Tour Strokes: Andrei Rublev Serve

[johnyandell]

Well, even in Brian's model the rotation starts before contact. I think it's less a question of trying to understand the why and more of how. Since my own work is empirical but not quantitative I just base things on model positions...Not sure that answers your question... You might try emailing Brian and see what he says. Thanks for all the great words!!

[stotty]

Good article. I like the choice of solutions John lays down for Rublev.

You come across all sorts of stuff like this with junior tournament level players. In my experience when pinpoint goes wrong it's tricky to put right. I always opt for the platform solution because if you opt to adjust the pinpoint stance the player's muscle memory will often overrides even your best efforts. Platform is a more radical change and puts a better block on muscle memory. It's a better stance anyway because less can go wrong with it.

You'd think a lot of tour players could have been working on their serves during the lockdown. In those three months Rublev and Zverev could have resolved their serving problems.

Biggest thing I ever learnt on this website was from Ben Kibler...driving up using the rear foot...what a nugget. If a 57 year old with an arthritic knee (caused by lateral pinpoint; all weight borne by the left leg because the right leg is merely a stabiliser) can switch to a platform stance and learn to drive up with the rear foot, then surely Zverev and Rublev, who have far greater ability then I have, can too.

[arturohernandez]

Good article. I like the choice of solutions John lays down for Rublev.

You come across all sorts of stuff like this with junior tournament level players. In my experience when pinpoint goes wrong it's tricky to put right. I always opt for the platform solution because if you opt to adjust the pinpoint stance the player's muscle memory will often overrides even your best efforts. Platform is a more radical change and puts a better block on muscle memory. It's a better stance anyway because less can go wrong with it.

You'd think a lot of tour players could have been working on their serves during the lockdown. In those three months Rublev and Zverev could have resolved their serving problems.

Biggest thing I ever learnt on this website was from Ben Kibler...driving up using the rear foot...what a nugget. If a 57 year old with an arthritic knee (caused by lateral pinpoint; all weight borne by the left leg because the right leg is merely a stabiliser) can switch to a platform stance and learn to drive up with the rear foot, then surely Zverev and Rublev, who have far greater ability then I have, can too.

Good point. I actually had my daughter serve starting on the back foot entirely, toss the ball, and then hit the serve while landing on the front foot. It is an exaggerated drill but every serve went in an all the serves had more spin on them.

Then I had her serve normally.

Second drill was to have her "twist" as she calls it more. Have her turn her shoulders and torso a little bit more away from the court during the windup.

Between the twist and the weight back a bit more before moving forward her serve had more zip and spin. It was like magic and she is already in a platform stance.

I had my own tragedy with the pinpoint firmly in mind. That is why I taught all my kids platform (two girls and one boy). The timing and coordination is already difficult without adding more moving parts. You would think that someone without any pro experience teaching his kids could not possibly know better than real pros. It boggles the mind to see pros with technical problems.

It reminds me of Tom Byer's "Soccer for Everyone" where he states that a lot of pros don't know the fundamentals.

[stotty]

Good point. I actually had my daughter serve starting on the back foot entirely, toss the ball, and then hit the serve while landing on the front foot. It is an exaggerated drill but every serve went in an all the serves had more spin on them.

Then I had her serve normally.

Second drill was to have her "twist" as she calls it more. Have her turn her shoulders and torso a little bit more away from the court during the windup.

Between the twist and the weight back a bit more before moving forward her serve had more zip and spin. It was like magic and she is already in a platform stance.

I had my own tragedy with the pinpoint firmly in mind. That is why I taught all my kids platform (two girls and one boy). The timing and coordination is already difficult without adding more moving parts. You would think that someone without any pro experience teaching his kids could not possibly know better than real pros. It boggles the mind to see pros with technical problems.

It reminds me of Tom Byer's "Soccer for Everyone" where he states that a lot of pros don't know the fundamentals.

Just don't like pinpoint. You are wise to teach your kids platform. The trouble with children and pinpoint is their rear foot ends up all over the place. Most kids have inaccurate ball tosses, which they hit anyway, and their rear foot ends up in different places each time due to adjustments they must make to strike the ball. Nightmare. The other issue is the timing of when during the action they slide the rear foot to the back foot...quite a few get this wrong. Save yourself all this headache and just opt for platform is my advice...all day long.

[johnyandell]

And agreed. If they just absolutely can't get off pinpoint make them bring the back foot up and touch the front so it doesn't go around the corner...