Serve

[marty]

I cannot get the ball toss in the right place for my serve. Today I tried serving without any nee bend to see if it would help. I find that I stop at the trophy position to wait for the toss to come down if the toss is to high or toss to low and don't get full extension.

[johnyandell]

Two things: you probably aren't dropping your arm far enough down toward the inside or even touching your leg. Second, you have to come up slowly and release the ball without or with minimal spin. Most players with erractic tosses come up fast and often with a jerky motion.


Check to see if the ball is spinning when it comes out of your hand. If it is try holding it further back toward your palm.

[marty]

Ok few questions to come.
Is it ok for the racquet to stop at trophy position I noticed feds racquet really slows at trophy position but does not stop.

[evikshin]

I think the pause at trophy position doesn't make a difference, as long as the other mechanics are in place (racket drop, extension to the ball, etc).

I did a bit of an experiment today--I found no loss in power with or without the pause.

But thats just me...may be different for others

[marty]

Is this an illusion or what? the ball looks like its right on top of federers sholder but his feet have not left the ground yet.


Sixth row down the page.
The one of he-man on the same row looks more like the distance. These are good photos of the distance of the ball in the court from a different angle.

http://editorial.gettyimages.com/source/search/FrameSet.aspx?s=EventImagesSearchState%7c0%7c1%7c0%7c28%7c0%7c0%7c0%7c1%7c0%7c0%7c0%7c72178707%7c0%7c0%7c0%7c0%7c0%7c%7c%7c0%7c0%7c0%7c0%7c0&p=&tag=2

Sixth row.
Is he really looking at the ball?

[johnyandell]

It definitley doesn't "stop" and I wouldn't try to do that. Why? I wouldn't say it "really slows" either. Just go look at the video clips--it's misleading to rely on a single still photo for technical information. I think a continuous motion is preferable for many reasons.

His head is up but not turned as much as Pete. Compare to Roddick who is full on looking forward.

[shootermcmarc0]

Two things: you probably aren't dropping your arm far enough down toward the inside or even touching your leg. Second, you have to come up slowly and release the ball without or with minimal spin. Most players with erractic tosses come up fast and often with a jerky motion.

Yeah, I remember reading in the Sampras article, about the arm dropping down toward the inside of your leg. Does this technique help people who have trouble with erratic tosses? Right now, my toss isn't very good, and I'd say my tossing arm follows a similar motion to Blake, where it doesn't drop near the inside the leg. Should I begin modeling my toss after Pete and Roger?

Check to see if the ball is spinning when it comes out of your hand. If it is try holding it further back toward your palm.

John, are there any certain guidelines regarding the placement of the fingers on the toss, specifically where the thumb is? Should the fingers be fanned out? I noticed Federer holds the ball similar to how we hold a computer mouse in our hand. I might be overanalyzing, but I'm just curious.

[johnyandell]

Not sure about the fingers. Just hold the ball naturally and open you hand to release. Experiment until you see no spin. Any tossing motion that works, works. But if it's not, yeah, I'd try the Federer model.

[marty]

I am sure the racquet slows down in the videos of fed.

[shootermcmarc0]

Is this an illusion or what? the ball looks like its right on top of federers sholder but his feet have not left the ground yet.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=-9bzE7-uDag

Thats the clip from his match against Massu at Madrid, theres some shots of him serving from overhead.

[mntlblok]

http://youtube.com/watch?v=-9bzE7-uDag

Thats the clip from his match against Massu at Madrid, theres some shots of him serving from overhead.

Those overhead views of the serves this week have been cool. It really strikes me how much it looks like someone throwing something - like maybe a hatchet.

The footwork reminded me of this month's "Your Strokes" article. I was surprised to see how many of the players actually take a small step *back* from the baseline with their front foot. Hadn't realized that I do the same until watching a video of my serve.

I'm *shocked* at the use of runway models as ball "boys" in some of the matches.

Kevin
Savannah

[shootermcmarc0]

It actually reminds me of a volleyball serve from that angle.

[julian]

Serve question

http://youtube.com/watch?v=-9bzE7-uDag

Thats the clip from his match against Massu at Madrid, theres some shots of him serving from overhead.

The ball goes from the right to the left.
It moves on the arc.
Fed will hit a ball when it is FAR ENOUGH to THE LEFT i.e when it will be CLOSER to his left arm