Up on toes for serve.

[J011yroger]

Hey all,

Not sure if this warrants its own thread but I didn't want to de-rail anyone elses.

It is a hallmark of high level serving for the player to get up on their toes pinpoint or platform, and I am wondering why it's such a big deal. Spending most of my day teaching I serve to children, teenagers and intermediates and get into the habit of being flat-footed (I serve platform if it matters) and when I have to play for real I have to remind myself to really get up on my toes and even then I don't get my heels up more than a couple of inches off the ground but even that makes a big difference.

Just wondering why that is.

J

[don_budge]

[arturohernandez]

Hey all,

Not sure if this warrants its own thread but I didn't want to de-rail anyone elses.

It is a hallmark of high level serving for the player to get up on their toes pinpoint or platform, and I am wondering why it's such a big deal. Spending most of my day teaching I serve to children, teenagers and intermediates and get into the habit of being flat-footed (I serve platform if it matters) and when I have to play for real I have to remind myself to really get up on my toes and even then I don't get my heels up more than a couple of inches off the ground but even that makes a big difference.

Just wondering why that is.

J

What if you just took a small medicine ball, one that is a little larger than a regular ball but weighs one pound, and then tried to heave it over the net? My guess is that you would naturally use your toes as a way to generate height and throw the ball up.

Imagine you were running up to the line and heaving this ball over the net. Would you go up on your toes? Definitely. It would be weird not to do so. Because the rackets and balls are relatively light we are deceived into thinking that we can just kind of plop it over the net. And we can do that. There is also this feeling that we should be in place. But, in fact, we are rocking into the court. As if we were running up to the line and heaving it.

I really like to look at Federer practicing serve. Look at his first few serves. You can see that he is breaking all the rules. He is taking a step into he court. He is moving his front foot. He also uses a little bit less knee bend and is on his toes pretty lightly.

https://youtu.be/xD2eSk7HUUQ

The toes seems like a result of trying to spring our bodies up and forward. I never have thought about it much but it just seems natural. If we rock back and forward/up, we naturally move from heal to toe.

I wish I had a more complicated answer. Maybe someone more biomechanically oriented can give you a more satisfying answer.

[stroke]

What if you just took a small medicine ball, one that is a little larger than a regular ball but weighs one pound, and then tried to heave it over the net? My guess is that you would naturally use your toes as a way to generate height and throw the ball up.

Imagine you were running up to the line and heaving this ball over the net. Would you go up on your toes? Definitely. It would be weird not to do so. Because the rackets and balls are relatively light we are deceived into thinking that we can just kind of plop it over the net. And we can do that. There is also this feeling that we should be in place. But, in fact, we are rocking into the court. As if we were running up to the line and heaving it.

I really like to look at Federer practicing serve. Look at his first few serves. You can see that he is breaking all the rules. He is taking a step into he court. He is moving his front foot. He also uses a little bit less knee bend and is on his toes pretty lightly.

https://youtu.be/xD2eSk7HUUQ

The toes seems like a result of trying to spring our bodies up and forward. I never have thought about it much but it just seems natural. If we rock back and forward/up, we naturally move from heal to toe.

I wish I had a more complicated answer. Maybe someone more biomechanically oriented can give you a more satisfying answer.

Nick does the same thing. Must be something there.

[johnyandell]

Being on the toes is just the last phase of the push off/launch.

https://www.tennisplayer.net/members/high_speed_archive/phantom/Roger_Federer_HD_HS/index.html?dir=Serve/1st_Serve&stroke=RF_1stS_Ad_Front1_250fps.mp4&new=

JR you shouldn't be hitting that many serves! Get a Sports Attack ball machine or a lift for a playmate. If not your shoulder will regret it in a few years!

[nytennisaddict]

Hey all,

Not sure if this warrants its own thread but I didn't want to de-rail anyone elses.

It is a hallmark of high level serving for the player to get up on their toes pinpoint or platform, and I am wondering why it's such a big deal. Spending most of my day teaching I serve to children, teenagers and intermediates and get into the habit of being flat-footed (I serve platform if it matters) and when I have to play for real I have to remind myself to really get up on my toes and even then I don't get my heels up more than a couple of inches off the ground but even that makes a big difference.

Just wondering why that is.

J

i find that if i stay flat footed, i do a "squat" serve (all legs, no hip): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YjjfSspZq0k
i end up on my toes because i want to incorporate more hip pop into the serve (ie. bow & arrow position)
personally i don't think of "get on my toes" i think "push my hips out" to feel the tension in my front left hip flexor... and i get up on my toes automagically.
my $.02