The Serve: Where Are We Now? The Women

[johnyandell]

Would love to get your thoughts on my article, "The Serve: Where Are We Now? The Women"

[jeremy93]

John thanks for this very informative article. As a coach I’ve been very curious why nearly all club players and more than a few pros on tour don’t have continued long axis rotation of their hitting arm after contact. In this article you seem to have stated a couple times that this is because they lack the racket speed therefore, the racket doesn’t have enough speed to naturally continue rotating an additional 90 degrees after contact. Do you find any other reasons as to why players point the hitting side of their strings down to the ground right after contact rather than to the right side fence? Thanks in advance.

[johnyandell]

I think the still common idea that you should snap your wrist forward is the main one. It's not that players can't do it or don't have enough racket speed. If the model the full rotation in the extension position they can.

[jeremy93]

thanks a lot John

I think the still common idea that you should snap your wrist forward is the main one. It's not that players can't do it or don't have enough racket speed. If the model the full rotation in the extension position they can.

[arturohernandez]

Great article! I found the reference to Justine quite interesting too.

I took some notes for my daughter's serve. She seemed to have a slight early entry and to rotate forward too early. Her serves tend to hit the net a lot. I figured it would take a few tweaks to get her to correct it. I had her move her back foot a bit more back and to her left. She said it felt weird. The result was not. Right away I could see her bend and go up more and the serve would land well in. Altering the stance helped a lot.

I used a pinpoint for many years. I taught all my kids a traditional stance which is what I now use. I know there are some great pinpoint servers and some great traditional stance servers. But to me the extra step and coordination cause more problems if the serve is an issue.

In any case, using video helped. It's funny that every time something comes up on Tennisplayer in an article, I can find some tweak that helps my daughter.

Thanks!

[johnyandell]

All excellent!

[jimlosaltos]

Tangentially relevant, perhaps. Speed isn't everything, but it matters:

The fastest WTA serves at this year’s Wimbledon so far:

1. coco gauff - 124 MPH (R2)
2. coco gauff - 122 MPH (R2)
3. coco gauff - 121 MPH (R1)