Tennis Serve: Slice, Twist, Kick -where to contact the ball.
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- Опубліковано 26 вер 2024
- In this video I describe and demonstrate how the bottom hemisphere of the ball is the contact “surface” for the slice, angled 45 degrees for the twist, and vertical for the kick serves. By focusing on the bottom hemisphere my students tend to remain under the ball at contact and quickly begin adding slice and kick action to their serve. It is necessary to use the Continental Grip which might be the greatest challenge for new students; but overall I’ve had excellent success teaching this “point of contact” and hope you will find it helpful for your own tennis serve. Feel free to comment or send me questions. I am always happy to help. If you enjoy this video and want to see more of my tennis lessons series, please subscribe.
Coach Adam
Follow me on my blog: tennis.gamez.t...
Good demo, thanks.
I'm a lefty and have a pretty good slice serve. I tried your method and my slice became even better. Thankyou
Glad it helped!!! You already have the “Lefty” advantage… now it will be even stronger!!
Perfectly explained. Right words are used with clear logic to impart all kind of effects to the ball!
I have NEVER been able to hit a slice, not on purpose anyway, despite YEARS of trying. I find your idea of hemispheres very intriguing! It gives you a good visual when looking up at your ball toss and a great "road map" for how/where to make contact with the ball for the various spin serves.
Maybe I'll have to check out your other videos, see if you've got a few more gems like this. ITMT, thank you very much for this novel concept and learning tool. 👍
Thank you James for the nice comment, i hope the concept helps, you will have to let me know.
You can find my other videos through my blog of essays too.
Check it out: courtsidenotes.com
This is very helpful visualization….tried it and it worked…much more consistent serving
Thank you Robert for giving it a try… it is an excellent way to begin to develop serves with slice and or kick. Coach Adam
Thank you, it helped me a lot in improving my slice and kick serves!
Fanstastic!!! Glad it helped!!
Thank you Very much I am benefitted from your lesson and hope to get more soon. Thank you from Nepal!
You are welcome!!! Glad you have found the video helpful!!! Keep me posted and feel free to ask questions.
Coach Adam
what a wonderful different perspective at looking at where on the ball to hit! thanks
Hope it helps!! Thank you for the comment.
Coach Adam
I like the tip of drawing on the ball...Great advice. Thank you!
Glad it helped. Thank you for the comment. Coach Adam
Fantastic I understand the true slice and kick
Fantastic, glad the video was helpful. 😊👍🎾
It is incredible but I have improved so much with this tip sadly I waited for approx 50 years to get it right OK it is never too late thank you
Great pointers
Wonderful explanation
Very instructional, I'll try it! Thank You :)
Traditional tennis instruction would focus on pronating the path of the racquet into the ball. This method I demonstrate provides an easy and quite successful alternative… as well as adding variation to your serves. Thank you for the comments.
You can also read from my blog at www.courtsidenotes.com/
Enjoy.
Coach Adam
Excellent
Excellent video, thank you very much! Please, are you making a more detailed about kick serve?
Thank you for the nice comment. I will keep that in mind and put something together with greater detail in the future.
Coach Adam
One more question - Your video on slice has helped my serve, especially getting my hand more open below the ball. WHat about the kick and twist? Is your hand still open? I'm typically closed and I feel like I struggle to get lift and spin.
Hi James… a good visual is to think of it this way: your open hand stays the same but the angle you lean back changes the action on the ball. Standing straight upright for a slice, slightly leaning back and you get the twist and if you lean back as far a possible you get the kick. Each leaned position changed the angle oh ball contact.
Hope that helped.
I really enjoyed this video and I' ve never thought about it this way. I' ll definitely try this, but I think the main problem for students, even after watching the video might be turning the hemisphere right every time. You made 100% clear what to do and how to hit the ball once the angle of the ball is right, but what' s the way to turn the hemispere right for every type of serve? Is the angle of the toss enough to achieve that and to avoid that the ball moves once in the air for istance ?
I think you will have to try it and see it’s actually quite successful. Continental Grip is necessary for these serve’s... looking back I don’t think I pointed that out. Other than my “climb the fence” video reference I forgot to mention the grip. I’ll add that to my description, edit it in.
So adjusting the hemisphere of the ball is imaginary in your view as you see it drop. The angle of it represents the racquet path on the swing contact.
I think the fact my students are focus on the bottom hemisphere of the ball, just that attention alone, improves their serve.
@@GameZTennis I' m sure it' s gonna work great. Will definitely try this
you dont have to turn the hemisphere every time, you imagine the hemisphere
Very helpful. Wondering if you have a similar take (hemispheres) re contact on groundstrokes as well.
Yes!!! As a matter of fact i have been contemplating a video on just that. A recent student of mine from Paris -who comes to me yearly -the question came up and was part of our focus. The question was how to remain in an aggressive stroke/path rather than changing the grip for balls out of the ideal strike zone. This student is quite high level and could make the adjustments. So what is it?
To remain aggressive more or less with top spin on the ball… in a nut shell… on low balls the racquet contact is on a “slight” angled path inside out. Slight because you are not trying to curve the ball as much as you still need it to climb over the net. Without realizing it you often get a “reverse forehand swing” but its not entirely necessary.
For High balls to get a complete swing with top spin, it’s slightly outside and across the ball. There is a technical issue for both… you have to hit it a little bit late and for the higher balls you need to in a position that your arm and racquet are more extended or away from the ball.
Great question and funny how timely you asked.
Thx!!!
Coach Adam
Courtsidenotes.com
@@GameZTennis Thx. I look forward to it. The hemisphere visual really helps me a lot. I play a lefty with a slice serve in the ad court that stays very low. I'd prefer not to slice unless absolutely. Sometimes I find a groove hitting topspin on that, but it comes and goes. I'm not always clear on the swing path/contact that makes a difference. I know I have to be as loose as possible with the grip to maximize racquet drop.
I've really struggled to control spin on my serve. Do you offer zoom lessons?
Hi James, that would be a first for me. We could face time if you have an iphone but my schedule will be tied up for a while… glad to help and see what i can help you with. Not sure your location but if you are ever in norCal let me know and I will gladly get you one to one in a lesson.
I'll check out the video
This is a very interesting video. The concept makes complete sense but I am still somewhat confused. The bottom hemisphere explanation is completely clear, but as I think about it, hitting on the bottom half of the ball would mean the racquet is "contacting" the ball pointing up at roughly a 45 degree angle. Even when you are demonstrating the concept for a slice, your hand is contacting the ball at a 45 degree angle. This cannot be correct as the ball would go "up" with that type of contact. Therefore, the explanation of a slice (for me) has to take into consideration the bend of the body, the trophy pose, and the contact point (for a slice) as you go after the ball. You said that hitting the ball on the top hemisphere would drive the ball down (makes sense), but conversely hitting on the bottom hemisphere would send the ball upwards. So in my simple mind, something is still missing from the explanation. I think "for me" to understand this better, in addition to the bottom hemisphere concept, you would need to incorporate the "clock" concept on the ball, as well as the body bend, and the angle of the racquet at the moment of contact for each type of serve. For what it's worth.....
Good points and questions!!! There is another factor not necessarily addresses: the toss in relationship to the contact as well. Toss for a slice could be out in front but more lateral to your body, Toss for the American twist more linear above your head. And then the kick serve toss is more posterior lateral.
I once commented using the example of kicking a soccer ball. In effect it is the same. The open face of your foot in contact with the soccer ball; coming across for a hook (slice), across and upward for a hooking and dropping ball (American twist), and then (i guess) you could look at a toe punch -kick bottom upward, to simulate the kick serve. Its just a different orientation of you leg and handle of the racquet but contact surface orientation of your foot to a soccer ball and the strings of the tennis racquet closely similar. Golf and a golf club would be the same... the orientation of the head of the golf club open like the racquet, only (again), the shaft of the golf club and racquet handle of the tennis racquet are oriented from opposite ends. Think about that and let me know your thoughts... try it out too and see if you have any other good suggestions to add. Thx!!!
Coach Adam
Holy smokes. This video really helped me discover the secret to hitting these serves. I have been such an unpredictable server for my whole life (Im 52) Mr. Double Fault. I played doubles tonight and once I loosened up, my serves were great! I hit with margin and consistency. I could actually see the effect of spin on the ball. No more free points. Thanks for the great video unlocking the secret!
Fantastic!!! Glad the concept helped and letting me know...I enjoy hearing success. No more double faults!!! Enjoy!!
Coach Adam
Thanks m gonna try this 'cos I've been trying to do slice but it looks like m doing the twist instead. Anyways, it would be nice if u hv a slow motion showing the contacts for the 3 serves.
I guess if you wanted you could via iphone copy the video via the “record” screen shot feature… then from your download run it in slow motion. Just a thought🙃🧐
Thank you for the video. Which part of the racket should be hitting the ball?
Hello Chris Yi, the string contact you can see in the video at minute 6:04-6:13...if possible try pausing the video there. The contact point on the string bed is in the upper half. Since the racquet needs an open face, the bottom 1/2 of the ball is struck on the strings just above the upper half of the racquet face.
Hope that helps.
Coach Adam
Also would the same be true for topspin forehand? Do you hit the outside bottom zone of the ball?
Funny you mention that… i experimented that with a friend of mine quite some time back, it was not the outside but from your visual field the inside side of the ball’s hemisphere and an open faced racquet. It could be done but it was very specific to the height of the ball at contact. I have a video the shows different points of contact “path” that relates to balls low or high. Let me find them and will send them to you
Here is a video to watch and see the last part …it may answer your question. ua-cam.com/video/nvvm8gv6kkY/v-deo.htmlsi=CXWM37WpYU9P8uNA
Good Idea for a vídeo , but It was not clear for me. I guess my tennis level does not allow me to understand what was being said. The kick serve for example, was showing a contact point , that was supposed to drive the ball to the net, according to what was said on previous slice section .
Hello Mauricio, thank you for the question. Its been a while since I’ve watched my own video but hope I can help clarify. Each of these serves, slice, kick, twist, needs to be hit with greater height over the net. Think: “hit upward into the sky.” It is not so much pace on the ball but instead the spin on the ball that is important. The higher the ball over the net, as it “falls” back to the court, it is the spin on contact with the court that gives it the action, especially the twist and kick. Hope that makes sense? On the contrary a FLAT serve with pace, yes drive the ball toward and just above the white tape of the net.
Coach Adam
Thank you Adam. I think I get It now.
Thank you sir.. question though for kick do we contact under the ball or side of the ball?
Hello Narsimha, it is under and up as close to 90 degrees as possible for the kick. Pace is not as important as the spin on the ball (needs lots of spin) and the height of its path toward your opponent should be high, that way as it strikes the ground from height with combined spin it will kick out at your opponent faster than it originally traveled. It is the appearance your opponent first sees in the serve that is then challenged by the ball changing its velocity once it hits the ground.
Hope that makes sense. Thank you for the question.
Coach Adam
@@GameZTennis thank you very much appreciated.. your clips are nice.. initially we thought contact side and brush up?
@@narsimha1089 the way i describe the contact point is quite novel and can be easily mis-understood… many have. I think the “bottom hemisphere” gets misinterpreted… it represents the contact point to impart the spin. For a kick the hemisphere would be vertical and the brushing would be the inside area marked lines. You also have to make your toss a bit behind you to line the racquet up and get the upward strike.
Glad you enjoy the clips.
Check out courtsidenotes.com for others and my blog.
Coach Adam
Thanks for your video! How are you making contact when you are hitting your normal forehand, backhand for topspin and slice? I have never heard this before going to try it
Hello N C
Good question...regarding the top spin or slice on the forehand or backhand I’ve actually tinkered with the same contact points I’m using here in the serve video. It’s far from the same but i think there’s room it can be used. It’s a bit hard to describe but in a nut shell a more open face brushing with the ball further away from you as the contact point. The path (obviously) low to high brush for the top spin, high to low for the slice. That brings me to my next video i will post soon. It will explain the correct way to visually track the ball and as a result have a consistent striking point. It solves huge issues on many ball strike errors.
Please let me know how the serve-ball strike worked out for you, I’d like to get some feedback after and see how effective it is.
Thx!!
Coach Adam
@@GameZTennis sure let me try! I am also going to try the ulnar deviation you were mentioning in the other video (and try what you were saying about the one handed backhand). It seems interesting way of explaining wrist lag. Thank god youtube search engine found you!
-On a side note one really good player I would hit with, who had a UTR of 12, said he would think to try to hit topspin on the forehand by trying to hit the ball with the top half of his racket. If he missed he would hit the middle of the racket.
-Agassi had a weird thing on the slice serve he said to hit up on the ball. So say you hit kick from 7 to 1 o'clock, he said for slice to hit from 5 to 11 o'clock. Essentially the reverse of the "american twist" or "kick serve". As a lefty I found it really hard to do that on both ad and deuce side.
-One other thing that has been really helping me, last couple days is to take racket back with non-dominant hand. So in the ready position, have dominant hand loose or not even on racket. And then take back racket on both backhand side and forehand side with the non-dominant hand. Then slowly add your dominant hand on for the swing.
So I almost think of it racket back with my non-dominant hand, starting the "C" or "nike" shaped swing. And the dominant hand just does the linear swing towards the ball. It almost seems when Federer does backhand slice he is throwing racket from his left hand to his right hand, to generate all that racket speed.
That has really helped me to hit the most clean backhands and forehands I have ever hit as I feel I have so much time and getting racket back faster than I ever had before, especially on the backhand side
Excellents points!!! I have to say teaching tennis there has never been one right way for everything or everyone. A good coach needs to be aware of that and use their students strengths and also see their limitations. It is, however, what makes tennis so exciting...that it’s player level specific and complicated (in a fun way). What we assume is happening in our swing paths is far from what actually might be. Take the serve and ball toss, the concept in this video really gives a new perspective where to strike the ball, something new and exciting to try. It may be a method that for some that adds to their success and enjoyment. Upcoming videos on the volley, tracking the ball, breakdown review of my SW forehand, the anatomy of the ball bounce (“before’s & after’s), overheads and bait balls, doubles movements from the net position and movements from the back court, and always intertwined with a review of my “Pace of the Ball Rule” for consistency in each.
If you have any requests or would like my suggestion or help tinkering with a stroke or strategy don’t hesitate to ask.
You might also find my blog interesting to check out: tennis.gamez.tennis
Coach Adam
@@GameZTennis are you doing ulnar deviation on the one handed backhand?
@@GameZTennis also could you do a lesson on one handed backhand return? i am so confused as to if it makes more sense to return with two and play ground strokes with one? Nowadays it seems everyone can crush returns from both forehand and backhand side, and I am wondering if it is disadvantage to return with one hand backhand?
Are you supination or pronating at contact on your slice serve?
Great question and best answer: “it depends”... first and foremost it won’t matter until you can hit a serve with a continental grip. Any other grip impairs the path of the racquet when supination or pronation questions come up. So unless we are serving with the continental grip, it doesn’t matter. Now if you are using continental grip, a flat serve in the follow through will result in pronation and wrist flexion. It’s not deliberate and shouldn’t be. It’s just the mechanics of the swing. Slice, kick or twist, because of the open face you’ll see in the video, the follow through imparts a slightly supinated end path. Again not deliberate, it just happens when the entire swing is correctly executed. There are things to pay attention too and others that are mechanically part of the kinetic chain. That being said, if you are trying too hard to focus on one part of the swing, it usually causes everything else to fall apart. “Trying harder” in tennis actually means “relax and slow down”...that takes more effort than the latter.
GameZ .Tennis Well said. Excellent points and agree 100%, trying too hard and focusing on things that should happen as a result of correct continental grip are hugely counterproductive.
I don’t understand at all. Are you saying you should be hitting the area that you shaded out with the marker? In your kick serve example, wouldn’t that make the ball spin asymmetrically ? Please explain.
Let me see if i can help by describing it from a different point of view: soccer (or football outside the USA). The strike comes from underneath the balls midline(equator). This lifts it up off the ground. The foot is pointed down or extended at contact. If I come straight across while under the ball i will get a “hooked” spin on the ball. Think of a free kick and you have a wall of players in front of you and you want to go around them.
Now if i come up at say a 45 degree angle from under the ball i get a ball a that will hook downward in the spin. You can see this as players strike the ball over a defensive wall and then hook the ball back down into the goal -preferably a high corner.
The examples above are just a different view of the action in the ball. In soccer the foot strikes from under the ball. In tennis we need to strike from under the ball to get the same action. So yes... it is the darkened areas of the ball you are trying to direct the greatest amount of contact. More under equals greater effect but lacks the pace or velocity, less under equals greater velocity but less effect.
Hope that helps and creates a different visual. Try kicking a soccer ball and get the desired spin... look at your contact point and then imagine the same from the tennis racquet, albeit as if the world were upside down.
Coach Adam
@@GameZTennis Thank you for your reply. That makes a bit more sense. To use your analogy, however, in order to create “topspin” on a soccer ball (rotating along a horizontal
axis along the direction of ball flight) I wouldn’t kick the ball on its side. I would kick under the center of ball in (again in reference to its flight path). This contradicts your example of topspin on the serve where the shaded area was on the side. Could you clarify please. Thx.
Ah yes the actual kick and top spin requires a slightly different toss than the other two (slice -straight across or american twist -45 degrees) the toss needs to be over your head and behind you so the contact point can be still open but the path of the racquet completely vertical... this gives you the kick and vertical spin (top spin) creating the kick. Remember too the height of your ball path and the amount of spin is more critical for the action and kick rather than your effort to impart pace ...it appears so slow approaching your opponent but once it strikes the ground the spin and initial height of your ball creates the kicking effect.
Tip: let the technique create the pace instead of a muscled deliberate effort... at least until you’ve mastered it.
Good luck.
Coach Adam
I managed to get the spin but sadly I lost 6/0 6/0 it looks like Agassi was returning it the con tact was thin no speed also I think I continue hitting the bottom on all my shots the smash was a problem but I managed to recover the ball I lost I don't know how it was dark I was my neighbour with a shotgun
Keep trying it. Could be the contact point was too low, or the toss could be more into the court for greater pace?… hard to say. Another factor is the racquet head speed at contact and the height of the ball path… for the kick and american twist the ball must travel high as part of the formula to impart the action on the ball. Hard to say, keep trying it.
you should show slow motion where on the racket you make contact as well
Good point!! Curious if you or anyone else has found this concept helpful... tried it out?
Coach Adam
Is the American twist, the kick setve and the topspin serves are 3 different serves?
The twist will break from left to right and the kick will jump up or out straight from the path of the ball hit. The height is crucial and can disguise a lack of pace vs the abundance of spin on the ball before it hits the ground.
Hope you can find this helpful and improve your serve. 😊👍
@@GameZTennis yes Thank you very much. It's confusing as it seems many use the terms interchangeably.
I usually hit from above to get more speed and dip. Feel like strike fron below slows the serve a lot since it moves up then down instead of just down and across ._.
Excellent point!!! The speed is the difference however and sometimes the speed of the ball rather than the spin effects the “curve” of the ball or not. It comes down to what action you want as primary: pace or slice or kick, etc. The surprise with this method is the receivers reaction… the ball appears to have no pace BUT once it strikes the ground the pace generated by the spin and contact is an unexpected surprise.
Try it out and see.
Remember there are many ways to serve and this just adds to your options.
Enjoy!!
Coach Adam
www.courtsidenotes.com/
www.volleytrainer.com/