I really like how you differentiate between the variations a player can employ on the various aspects of a serve but still emphasizing that the fundamentals that have to be adhered too. For online advice you are one of the very best if the best teacher of tennis technique there is.
I find it extremely useful to film my serve motion and identify the key elements of the serve that I need to improve. Then I focus on only one element and consciously modify it in the practice section. I always come here for great advices and apply to myself. Now I am in the infinite loop of learning, practicing, and reviewing. This is going to be a long journey before I acquire the serve I want.
This video is a good roundup of all the previous serve videos you have released Nick. I like the serve, and especially as its the only shot in tennis you can easily practice by yourself i.e. you don't need a ball machine. As you say even though there are a variety of serve styles, which are mainly noticeable in the routine at the start of the serve motion, there are fundamentals common to all. I myself think the most common problems are a poor ball toss, or players not having confidence in using a continental grip, so they pat the ball in with a waiters tray serve. And also players should be hitting up and out to the ball, rather than forward. I like your past tip about correcting the racket drop leak by bending the wrist and opening the racket face at the start (a la Raonic, Medvedev) as that helped me with one of my issues on the serve. It's worth experimenting with different styles to find which one works for you but I suppose every player should have that one style that is reliable for them that they can use as a second serve for example.
This is exceptional content. Thank you for putting this together, it’s useful for beginners right the way thru to returning advanced players who may be rediscovering their game. Well done.
The is one of your best videos on serve! I was confused about whether flat serve has a slightly right-ward swing path(for a righty), You cleared that up for me! Thanks Nik!
Love how you covered the different professional players style. I am old so I am picked up on McEnroe. Sampras and Becker right away 👍 I did notice you didn’t mention the grip. I realize we teach the continental but do any of the top players slide a little towards the eastern backhand a little on the kick serve. Personally at 5’5” this helps me get a little better angle on the racquet head, more loop and spin to hit the Add side wide so it pulls right hand opponents wide.
I have watched many hours of instructional videos trying to perfect my serve. I also have put in the time on court hitting buckets of balls ( 200 balls 3-4 times a week) and I still haven’t achieved a reliable serve. I just can’t seem to get a deep racquet drop and after watching a video of my serve, I looked stiff and rigid and there’s no fluidity to it. Without a ball and when I do my shadow swings it looks and feels good; but, as soon as I start serving with a ball the problems start all over again. I tried all 3 types of take back and the lag is the one that I feel most comfortable with; but I still can’t achieve a deep racquet drop. My ground strokes are pretty solid and I practiced them many hours on a ball machine; but my serve is holding me back and frustration is starting to set in. Any thoughts? Thanks
Have been a High School tennis coach and PTR certified teacher for many years. In my experience the most challenging part of teaching is correcting improper technique. You can watch a video or watch a demonstration on court but that is not the same as having an experienced teacher actually take you through a corrective process on court. Demonstration is easy but getting a student to change requires teaching experience.
@@thomasmedeiros5722 I'm a High School player in the process of correcting improper technique. It's incredibly frustrating at times but I'm finally making solid progress. In my experience, you just have to find cues that actually make it "click" with whatever you're trying to correct, and eventually, you can get to the point where you no longer need those cues.
I really appreciate your videos and have tried to implement them in my practice. My serve technique is getting better but I struggle most with the toss as it keeps going in different directions. They can either be slightly more in front of me than I want, to the sides or behind my head. I wonder if you could make a video about how to have a good and consistent toss that allows the ball to be in the position that you want it to be every time you toss.
thanks again Nick! I know that you are a tireless sports researcher and you have come to conclusions that help us better understand the intuitive part of tennis. I also know that each of us are different, with different bodies, different motor relationships, etc, but can you tell us an estimated cognitive time to achieve a stable service? Thank you
This is a great video and very very helpful thank you very much I’m just wondering how hard is your hardest fastest serve thanks so much for this wonderful video! 🎾🏆
Please do a video on the 'right to left'. I'm having trouble getting a good drop, with my elbow above hand like yours. Its almost there but I think I may be initiating too early but I've also heard Ric Macci say that you shouldn't drive when the racket is behind you. I've also heard that you should drive when the racket passes over the head on the right to left but this gives me a shallow drop. I've had some success doing a full 180 degrees right to left and driving towards the end of that flipping the racket back. Help! Thanks, good video
First of all thanks, I especially like the first part and I will try to adopt the lag and side take back. I find it interesting that you say that the racquet drop and pronation happens as a result of acceleration. That also implies that failure to have a deep racquet drop is due to failing to accelerate. Therefore, I wonder - what do people, including me, do wrong so that they fail to accelerate and thus have a shallow racquet drop?
On loading position, if I do Sampras serve - toss ball in front, and stretch hip forward during loading, the hitting point is naturally more inside the court, but is lower vs if I don’t stretch hip and hit ball closer to the line (Federer serve) where I can leap at hitting point. Can you compare the two?
Appreciate you putting out free content online and should thank you for it. What's I'd like to say is like many coaches on here, you talk too much and show too little - you should strive to balance your vids more. Anyway keep up the work.
Hi Nick, I have changed to pinpint serve to get max power. But in a pinpoint serve, instead of moving the back leg to front, I am naturally able to move the front leg to the back leg, jump and able to serve with much power than normal pinpoint serve. Is that a good technique?
you left out that weird Eastern Euro bit about starting from the ready position holding the ball at the end of the racket. I think Goran started it, but Karatsav has taken it next level...
Love the videos Nic! Could you cover the contact point on the serve? Racket to forearm angle, shoulders opening vs staying more sideways, etc. I noticed that when my racket is straight up towards the sky at contact for flat serve, I lack finishing pronation and my whole arm comes down straight. If I try to focus and make my racket more angled from my forearm at contact I get the full finishing pronation. Takes a lot of stress off my arm decelerating the racket. Any drills would be awesome!
When I was learning largely as an auto didactic, self taught in golf. This was the most difficult question, what are the essential fundamentals, what is the difference between a hit and a miss...it was even more confusing as the greatest most famous golfers in hindsight didn't know: For instance Ben Hogan in about 1953 writes the fundamentals of golf: although there were elements of truth he couldn't see the difference between his style and what is essential: Grip... your only contact with the club Stance...balance, movement Backswing.... creation of time and room and coil/turn Downswing.... everything that has gone before is just preparation for the kinetic chain to fire off: in golf it's on the left side for a right handed player. Finally on the downswing the hitting path is from the inside, curving from behind you. In short can you generate centrifugal forces, from left side pulling action and hit from the inside....most cannot hit from the inside....
Hey Nick. Im an amateur level player, picked up the game roughly a year ago, and i really can't serve well. Im 6'3, i feel like my game has improved as a whole except for my serve. Would you say taking a bunch of balls and just serving over and over would help me, or is it something that leads to injury since i don't do it correctly? Cheers.
You should set up a session to work with a coach in-person to work on your serve. If you don't yet have good fundamentals (biomechanically) on the service motion, hitting a ton of serves over and over could result in injury to your rotator cuff
My focus is on the fundamentals! Making the service motion as simple and effortless as possible. No bouncing of the ball a zillion times. No unnecessary swaying of the body back and forth. No posing in the beginning. Just a simple toss followed by natural body motion mechanics and …. B A M !
Coach, after I watched your serve lesson with Shamir, I played a match and feels like I was serving like a pro, bombs on first serves, kick serves were jumping to the fences, but it went away afterwards lol 😂 is it possible to get it back?
This title makes no sense. I didn't see anything that indicated or suggested serving style over serving fundamentals. I think he needs to learn the difference between style and technique because it seemed to me that he was talking mainly about serving technique. Serve and Volley is a style of play
Related 👇
Forehand Style vs Fundamentals
👉 ua-cam.com/video/1fuThw4Wrq0/v-deo.html
The only elite part anywhere close to my game is being an elite Intuitive Tennis video watcher. 💯 😁
You are the right path
I really like how you differentiate between the variations a player can employ on the various aspects of a serve but still emphasizing that the fundamentals that have to be adhered too. For online advice you are one of the very best if the best teacher of tennis technique there is.
🙏
I find it extremely useful to film my serve motion and identify the key elements of the serve that I need to improve. Then I focus on only one element and consciously modify it in the practice section. I always come here for great advices and apply to myself. Now I am in the infinite loop of learning, practicing, and reviewing. This is going to be a long journey before I acquire the serve I want.
See you at 2032 Olympics. 😊 😉
I've been studying the serve for a couple of years. It is amazing, there are so many subtleties, you nail them.
Best tennis lesson ever.
Spectacular service breakdown. Most comprehensive and compelling I have ever seen
Love how you site WTA players when giving examples. Don't see this in most other instructional vids.
Always
Its great to hear about all the variations in style that are possible and also your advice on what usually works best for the recreational player.
This video is a good roundup of all the previous serve videos you have released Nick. I like the serve, and especially as its the only shot in tennis you can easily practice by yourself i.e. you don't need a ball machine. As you say even though there are a variety of serve styles, which are mainly noticeable in the routine at the start of the serve motion, there are fundamentals common to all. I myself think the most common problems are a poor ball toss, or players not having confidence in using a continental grip, so they pat the ball in with a waiters tray serve. And also players should be hitting up and out to the ball, rather than forward. I like your past tip about correcting the racket drop leak by bending the wrist and opening the racket face at the start (a la Raonic, Medvedev) as that helped me with one of my issues on the serve. It's worth experimenting with different styles to find which one works for you but I suppose every player should have that one style that is reliable for them that they can use as a second serve for example.
Thank you sir, really good information on how to serve, i learn a lot from you.
your knowledge on pro players techniques is impressive. Thanks 👍
Thank you so much for showing that no matter the style it is the fundamentals for the swing that matter!
This is exceptional content. Thank you for putting this together, it’s useful for beginners right the way thru to returning advanced players who may be rediscovering their game. Well done.
Lagging the racquet behind the ball toss is the way to go for me. Great video Nick! 😀
Thank you
Again another great video. Thank you.
Your each and every video is par excellence.
Thanks again coach Nick
The is one of your best videos on serve! I was confused about whether flat serve has a slightly right-ward swing path(for a righty), You cleared that up for me! Thanks Nik!
Awesome, everything covered. I also refer you to the video that he talks about pronation, another excellent video.
Thank you for covering this topic. Over the years I’ve wondered if style influenced the amount of power or spin you can add to your serve.
Another great video, Nikola. Thank you.
Incredibly useful and well told.
Great analysis, structure and content. Thank you Nicola.
U r great coach 💗💗thnx 4 this useful channel 🙏🙏
Love how you covered the different professional players style. I am old so I am picked up on McEnroe. Sampras and Becker right away 👍 I did notice you didn’t mention the grip. I realize we teach the continental but do any of the top players slide a little towards the eastern backhand a little on the kick serve. Personally at 5’5” this helps me get a little better angle on the racquet head, more loop and spin to hit the Add side wide so it pulls right hand opponents wide.
Thanks for the video. Your content has been very useful. Can’t wait for more!
Great video….thanks
Comprehensive compendium of serve style variations Nick, excellent work, thank you.
great chanel, keep the great work ! watching from belgium
I have watched many hours of instructional videos trying to perfect my serve. I also have put in the time on court hitting buckets of balls ( 200 balls 3-4 times a week) and I still haven’t achieved a reliable serve. I just can’t seem to get a deep racquet drop and after watching a video of my serve, I looked stiff and rigid and there’s no fluidity to it. Without a ball and when I do my shadow swings it looks and feels good; but, as soon as I start serving with a ball the problems start all over again. I tried all 3 types of take back and the lag is the one that I feel most comfortable with; but I still can’t achieve a deep racquet drop. My ground strokes are pretty solid and I practiced them many hours on a ball machine; but my serve is holding me back and frustration is starting to set in. Any thoughts? Thanks
I’ll cover it in a separate video
Have been a High School tennis coach and PTR certified teacher for many years. In my experience the most challenging part of teaching is correcting improper technique. You can watch a video or watch a demonstration on court but that is not the same as having an experienced teacher actually take you through a corrective process on court. Demonstration is easy but getting a student to change requires teaching experience.
I have literally the same problems. Racket drop and properly pronating into contact are my nemesis.
@@thomasmedeiros5722 I'm a High School player in the process of correcting improper technique. It's incredibly frustrating at times but I'm finally making solid progress. In my experience, you just have to find cues that actually make it "click" with whatever you're trying to correct, and eventually, you can get to the point where you no longer need those cues.
I feel exactly the same
Excelente explicación, muy completa
I really appreciate your videos and have tried to implement them in my practice. My serve technique is getting better but I struggle most with the toss as it keeps going in different directions. They can either be slightly more in front of me than I want, to the sides or behind my head. I wonder if you could make a video about how to have a good and consistent toss that allows the ball to be in the position that you want it to be every time you toss.
ua-cam.com/video/Ui2-wDmNGFY/v-deo.html
Hi Nick, great explanations as always! Could you please make a video of slinger ball machine drills with settings? Thanks.
thanks again Nick! I know that you are a tireless sports researcher and you have come to conclusions that help us better understand the intuitive part of tennis. I also know that each of us are different, with different bodies, different motor relationships, etc, but can you tell us an estimated cognitive time to achieve a stable service? Thank you
Different for each player
This is a great video and very very helpful thank you very much I’m just wondering how hard is your hardest fastest serve thanks so much for this wonderful video! 🎾🏆
Used to be in the 120’s now probably a tad slower
Thanks!
When do you post two hand backhand online class in your website? I am waiting!
Couple of months
Please do a video on the 'right to left'.
I'm having trouble getting a good drop, with my elbow above hand like yours. Its almost there but I think I may be initiating too early but I've also heard Ric Macci say that you shouldn't drive when the racket is behind you. I've also heard that you should drive when the racket passes over the head on the right to left but this gives me a shallow drop. I've had some success doing a full 180 degrees right to left and driving towards the end of that flipping the racket back. Help!
Thanks, good video
It was a very useful video thxx You are amazing
🙏
Great video, as always!
First of all thanks, I especially like the first part and I will try to adopt the lag and side take back.
I find it interesting that you say that the racquet drop and pronation happens as a result of acceleration. That also implies that failure to have a deep racquet drop is due to failing to accelerate. Therefore, I wonder - what do people, including me, do wrong so that they fail to accelerate and thus have a shallow racquet drop?
Thanks…very important distinction
On loading position, if I do Sampras serve - toss ball in front, and stretch hip forward during loading, the hitting point is naturally more inside the court, but is lower vs if I don’t stretch hip and hit ball closer to the line (Federer serve) where I can leap at hitting point. Can you compare the two?
Appreciate you putting out free content online and should thank you for it. What's I'd like to say is like many coaches on here, you talk too much and show too little - you should strive to balance your vids more. Anyway keep up the work.
Hi Nick, I have changed to pinpint serve to get max power. But in a pinpoint serve, instead of moving the back leg to front, I am naturally able to move the front leg to the back leg, jump and able to serve with much power than normal pinpoint serve. Is that a good technique?
What about Matteo Berettini's serve? His is quite unique.
What is the best serve style for a smaller stature adult? Meaning average or less than average wingspan.
you left out that weird Eastern Euro bit about starting from the ready position holding the ball at the end of the racket. I think Goran started it, but Karatsav has taken it next level...
Love the videos Nic! Could you cover the contact point on the serve? Racket to forearm angle, shoulders opening vs staying more sideways, etc. I noticed that when my racket is straight up towards the sky at contact for flat serve, I lack finishing pronation and my whole arm comes down straight. If I try to focus and make my racket more angled from my forearm at contact I get the full finishing pronation. Takes a lot of stress off my arm decelerating the racket. Any drills would be awesome!
hello could you analyze Marcelo Rios Slice Serve ??
coach, I am a righty. But when a serve, I am affraid of hitting my knees when landing on my left leg. Could I jump up and land in the right leg?
Can you please analyse Iga serve style
hey can you please tell me where to pause the racquet while serving.?
Ideally nowhere
Ability to snap from trophy position for power and speed.
When I was learning largely as an auto didactic, self taught in golf. This was the most difficult question, what are the essential fundamentals, what is the difference between a hit and a miss...it was even more confusing as the greatest most famous golfers in hindsight didn't know:
For instance Ben Hogan in about 1953 writes the fundamentals of golf: although there were elements of truth he couldn't see the difference between his style and what is essential:
Grip... your only contact with the club
Stance...balance, movement
Backswing.... creation of time and room and coil/turn
Downswing.... everything that has gone before is just preparation for the kinetic chain to fire off: in golf it's on the left side for a right handed player. Finally on the downswing the hitting path is from the inside, curving from behind you.
In short can you generate centrifugal forces, from left side pulling action and hit from the inside....most cannot hit from the inside....
Hey Nick. Im an amateur level player, picked up the game roughly a year ago, and i really can't serve well. Im 6'3, i feel like my game has improved as a whole except for my serve. Would you say taking a bunch of balls and just serving over and over would help me, or is it something that leads to injury since i don't do it correctly? Cheers.
You should set up a session to work with a coach in-person to work on your serve. If you don't yet have good fundamentals (biomechanically) on the service motion, hitting a ton of serves over and over could result in injury to your rotator cuff
My focus is on the fundamentals! Making the service motion as simple and effortless as possible. No bouncing of the ball a zillion times. No unnecessary swaying of the body back and forth. No posing in the beginning. Just a simple toss followed by natural body motion mechanics and …. B A M !
How can I consistency on my groundstroke ? Please
Practice against wall
Coach, after I watched your serve lesson with Shamir, I played a match and feels like I was serving like a pro, bombs on first serves, kick serves were jumping to the fences, but it went away afterwards lol 😂 is it possible to get it back?
Türkçe altyazı açabilir misin?
More slow motion pleas.
👍
Great! But too quick. There is much more to say ...like style v toss v weight distribution. IMO
Jannik Sinner has just switched from pinpoint to platform stance.
DELBONIS !!!
Ok
This title makes no sense. I didn't see anything that indicated or suggested serving style over serving fundamentals. I think he needs to learn the difference between style and technique because it seemed to me that he was talking mainly about serving technique. Serve and Volley is a style of play
Iam playing tennis you are playing tennis yes or no
It is a nice video but not much more than what you are unble
You talk too much.
Fundamentals for a weak serve.