Nineteen-year-old rising star Andy Murray of Scotland has assaulted the rankings in the last two years, moving nearly 500 spots to his current position inside the Top 40. Solid in every aspect of his game, Murray uses his serve to dictate play right from the get-go. And with a few minor changes, he could make it even better.
Tennis Serve Instruction: Part 1
This is a typical stance for most players. It has no significance as far as racquet acceleration and power— each player simply has his or her own way of beginning to focus on the serve. One note: When my partner, Dr. Gideon Ariel, and I analyzed subjects who used this stance, with the racquet extended, there was an increase in the activity in their trapezius (neck and shoulder) muscles. Some players actually got a little stiff using this method. That’s why baseball pitchers shrug their shoulders and exhale to relax the muscles before throwing.
Tennis Serve Instruction: Part 2
Notice that Murray’s tossing hand is nearly parallel to the baseline rather than extended toward his opponent. This causes his body to coil, and it’s the uncoiling of the body in a particular sequence from the ground up that generates racquet speed. That sequence is called the “kinetic chain.” Notice also that Murray’s dominant arm is extended backward. Many players think they should look like the classic serving trophy, with the hitting elbow tucked way down behind them. But that trophy designer must have had a pitiful serve.
Tennis Serve Instruction: Part 3
At this point, Murray brings his back foot up toward his front, which momentarily stops him from uncoiling his body. He relies on loading the muscles in his upper body rather than generating a complete kinetic chain. His knees are bent to activate a forward and upward movement. While the knee bend is an initiator of the kinetic chain, in our research we found that the knee bend alone was not a huge factor in serve speed and generated less than 10 m.p.h. for most subjects.
Here is where Murray fails to maximize his racquet-head speed. His body isn’t going as forward and upward as it could be. He tosses the ball farther back than, say, Andy Roddick does. In our research center, we found that the greatest racquet speed was produced when the player’s upper arm was going up and forward toward the net, as in a baseball pitch. Murray’s upper arm is traveling more upward than forward, which will limit his speed.
Tennis Serve Instruction: Part 5
Murray makes contact with the ball at the peak of the toss, which has major advantages in serving percentages. One or two inches in height can often mean the difference between an ace or a ball that hits the tape. Andy continues to uncoil his body, which helps to increase racquet-head speed. Note that Murray’s feet have left the ground. If you jump to hit the ball before the upper arm has achieved maximum speed, you’ll lose power. This is not true if the ball is tossed out front and the server is pulled off the ground when he reaches for it.
Tennis Serve Instruction: Part 6
Murray has one foot behind the baseline when he lands. (Roddick lands more than 2 feet inside the baseline.) It’s important to get the toss as far out in front as you can. As Murray’s game continues to improve, I think you’ll see him tossing the ball farther out toward the net to maximize racquet-head speed, while remaining properly balanced to attack the net or play the point out from the baseline.
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The subtle differences in the way a player may stand or take the racquet back when he serves is a matter of individual style. Anything goes, as long as it’s not detrimental to the result. Sampras and Roddick have completely different styles when it comes to their serves, but at the moment of truth—contact—everything hits the mark exactly as it should. That’s why they’re two of the best servers the pro game has seen in the past 20 years.
1. Tennis Serve Instruction: Feet
Sampras has a nice wide base on his serve with his feet flat on the court. He uses more of a platform stance than Roddick, and, other than coming up off his heels, doesn’t alter the positioning of his feet during his motion. But he still gets great weight transfer into the serve.
2. Tennis Serve Instruction: Knees
At this point in the delivery, Sampras doesn’t have much of a knee bend. His motion is longer and more deliberate than Roddick’s and it will take Sampras a bit more time to start to push down. But don’t let this picture fool you; Sampras has a terrific knee bend.
3. Tennis Serve Instruction: Racquet Head
The length of the backswing is one of the obvious differences between Sampras and Roddick. Here you see that Sampras has dropped his racquet down at the beginning of his serve. It’s a very smooth and rhythmic motion. While his racquet speed is extraordinary, it’s the result of a gradual buildup of momentum.
4. Tennis Serve Instruction: Shoulders
One of the great features of the Sampras serve is the coiling of his shoulders and upper body. His back is practically facing his opponent. You don’t want to turn too much on the serve, as that can disrupt your timing, but you need to create torque with body rotation in order to get the most out of your delivery. Sampras strikes the right balance.
5. Tennis Serve Instruction: Left Arm
The left arm is completely straight as Sampras stretches to properly place the toss. It also shows what great elasticity and flexibility he has in his motion. He’s in what I call the power position—there’s a nice incline in the shoulders and you could practically draw a straight line from his left arm through to his right leg.
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Tennis Serve Instruction: Andy Roddick's Serve
1. Tennis Serve Instruction: Feet
Once he tosses the ball and pushes down, Roddick almost immediately gets up on his toes. He positions his feet closer together than Sampras does, but other than shifting his front foot back a bit in the beginning stages of his motion there isn’t much movement. This is what’s comfortable to him, just as many players serve extremely well by dragging their back foot forward.
2. Tennis Serve Instruction: Knees
Roddick gets into his knee bend much faster and earlier than Sampras does. It’s a very quick and hard push down that enables Roddick to explosively spring up to the ball. It also gives his serve a herky-jerky and violent appearance that belies the fluidity and relaxation in his swing.
3. Tennis Serve Instruction: Racquet Head
When I worked with 12-year-old Andy Roddick, the backswing on his serve was very much like Sampras’. Today, the trademark of the Roddick serve, other than its overwhelming power, is that his racquet goes up with the toss. The backswing is practically nonexistent. Many players seem to like that it’s more compact and less complicated than the Sampras motion.
4. Tennis Serve Instruction: Shoulders
Roddick has a slightly less dramatic shoulder turn than Sampras. His right shoulder drops below his left, ensuring the shoulder-over-shoulder motion that occurs on his serve. Players need to understand that to maximize the consistency and speed of the serve you need an upward motion (like throwing a javelin).
5. Tennis Serve Instruction: Left Arm
Since his motion is shorter than Sampras’, Roddick has a slightly lower toss. Although his left hand is turned out more than Sampras’, both of their arms are completely straight and their wrists are locked. This leads to a more accurate and reliable toss. When there’s bend in the wrist, that’s when the toss tends to be difficult to control.
Andy Roddick Serves in HD
Serve Instruction: Serena Williams's and Martina Navratilova's Serve
1. Tennis Serve Instruction: Extension
Williams is hitting a flatter, harder serve with just a little topspin. Navratilova is hitting a kick serve. Yet there are many common elements between these serves. Extension is the most important thing to notice, and I don’t just mean the full extension of the hitting arm, but also the hitting shoulder and the legs. Some recreational players believe that extension should change from serve to serve, but it shouldn’t. The way a player hits the ball does change—as you can see here, Williams meets the ball more squarely while Navratilova brushes up on the back of it. But if you start from the tip of either racquet and trace a line straight down to the lead toe (left foot for Williams and right foot for Navratilova), you’ll see that both players have extended upward as far as possible to hit the ball. Without extension like this, it’s impossible to generate power and spin consistently.
2. Tennis Serve Instruction: Toss
I don’t want to emphasize the position of their tosses, but rather the fact that both these women can place them perfectly. Though I always had a fast serve, it wasn’t until I improved my toss that I cracked the Top 10. Sometimes my coach and I would stand at the baseline and practice tosses for 20 minutes. It’s always best to do so while going through the first part of your motion, as if you were going to serve. Anyone can toss well when standing still, but you need to toss well while serving. Sometimes the movement of your hips can cause you to hook the ball. The best servers, like Williams and Navratilova, are smooth and can adjust their tosses for different serves. In this case, Williams’ toss is at about 12 o’clock, which is good for a first serve that is not entirely flat. Navratilova’s is closer to 11 so she can hit up on the ball.
3. Tennis Serve Instruction: Grip
A lot of people ask me, “How can I get more power on my serve?” Then they proceed to hit with a frying-pan grip. You can see from these photos that a Continental grip is a must (to find this grip, hold your racquet with the head perpendicular to the ground and grab the handle as if you were shaking someone’s hand).
4. Tennis Serve Instruction: Head
You’ve probably been told countless times to “keep your eye on the ball.” I prefer to tell people to keep their heads up. You can see that Williams’ eyes are right on the target. Navratilova, who made contact a moment before this picture was taken, is looking forward as she plans to rush the net. Still, her chin hasn’t dropped down or jerked forward. If you keep your head up and still, you’ll watch the ball long enough. Also notice their expressions. Williams has her cheeks puffed out as she prepares to release a lot of air when she hits the ball (she’ll be making some noise soon). Navratilova, who is slightly past the point of contact, has just exhaled. I mention this so you don’t forget to exhale when you serve. It will keep you loose.
5. Tennis Serve Instruction: Torso
Because Williams is hitting a flatter serve, her torso opens up and faces the net sooner than Navratilova’s. On a kick serve, you need to stay sideways slightly longer so you can brush up on the ball rather than hit through it. Notice, though, that Williams doesn’t rotate too far (her shoulders are parallel to the baseline, but not past parallel).
6. Tennis Serve Instruction: Off Hand
Williams and Navratilova tuck their off hands into their bodies around their waists. Why? You don’t want to put your nonhitting arm down as you swing. If you do, your head may follow and you might make contact while slumping forward rather than with your body at full extension.
7. Tennis Serve Instruction: Legs
Power on your serve begins with your legs. Williams and Navratilova have healthy knee bends on their serves. Each woman leans her lead hip (Williams’ left and Navratilova’s right) toward the baseline while rotating her upper body back. If you don’t coil like this, your serve will lack potency.
8. Tennis Serve Instruction: Feet
Both women are off the ground in these pictures. I like the shoulder-width distances between their feet—that’s excellent balance. As their front legs move forward and land on the ground, their rear legs will kick back to maintain this balance.
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