My take on the Sampras serve. The things no one else talks about.

[GeoffWilliams]

True. I continue to dream of a Sampras like delivery, born on nothing but hope and hard work. His coach, Fischer, used to wait until he tossed, to tell him where to serve, and that inculcated his ridiculously effective disguise, the only key to which was his toss was about 6"-12" to the right, at 12 rather than 11 oclock, to serve to the fh. When I turn all the way like he does, and raise the left hip up over right, and delay like he does, and speed the frame with frame hand, and use the forearm as a longer lever, and snap it off, I can hit over 100mph on lines. And that's without any leg drive. But it's rare for me to combine it all. Yesterday I hit one about 120, extremely fast for me, but I did it all right. Just can't duplicate yet. My coil was never samprisian. My snap was weak. It's just a dream, to become unbreakable. But I can see how it's still possible, given that I can hit one, why not 100 in a day?

Fischer later convicted of molesting children, but I don't think he touched Pete. If so, Pete kept quiet about it. Men should not listen to their testosterone when the message is evil.

[GeoffWilliams]

The chong stance also allowed Sampras to twist more on leg drive. That dipsy doodle knee bend, almost a U turn, a loop, that creates more power, which he derived off the ground on leg drive, and times that twist, with the shoulder rotation.

[forehand]

These days...

...not even Sampras serves like Sampras.

A few years ago when Sampras was preparing for the exo´s w/ Fed there were a few videos posted (on tennisplayer, I believe) of S hitting serves. He is about my age, I think he was 36 at the time.

Watching those clips I was reminded that we all age, his toss was much more above his head, less into the court, than in his blazin´days. More apprehensive, less confident. Heck, I´ll go as far as saying that he was not tossing far enough into the court.

Point? I don´t know, but I guess we all age, and I am finding that I can´t rely on youthful gumbyness the way I could a few years ago.

For the record: In Sampras´day, I have no doubt that we were watching the greatest server to ever play the game.

[GeoffWilliams]

It looks so simple. Just try doing it yourself! How much did his 389g frames have to do with his serve? A lot. Today, even 365g is considered heavy. When I put that much lead on, it feels like a log, even though I am enured to 365g, 389g feels like it's not going to ever work or fly. Balls go long on me. Frame feels sluggish all over, on returns and net.

[klacr]

It looks so simple. Just try doing it yourself! How much did his 389g frames have to do with his serve? A lot. Today, even 365g is considered heavy. When I put that much lead on, it feels like a log, even though I am enured to 365g, 389g feels like it's not going to ever work or fly. Balls go long on me. Frame feels sluggish all over, on returns and net.

My frame is 375g and feels great...to me.

Most people that pick it up wield it around like heavily worn, massacre tested battle ax from the film 300, needing superhuman powers to heave it up and the laws of gravity to bring it crashing down. For most, two hands to drag it across the floor seems the popular method of transport.

For me, it's my magic wand. I'm used to it and so the weight is not at all difficult or sluggish. Just solid. A feeling or permanance and strength. Excalibur from the baseline, defending the contact point and refusing to be pushed back, but a surgeon's scalpel up at net. Dissecting and carving up crisp angled volleys and half volleys deep into the corners.

My racquet, my hammer, my weapon, my extension of the hand and arm. It becomes me and I become it. Forged by intergalactic superpowers and coated in microscopic flakes of celestial tennis dust that originated from light years across space and time from a land of Serve and volley and great physical beauty located in a galaxy of abstract ideas...

Sorry. Slow day at the office right now.


Kyle LaCroix USPTA
Boca Raton

[tennis_chiro]

How about 425?

1968. Just 19 years old. Wilson had come out with the T2000. My sophomore year in college playing #2 for Claremont-Mudd. My T2000 had a 5" grip and weighed in at over 15 oz. That's over 425 grams. And, Geoff, strung with VS Gut. I don't remember, but I think it was about $20 a set. There were no separate college divisions at Ojai, just everybody outside of the Pac 10. I played 4 3-set matches in a row. I lost the fourth one to Tom Gorman. Only set he lost. I figured he must have gone to a helluva party the night before. I played some long sets with those T2000's. No tie-breakers in those days. But I didn't stay with the 15 oz racket. I cut back to 4 3/4 grip and maybe a little over 14 oz. But it was probably more with the bumper guards we used to use. Oh, to have that arm back! And back...and shoulder...and hips...and knees...

Update: my most recent racket was a sub 10oz Head Fire with a 4 5/8 grip, strung with Luxilon, mid 50's, with two Shockbuster II's. The last time I competed with it was probably 2005.

don

[GeoffWilliams]

A t-2000 with vs gut at 425g=full power. Sweet spot the size of a dime, but when you hit it, a winner. There was a reason he cleared the net by an average of 6".

[tennis_chiro]

Who are you referring to? Jimmy Connors?

A t-2000 with vs gut at 425g=full power. Sweet spot the size of a dime, but when you hit it, a winner. There was a reason he cleared the net by an average of 6".

JC was able to play that well with that racket because his footwork was so good that he could hit the dime sized sweet spot all the time. Most people don't understand how good his footwork was. But his racket was not 15 oz. Maybe 13.5 or 14. And no 5" grip! I don't really know how I did that. But I didn't have much besides a serve and a punch volley. I probably volleyed returns although I had a decent backhand. I think I mentioned this somewhere else recently, but perhaps the reason I was able to get away with using such a heavy racket was I had practiced the previous summer with 2 lb weights on each ankle and 1 lb weights on each wrist. I made a massive improvement from the end of my freshman season at Claremont-Mudd to my sophmore season when I started to beat players who were All-Americans. That strategy was prompted by old school logic: Ty Cobb wore weights in his shoes in spring training and Tilden and Budge had used very heavy rackets. But realize regular rackets had to be well over 14 oz in those days or they just disintegrated and most of us had to keep our rackets for months, at least.

don

[GeoffWilliams]

VEry interesting. Heard that about Cobb. The flex bar helps with elbow injuries, due to its resistance. I've been twisting it into a U turn, as fast as I can, until my arms/hands give out, and can get to 160 fast twists before I burn up.

[GeoffWilliams]

Another thing no one talks about sampras serve, is, he faces the back fence with his chest, in the first part of the double V, in trophy, and as he rotates the V towards the net, he ducks his front shoulder down, so that, in the process, he goes from facing backwards in the V, to, facing the net in the rotated V, but, his head is twisted during the toss. And the V is just rotated from facing rear, to front shoulder down, facing net, but perpendicular to net.

The speed of shot derives from the speed of the twisted rotation of the shoulders. Accuracy derives from the locked double V and the locked forearm. The speed of the twist, the raised left hip at the last second, creates the pace.

So he literally "faces" backwards with his whole body, except his head, which is way twisted to the left to see the toss. sampras serve oh It's a bizarre thing to do. Then the ensuing shoulder exchange is so fast and smooth it's also bizarre, when you try it. Unfortunately, watching someone do it, does not enable you to do it.

[don_budge]

Here's a young Pete Sampras...vs. John McEnroe

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NEJ7yeABnrU

He's young, loose...and fearless. Up against McEnroe and a New York crowd in the 1990 semi-finals of the US Open.

[stotty]

Pete!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nECFscrEXfI

He's young, loose...and fearless. Up against McEnroe and a New York crowd in the 1990 semi-finals of the US Open.

Hmm...funny looking Pete Sampras if you ask me...sure you pasted the right clip?
...looks like more a Swedish player I once new...Bjorn someone....can't remember his last name.