Andy Roddick: ServeRick Macci
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The bomb goes off, but do people know what they are seeing? |
I think that all the people who analyze, and all the people that commentate on TV, and all the people that write, and the general public all say, "It looks like he's going to tear up his shoulder," because they're seeing this explosive, electrifying, accelerated motion, and all of a sudden there's an atomic bomb going off.
You know what? They said the same thing about Bjorn Borg when he first came in the game, that he's going to have elbow surgery because of how he whips that racket. And to my knowledge, 25 years later, he's never had elbow surgery. So the John Newcombes and Tony Traberts of the world, and all these other people, were a little off base in their analysis.
It's the same with Roddick. The perception is, boy, there's a lot of smoke there. There's a lot of electricity. They're seeing something they've never seen before. They don't really understand it and so the conclusion is, he's going to hurt his shoulder.
I don't see it. I don't see it whatsoever. When it comes to injuries, I'll tell you that sometimes the luck of the draw plays into it. You can have the best looking strokes in the world and hurt a shoulder or an elbow. It's not a beauty contest. It's not about cosmetics.
The abbreviated backswing works for Andy, but it's not the secret to his serve. |
The fact that he has an abbreviated back swing is insignificant. In you look at the top players you can find many things in their serves that are far more idiosyncratic than Andy's.
When I see Andy get his racket up, it's perfect in my mind. He's very relaxed, he's going to go straight up with the racket, he's going to bend his knees, load it, get the racket in and out of the back, and Boom. Very simple. There's not a lot to go wrong.
The fact that everyone is missing is that Andy has tremendous, natural racket head speed. He gets his racket in and out of the back quicker than anybody on the pro tour. That's his serve. He had the same serve when he was 4'10". And nothing has really changed.
The textbook says that the arms should go down first and then up. And, there's nothing the matter with that and that's what I teach to most kids.
Andy on the other hand brings the arms straight up. That works for him, but it doesn't mean it's the right way or the wrong way. It's just a better way for him.
It's different, it's better for him. But actually, I don't think that his windup is the key to the success of his serve.
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