Spin and Speed in Sampras' and Rusedski's serves

[vmiller]

Hi John,

I really liked your article this month and I'm looking forward to the 'teaching implications' article coming up.

Here's a question you may be able to answer based on your data. Does either player have a notable variation with the topspin/sidespin components?

More specifically, does Sampras typically have a bigger side spin component when serving wide to the duece court than down the T?

And does either player have a bigger topspin component on their second serves compared to the first? Or do their second serves typically have the same component percentages as their first with just more rpm's?

Based on your data, it sounds like there really isn't that much difference in the angle of the axis of rotation between what we call a "slice" serve and a "kick" serve. That leads me to question the reliability of intentionally varying angles of spin versus using one spin and only varying it's amount.

Vin

[johnyandell]

Vin,

There is no data on the second serve. On the first serve there is some variation in the spin clock depending on the court and even on serves in the same court. What's in the article is an average. If you send me a fax number by email, I'll fax you something that has the data and you can look at it for yourself.

John

[vmiller]

Thanks John! I sent you a fax number.

In general, what is your opinion on club players trying to vary between "slice" and "kick" on the serve? Has the spin data from Advanced Tennis influenced your opinion on this at all?

[johnyandell]

I'll have something to say about that in the second article.

[vmiller]

OK, good.

[silky_sampras]

Yes, it's a fascinating article. It's fascinating to see physical explanations that corroborate the effectiveness of Sampras' shots. Mr. Yandell has also shown that his forehand had a lot more topspin than we formerly thought, and this must have also made his forehand much heavier as well. The physicists will probably conclude by saying that Pete played a perfect game of tennis...something that we might already know!!

[gzhpcu]

John,
You mention in your article that Sampras has a higher element of topspin in it that Rusedski's. Could this be due to the fact that his toss is higher than Rusedski's, and he is hitting a ball which is falling faster? Brody maintains that, for example an extra 8 inches height on the toss adds 10 revs/sec.

Brody article on serve

[johnyandell]

That's got to be one factor, under certain circumstances, but more on that in the next article.