Serve Contact Height vs. Depth.

[J011yroger]

I lined up exactly with the baseline and took some video at the USO to see the differences in toss depth, and came across this excellent article about contact height.

It seems there is a trade-off between height and depth with some players choosing to toss higher and more shallow (Federer) and others lower and further into the court (Delpo).

I don't know if there is also a left to right correlation because I have been told by numerous ATP coaches that maximum velocity comes from a 1 o'clock toss, but my own observations show many great servers tossing nearly at 12 or further left (Gulbis comes to mind) so perhaps the 12 o'clock toss is not as much of an issue if you toss deeper into the court so you still have room to rotate into contact.

https://jfawcette.myportfolio.com/serve-impact-height

J

[gzhpcu]

Thanks, nice images.

[Error]

It seems there is a trade-off between height and depth with some players choosing to toss higher and more shallow (Federer) and others lower and further into the court (Delpo).


J

Huh? Delpo literally has one of the highest tosses of any player Ive seen. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O43o8t_XFCw

As far as depth, It changes with how aggressive you want to be but taller players will naturally toss further into the court because they are.... taller!... with longer limbs.... and can reach into the court easier than shorter guys.

[J011yroger]

Huh? Delpo literally has one of the highest tosses of any player Ive seen. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O43o8t_XFCw

As far as depth, It changes with how aggressive you want to be but taller players will naturally toss further into the court because they are.... taller!... with longer limbs.... and can reach into the court easier than shorter guys.

Sorry, I should have said contact height instead of toss height.

J

[nytennisaddict]

nice find, and thanks for sharing your observations.
i always wondered about kyrgios' toss... which seems to be at 12
yet seems to land with a normal kickback and in balance.
perhaps tossing far enough in front is the key