The Myth of the Archer's Bow

John Yandell

What is the "Archer's Bow" and is it a vital component in high level serving? Should players at all levels be trying to develop it?

The term Archer's Bow refers to the curve along the edge the torso and arms at the extension of the tossing motion. Allegedly this curve is in the shape of a bow, with the tossing arm over the head, the torso leaning back and the front hip jutting out into the court.

It's one of those catchy phrases that has become part of the teaching lexicon. Many coaches believe that it's a key to the high performance serve.

The reality is that the Archer's Bow is a myth. Great servers don't have an archer's bow and trying to develop one is actually one of the most detrimental things you could do to your service motion.

Shoulder Over Shoulder

How did the idea develop such traction? It has to do with a misunderstanding about how the shoulders work in the motion.

One of the insights from biomechanical research is the role of the shoulder tilt in contributing to racket speed. The shoulders tilt back at the extension of the tossing motion and then rapidly reverse, tilting forward in the upward swing.

The initial tilt is with the left front shoulder higher at an angle of 30 to 45 degrees to the right or rear. Then less than a third of a second later, this angle reverses at contact. The left shoulder descends and the right shoulder rises with the right shoulder now above the left at about the same incline.

The research shows this "shoulder over shoulder" motion is an important element in creating racket speed. But how is it developed?

Not by the Archer's Bow. The reality is that the shoulder tilt is a natural consequence of other factors, the tossing arm motion and also the knee bend.

So let's look at the motion of some top servers and see how they create shoulder tilt. Then let's examine what component's of the archer's bow are present--if any.

If we look at just the tossing arm, we can see where some of the confusion about the Archer's Bow comes from. In the tossing motion some players, particularly among the women, bring the tossing arm back on a curve over their head.

Maria Sharapova is a good example. Roger Federer is an example of a top male player who does something similar, although to a lesser extent than Maria.

The tossing arm does appear to curve on an arc that could be part of the Archer's Bow. But many of the greatest servers in the game don't do this.

John Isner for example. He has a huge serve obviously and also major shoulder tilt. But look at his tossing arm after the release.

At extension his arm doesn't rise to anywhere close to the Archer's Bow position. It stops at an angle just about in line with the shoulder tilt. So that part of the bow shape can't be some necessary characteristic of great serving.

However the entire Archer's Bow is supposed to include more than the curve of the arm. It is supposed to also include "hip thrust" out over the court. Could that be the real key?

To achieve this position, players are encouraged to lean back at the waist and "jut" their front hip forward. But the reality is this just doesn't happen in good serving to any significant extent.

The torso as a whole is angled back, this is true. But this is the natural consequence of the knee bend. The deeper the knee bend the more pronounced the angle.

But there is no additional leaning back from the waist. In fact the hips and the torso stay aligned.

At the bottom of the knee bend, look at the line between the hips the upper torso. It's straight. The hips and torso are dropping together as the knees go down. There is no independent movement from the waist.

The angle of the torso helps set the player up for the shoulder over shoulder motion in the upward swing. But this angle is created naturally in the motion. There is no need to artificially increase it by destroying the torso alignment.

What happens when you take a good server and try to introduce the Archer's Bow under the guise of increasing racket speed? Nothing good.

To test this out I asked our contributing writer Scott Murphy and one of our mutual friends Beat Bossart--both elite players with strong serves--to hit a few of their regular serves for me while I filmed. Then I introduced them to the concept of the Archer's Bow.

In the initial video of their serves, look at how both Scott and Beat create great natural shoulder tilt with the extension of the tossing arm and knee bend. Note that neither one pulls the hand back over the head or has any noticeable bend at the waist or independent forward hip thrust.

Then look what happened when I asked them to try the Archer's Bow. At my request, both pulled their tossing arms further up and over the head. Both also leaned back at the waist and tried pushing the front hip forward.

It almost looks impressive when you freeze them in the Bow position. But not when you see the result.

Both players found trying the archer's bow moved the contact point further back. And look at the landing. Neither was able to explode into the court as they normally would.

As experienced, successful competitive players, it left them both shaking their heads as to why anyone would consider the Archer's Bow a valid technical theory. They were both quick to hit a few more serves to make sure they reestablished their real motions.

I don't honestly know where or how the concept of the Archer's Bow developed. But I am sure it's origin is related to the problem of tennis and human perception.

Some things you can see and many things you can't. With the naked eye it is in fact possible to see the shoulder tilt. It's also possible to see the tossing arm curved back over the head in some players' motions.

But it's very difficult to see how the hips and the shoulders stay aligned. This makes it easy to confuse the natural incline of the torso with an artificial thrusting of the hips.

Look at the final animation of Sharapova in super slow motion. Freezing her at the bottom of her knee bend you can see that the hips have moved forward.

But take a closer look. Her knees drop, but watch how she also turns her entire body away from the ball. It gives the appearance that the hips might be moving forward on their own.

Look closely at the angle between the hips and torso. They stay in line. There is no discernable bend or leaning back at the waist.

It won't surprise any long term subscriber to hear me say this, but unless you study high speed video of the technical elements you are trying to develop, you won't really understand what they are and there is a significant chance you may develop inaccurate and counterproductive theories like the Archer's Bow. Luckily you have these articles!

If you have clear models and also use video to see yourself in relation to your models, you won't develop problems like the Archer's Bow and in all likelihood can develop a superior technical serve. If that idea interests you, I suggest you check out my new serve article series designed to help you do just that. It's been getting some pretty great reviews. (Click Here.)