a look at the first photo that geoffwilliams has been kind enough to present to us. Here we have a yellow line that somehow is tracking the path of the Pete Sampras service motion. Let’s take a look at this line and make the analogy of a roller coaster car traveling on a track. This line represents a continuous and uninterrupted flow of your tennis racquet or your "service chi". The easiest way to think of the rhythmic nature of a service motion is to allow gravity to work its magic as much as possible. By using gravity to dictate the speed of the racquet head and the rhythmic nature of the swing we can maximize all of the potential energy in the stroke. Try to keep in mind that the motion is a swing and the ball gets in the way of your swing...your motion looks to be more of a "hitting" motion. You will find that there is more consistency in a swinging motion than a hitting motion because of the superior rhythm.

With all of the stops and starts that are presently inherent in your motion you are impeding the flow of your energy (your chi) that should flow into your motion climaxing into the impact with the ball. First of all...to initialize your motion i would start with a couple of rhythmic bobs of the racquet head before you allow the racquet head to begin its descent into your backswing. Starting a motion from a static position is often a difficult proposition especially in the presence of pressure and that is why you see golfers performing a waggle or a forward press before they go into their swings...it helps to get the ball rolling so to speak. It helps to get the racquet and the arm swinging.

The Fix...

So keeping in mind that yellow line that illustrates the track of the Sampras service motion...please read this from a thread called “Racquet snaps the wrist on serve” from June of 2011 here on the forum. Go ahead and read the whole thread as tennis_chiro chirps in with his “figure eights” drill which you would do well to train on. The fascinating aspect of chi, as in Tai Ch,i is the nature of movement...one movement flows into the next. I guess if you really think about it...tennis is somewhat akin to being a martial art in itself. You have the tennis racquets as swords...you have the tennis balls as your opponents testicles. This is serious stuff!

"Here we go...hold on to your hat! One thing that we must clarify before we go into any kind of explanation about the motion is the pressure of your grip. Sam Snead referred to the grip on his golf club as holding it with only so much pressure as you would hold a live bird. We only hold on with our hand tight enough to not let go of the racquet. We maintain only enough pressure in the entire arm, forearm and wrist to swing the arm and racquet back into position in one piece without disturbing the exact position that it is in at the setup position. We must eliminate all sources of tension and resistance when we are attempting to use pure gravity to dictate our motion. From this relaxed and confident position at setup we need only to release the racquet with our left hand that is supporting it, and allow the weight of the racquet head to merely fall upon the line of the track all the way back to the fence until it reaches a position at the top of the hill. From the starting position, the roller coaster car begins its decent down the first hill until it reaches the bottom where it will begin its assent slowly up the second hill all the way to the top. Remember the track is along the line that we created with our feet towards our target and it extends all the way back. Keep the racquet on this track. By allowing gravity to dictate the direction and speed of our backswing we will create the position back in our swing where the laws of gravity make the most sense and the least number of things can go wrong. In fact nothing can go wrong...just like the roller coaster. By dropping the racquet head and allowing the weight of it to travel smoothly in front of you and only using the energy of your weight transferring to the back foot by slowly turning your shoulders and allowing your arm to freely swing back into position, we create a position where the racquet will naturally drop behind us at free fall speed into what you are referring to the “pro drop” position.

Now this is where things get a bit interesting...and exciting. Thinking about this point of the motion where the racquet makes a loop starting at free fall speed, behind our backs and how it relates to a roller coaster, we can imagine where the cars of the ride go into a loop and the riders are actually upside down on the track with only gravity to keep them glued to the track. This is where the riders of the roller coaster are screaming at the top of their lungs and their faces are contorted with the g-force that is plastering the tissue of their faces to their skulls. It’s in the loop, baby! This is where the drive of the legs, the turning back of the shoulders and the thrusting or throwing motion of the racquet combine to exponentially create an incredible amount of speed with very little effort. You can imagine that the line a piece of pencil would draw if it was attached to the tip of the racquet...this is your track for the roller coaster of your serve."

Any questions?

Hello Don, sorry I've been out of town, and I wanted to have time to seriously consider your post before writing anything.

Now that I'm home:
You say that if the toss drops more than a "decimeter," than the toss is too high. A decimeter is 4 inches. Are you advocating hitting the ball at the top of the toss? I ask because I see that a lot of pros let the ball drop quite a bit before striking it, and Mr. Yandell seems to advocate letting the toss drop.

Your insights into my rhythm are very helpful. I will practice it. I definitely see what you mean about fixing the tossing arm rhythm, and the initial abrupt lifting of the arm in the backswing. I really do not like the abbreviated look. I will work to expand my backswing. Also, I like your suggestion about not starting the backswing from a static position, and I love the golf analogy regarding the "waggle." I will try this.

However, I'm not quite sure if I can eliminate the "hesitation" in my swing prior to swinging up. Today, I tried to swing with a continuous motion, and interestingly enough, it felt and looked smooth on camera, but I lost a lot of power. When I went back to the hesitation, my power came back. Is this hesitation necessarily a bad thing? In one of Brian Gordon's articles he seemed to say that the "hesitation transition" had no real effect on the overall quality of the serve, as long as the other key components of the serve are present.

E.