Why It's Almost Impossible to Hit a 160 MPH Tennis Serve | WIRED
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- Опубліковано 11 лип 2019
- Some of the best tennis players have incredibly fast serve speeds. The fastest official serve is 157 MPH, but could it be even faster? WIRED's Robbie Gonzalez looks into the science and skill of sizzling serves.
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Why It's Almost Impossible to Hit a 160 MPH Tennis Serve | WIRED - Наука та технологія
- What's wrong with my serve?
- It's technique.
The polite way to say: "everything my dude".
“Why can’t I serve more than 77 mph”
“Because you’re serving with a forehand grip”
@master 0393 its not the grip but the motion itself as well.
becker served with a forehand grip
Also he’s holding the racket so high up the handle it hurts my eyes
You can hit a flat serve pretty fast with a forehand grip, but forget about hitting other serve types
@@banana-dw3ez lol!! Didn't notice it till you mentioned it
When a professional says your technique is your hindering factor it is really code for "everything"
Well, I've competed professionally, and have been training for about 15 years, and Blanch here is hindered by his technique for sure.
Well it’s not strength or flexibility his technique is horrible
@@robbieezc907 how about you explain it.
@GasGasGasJr that is just not correct, I guarantee you all top 500 players would be able to run a marathon, they are extremely athletic to be able to sprint back and forth while hitting balls in excess of 100mph for periods of 1-2 hours
@GasGasGasJr I completely agree! To hit a perfect serve or hit good shots is all about technique and focus. Athleticism is important too but for different reasons. Rallies, reaching drop shots, lobs (short sprint) and to maintain your level for 2-5 hours on court.
The pros make tennis look so easy and simple but underneath that simplicity lies years of grueling practice, precision, coordination and skills. I love tennis
A nice summary of every practiced talent :)
Like most sports it only proves how human beings love to complicate everything. It would be too easy to just hit the ball back and forth. People have to put a net in between and draw lines around a "court." And you have to score "points" in order to "win." Because it isn't worth doing if you can't "win."
But then they make way too many mistakes anyway.
Life Reflector Yeah but some people make it seem so hard I’m in seventh grade I’ve only played tennis for 1 year when I was eight but some people played there whole life but I can easily beat them. Same thing with volleyball it’s so easy I can easily beat a lot of people in some sports. IDK why I wrote this comment but yeah
@ferzy09 with the right coaching, it is pretty easy to play well.
I'm surprised no one told you how atrocious your grip on the raquet was.
Libegonalons i thought mine was bad, but that was something else. changing the grip would’ve helped a lot
@@Senor-Equis Yeah.
I mean, it's the first thing you learn when praticing serves...
Libegonalons i didn’t have the best coach. i didn’t learn till 3 years after. but once i did it was over
we always called that the frying pan grip.
That analysis they do @6:34 perfectly highlights the result of the bad grip vs the proper grip. Those little tweaks make a big difference.
257,5 km/h or 71,5 m/s for everyone else
I was about to serve this info to the rest of the world too, thank you!
Thanks
@@nicolasmedina8207 Physicists are using this unit all the time
thank you for speaking my language
@@svensaathoff4570 but not normal people
Seeing that in super-slo-mo makes it look like a miracle of coordination.
It is
That's what endless repetition looks like.
Oliver Greer u do also need a bit of talent too
@@benwilson9213 no
@@AxelVb if you can shovel coal you can learn to code aye?
I can see a parody of this: "Why It's Almost Impossible to Run 200 mph | WIRED"
it's nice
"Why it's Almost Impossible to Jump 3000 feet."
"Why it's Almost Impossible to Walk on Water | WIRED"
“Why it”s almost impossible to digest concrete.”
Except there has been a tennis player who served over 160mph... So bad comparison.
Thanks! I always wondered why I got 159MPH! Appreciate it man!
*159.9 actually
But your car dont even drive that fast
@@wasabikimchi7891 Oh you think my car cant drive that fast huh ?
HAHAHAHA,
Amateur,
I dont have a car.
@@klaweyrus7651 noice, very Noice indeed
I can serve at nearly 100 mph and I’m 14
Nick Kyrgios underhand serve is better
🤣 So funny when I first saw him do that. Seems like it shouldn't be allowed. But if it works then why not.
daximilian Lol it’s so dirty 😂
LOL it is, and underhand should be allowed for sure it’s a tactic, it follows the rules lol
Far better
Yasssssss
your grip of the racket is a big no
Semi western serve is the new meta
Grayson Gillaspia no
@@Sunny-of8vk please dont
@@Sunny-of8vkyeah for a forehand
this is true but in the time frame that they are working in, it is a lot easier to j go w the semi western grip then to switch them to continental. for the sake of the video they did the right thing
If they hadn't reduced the pressure in the balls twice since 1990, serves would be going over 160mph.
So the reason we won't see 160mph is because it is hard to do - great.. I was assuming there was some Physics calculation based on terminal velocity or something..
boundertube well the ball can obviously travel that fast
boundertube
*me too wtf*
But somebody did already he said
You must be new to this series
because the ball is too fluffy
Professional Tennis is the hardest sport in the world in my opinion. It’s individual with no coaching allowed on the men’s side. You need extreme physical fitness for long matches, or short matches with intense points. You have to have skill like in golf but with your racquet. And you also have to have extreme mental toughness and intelligence to play different types of opponents. And you have to do this year round Internationally in different time zones on different surfaces.
wait i thought coaching was allowed
Ez boy! I rather play tennis then soccer, orbasket ball! No body impactnp injuries
Orfeas Zemanaj Only women can be coached, they get like 3 sessions a match or something
RoSmash women can’t be coached at all
Tommy Rooch Women are allowed to be coached. Only in the Grand Slams women aren’t allowed to be coached. Check your facts before arguing, every event on the WTA Tour except the Grand Slams women are allowed to be coached.
Vice: 'It's almost impossible to hit a 160 mph serve'
Sam Groth: 'Get outta town mate'
I played against Reilly a couple times in Florida when we were 16, and his serve was by far the most consistently devastating I ever played against. Seeing him wreck tour players (like the Stan) with that serve now makes me feel a bit better lol...His height certainly helps but more so did his hitting a thousand plus serves every day... Repetition gets aces!
Next: Why It’s Almost Impossible to Beat Your Meat 15x In a Row | WIRED
Oh trust me...its not
JJohn Hipp It hurts when you do it everyday
It's actually 63
It’s actually not even not that hard tbh lmfao
I'm more of a marathon beater....one long sesh like hitting the gas then the brakes then the gas then the brakes hahahaha
Simply by using the correct grip - continental, you'd have increased your serve speed by an easy 10mph and more importantly consistency by triple fold.
Also he isn’t loose, his wrist is too tight
I wouldn't say his consistency would improve because let's be real, if you've never used continental grip you feel like you're relearning tennis.
160mph almost impossible?
Sam Groth says: hold my bevvie.
He was a semi pro AFL player (Aussie Rules) few months before doing that serve so can totally believe he hit that speed.
Thanks for the video! I love what Andy Roddick said about tall players' serves. When asked what it was like trying to return Isner's serve, he said it was like watching a serve come at you... *_out of a tree._* Classic A-Rod! Rikki Tikki.
Thanks Robbie, always love your Almost impossible vids... please do one for badminton!
Why it is almost impossible to hit a ... mph badminton serve? Thats pretty simple: The "ball" creates to much drag.
Yea exactly
Do one on badminton
I'd love to see them do one!
yes definitely a badminton one!!
Wii Sports tennis is the most epic and intense tennis
I've hurt my shoulder playing Wii Sports. 😆
Avery The Cuban-American 160 likes, what a coincidence!
One important factor not mentioned about the kinetic chain is the need to remain relaxed. The most common areas of tension is in the arm. Anywhere you are tensing up are choke points in the chain.
Bro, just switching to a continental grip adds one more swinging part to your serving apparatus, which adds 10 mph or so to your serve. You were using a regular forehand grip.
But, the continental grip is highly unintuitive in the beginning.
I mean I think theres allowances made for beginners because continental serves are more complex. Long run though for sure his speed will get capped with the frying pan grip
He could have added at least 3 MPH just by improving his grip lower down on the racket to increase leverage among other things.
Yea, and another 10 mph just by telling him to open up his chest and letting him practise that 3 minutes. And if they'd spend like 3 minutes more on keeping the knees straight he could be doing some 90+ mph I guess. And that would make the comparison sooo much more interesting...
@@rostislavsvoboda7013 Yeah for a guy like the host, that obviously has some level of general athletic ability, those should be easy changes to make. Biggest problem is that he has to hit up on the ball which feels like a really counterintuitive movement for a while until you get the hang of it.
Love this series and I love the research and writing that goes into it. Keep it up!
Awesome video! This is my favorite UA-camr series right now keep up the content!
“teNniS iSn’T A sPoRt”
“TeNnIs Is eAsY”
@@finneeeeas my football and volleyball team
@@krisptea many guys on my highschool team are betas, so when they play it's not competitive
Never heard that before
@@lycanbane2070 same, unless the school is a good team, everyone besides the top two singles and one doubles are betas generally
Tennis is very tiring and is definitely a sport like ever time I see people who don’t play tennis try to play saying stuff like it’s easy the hit every shot out or into the net
You should do one video explaining why its impossible to bowl faster than 165kmph in cricket.
Really enjoy "why its almost impossible" series, keep it up.
Someone will achieve it one day
vivek sharma shut up indian
Where is my boy shaggy?
Give him a Scooby snack and he will hit a 420 mph serve
It would count, but because shaggy is too strong even tho he’s at .05% power, they consider Scooby snacks steroids
yeah and it will be in too
wish there would be a science analysis of novak's returning.
Lightning elastic reflex⚡
Spam flash.
I remember watching an analysis of his return. It's pretty much his timing of the split step. Novak likes to split step a bit earlier which allows him to be a bit more early on the ball.
Jeffrey which way he wants it on UA-cam channel
"it's one of the most exciting moments in any tennis match"
spoken like someone who's never seen Isner v Karlovic
Almost impossible. It’s possible for me and Aladeen
Almost impossible for humans. Not for gods like you oh Supreme Leader.
all hail supreme leaders
And every serve is an ace.
If only you had the time to compete in Wimbledon...
It is easy for you, my lord
Man: Hits 159.999 mph serve
WIRED: WhY It'S AlMoSt ImPosSibBle tO HiT a 160 mph SeRvE
I think you don't know what this series is about.
Phantom Stranger in a real game
Retsam bruh bruh bruh
Haha lol
Also, a big fat serve only focusing on pace sacrifices accuracy and deception, and at pro level, time might be better spent to shore up a more well rounded serve and focus on other parts of your game. When Fed battled Roddick all those times, Roddick being able to serve 15 mph faster than Roger had marginal effects in covering up the fact that Fed had far superior ground strokes.
"Why It's Almost Impossible to [insert random sporting event] at [insert numerical value] | WIRED"
You act like it is not interesting and good content.
@Jack Jacobs "Most of the time" you have to be interested enough to watch most of them to be able to make that claim
Eaglefrost I enjoy them even if they never really say why it’s impossible
Can we get non-freedom units please?
Furzi furz 257 km/h
@@brynmcdougald2418 nah school shootings per suburb is better.
Lmao
Furzi furz is that really what you say
Sure, slave units are 257 km/h
For the whole world using metric units, here is small “conversion table” for better understanding:
Mph = Km/h
77 = 124
100 = 161
110 = 177
120 = 193
150 = 241,4
160 = 257,5
upvoted, I hate international channels that only prioritize their own language
some invaluable insight into the sport here. might have even learned a few things to take to the courts next time I'm working on serving, thanks!
Note that the ball doesn't roll along the face of the racket - a large face can result in more spin because the strings can be spaced further apart so is able to have more bite into the ball resulting in higher spin rate.
When the tennis ball hit the camera it scared me so bad because for a split second I was convinced a tennis ball was about to hit my face
Ohhh..isn't that cute
77 mph for an absolute beginner is really not that bad, I've been playing the sport for eight years, had my speed measured once and it was also about 77 mph. Just hitting your serve fast makes it predictable though, adding all kinds of funky spin can make your serve much more difficult to deal with than just a fast serve.
The guy is athletic with good timing. He just thinks he's playing volleyball and wasting most of his energy.
Random PC-User That was 77mph without any regard for hitting it into the service box. He was just hitting it hard into a tarp. Everyone will hit it harder in that scenario.
well tbh it actually surprisingly has to do with height a kid thats a begineer will hit it at like 30-40 because its a shorter apex
Love this series! Please try to do a volleyball one!
1:33
I flinched so hard, i fell of my chair 😂
Samuel Groth of Australia achieved a World Record of the fastest serve ever in tennis history with a service speed of 163.7 mph (263.4 kph) at the Busan Open 2012 Challenger Event.
@Anne Mio You sure?
What's the tournament?
He mentioned this in the video
Being too tall is not too good for tennis though, you win in the serve department but not so helpful in everything else. Tall people usually have weaker kness and a higher center of gravity which is harder for tennis. That's why all the great tennis players are usually about 185cm (6.2 feet): Federer, Nadal, Djokovic, Sampras)
Except for Djokovic they are all 6' 1".
@@andrewscott7728 185cm is 6'1" ..
@@truefunksoul8638 Thanks, but you meant to say this to the guy above me, but as you can see I already corrected him.
9:50 I think I saw this guy in one of backstage videos when he is chilling with Novak Jokovich over his impressions of other tennis players
I remember back in the 80's the South African player Yohan Kriek who was only about 5'9" tall, one year on the tour he served the most aces. He also served the most double faults that year, but boy was he great to watch!
You should have asked Dustin Brown to serve, cause when he hits the ball, the ball catches on fire.
Tennis Player: does an extremely fast serve
My uncle who knows nothing about sports: *_TOUCHDOWN_*
obviously he's not a golfer
Love that. I hoped to see a tennis video, it’s great. What they didn’t say was on that Sam Groth serve, the ball had hit the back wall and bounced back onto the outside of the court before the guy even got his racquet into his strike zone. It was hilarious 😂
Great video. Its clearly contains good information and its not boring at the same time.
I would welcome an analysis of Schwartzmann's serve. He must do a lot to get it over fast.
Surprisingly no, Diego’s serve is pretty much the same as everyone else’s. Has to make contact with the ball decently far over the baseline to compensate for his lack of height
Diego also uses an extended length racquet
I'd love to see one of these videos on the badminton smash. The fastest recorded is 306.3 mph (493 kph).
By who btw?? Is it Fu haifeng
Wow, really?? That's incredibly fast. Would not have imagined that with a badminton shuttle.
Arief Alqori Tan Boon Heong
David Clinging but you still only rough have 0.15 to 0.30 seconds to properly react
Wow that almost as fast as a bullet.
This video is better serve coaching than most videos dedicated to teaching serving
I liked the video. Very useful. I would like to see a video to improve my attention on the ball and eye coordination. I once saw in a tournament that the player was with the coach doing some exercises in which the coach threw the ball at him and the player grabbed it with his hand. I think that's what I'm talking about. What other exercises can be done to improve my focus on the ball?. Thanks for your videos.
Seeing his grip and the way he serves, is kinda making me forget how to serve 😵😶
Metric units in Wired videos: almost impossible.
I don't know why but the speed meter in Wimbledon was in mph... it's probably like that everywhere in tennis. So maybe it's just custom to use the imperial system in tennis.
@@UroOnCyberscore the UK uses imperial speed and miles for driving.
They used it for the shotput video
That GoPro breaking was some solid content haha love it. Tsonga is easily thee most scariest dude blasting serves at you lol dude is aggressive
9:51
Ok that guy to the left of his head is frieza and you can’t convine me otherwise
I love that WIRED are including this the exact same time Wimbledon is going on.
its fun
It's crazy how Novak can return all those big serves. He get's rarely aced.
And today he got aced over 10 times by medvedev
@@ml_gamer8344 hajsjjajajahajajaja
Also you need to change your grip to a proper server grip..that will add a lot of mph
Really excellent video. Better than anything I've seen on any tennis channel!
Man, back when I was in high school learning tennis I would have loved a video like this. Those were the early days of UA-cam when I had to pause videos to break down forms myself.
First thing to learn is the grip. You're welcome ;)
loved the videos.I just wish you could do a video on badminton
This is such a solid and profound video that you can't but have your hat up!
Nobody:
Sam Groth: hold my beer
Video title is a bit clickbaity... not a lot of explanation as to why it's supposedly "almost impossible" to hit a 160mph serve. In fact, the presenter even said it at the end - that it IS possible, it just hasn't happened yet!
And in fact, it has... Sam Groth did it. It just wasn't officially recognised.
It just wasn't officially recognised because it just wasn't officially correct .. ever considered a faulty radar speed? Show me any other instance of Groth even serving 150 let alone 160 .. he never did that, but we're supposed to believe he just suddenly served at 10% faster than at any other time in his career? No.
Such a great breakdown of serve technique
The best example to "height isn't everything" is Roddick. He truly perfected the technique, it is the most explosive serve motion i've ever seen, even till today.
Not even sure if it's technique so much, i feel with him it's just incredible acceleration. Same with his forehand.
Can you do a why it’s almost impossible to hit a baseball over 600 feet
haha I was about to say, "well Andy Roddick isn't that tall and he served at 155mph" but then he literally brought him up right after that.
I love these vids. Keep doin this man!
imagine getting attacked but you got a pro tennis player with his racket and ball as your body guard
wired: imma go look for a world record and add +1 mph and say its almost impossible
It’s 2am and I’m here watching why it’s almost impossible to serve a 160 ball 🥴
when he hit the camera i literally shat myself
Sports science guy didn't hold back lol
They really should have picked someone who actually could play tennis recreationally to do this video
Yo, I played on that USTA court
I played on the clay one.
@@pouryavali3493 its called har-tru, not clay, despite the wrong "green clay" name for it, is actually basalt
I never would have even thought to serve the way Robbie does lol. the way he falls back on his landing. it's kind of cute.
@WIRED You should do a bowling one for max rev rate. Keep making great content
"modern racket is well over 100 inches"
literally ALL pros play with racket head sizes under that...
A lot play with 100 or around 100 but ye only beginners play with well over 100
Many pros play with a 100, and the Williams sisters play with something like a 104. Serena Williams is one of the fastest servers on the WTA.
How hard is it to show the values in metric?
*impossible*
It's almost impossible, that's why
160 mph = 257 kmph
Wood Croft it says “MPH” in the title and thumbnail why did you click if you can’t convert
Can we also talk about pronating your wrist outwards? Changes the pace and topspin of the serve
I use that same exact racquet. It’s the 2018 Babolat Pure Drive
Nadal is one of the greatest ever and he rarely hits a flat serve.
Rafa is a great player and an OK server for ATP
Yeah, he hits slice because it goes to a righty's backhand and helps him open up the point. However, he hits a really good deuce side flat serve wide when he needs a big point.
This video misses the whole point that serve speed isn’t the most important thing ever. Placement is which is why most aces are at 115 mph
If you understand the body movements related to the this service you're able to learn master Lee's one inches punch.
Someone: serves at 160mph
Wired: why it’s almost impossible to serve 170mph
I’m a pro at the USTA National Campus. For technique, during the serve there is a wrist “snap” where the wrist is bent 90 degrees backwards then snaps forward upon impact through the ball and finishes forward 90 degrees. You see this when the pro is going up and into the ball with the butt cap pointed at the ball and after the follow through the butt cap is pointed up again at the sky. This is one of the most important aspects and all of the coiling/ upward momentum will generate more energy to transfer into the ball.
As racquet technology advances, more flexible materials are being made into the racquet to generate more power. Racquet stiffness plays a major role in how much power can be generated. As you increase stiffness, you sacrifice power. Babolat racquets are loaded in power due to their light frames. Professional players modify their racquets by inserting led tape within the handle and frame of the racquet. By adding weight in certain locations within their racquets, this allows pros to enhance their abilities to generate power.
Power in tennis refers to not just the speed of the ball but also the spin. Pros sacrifice the speed of their serves to add more spin. This is a strategic move because a ball with more spin feels heavy and is harder to return. Also, hitting the ball flat (less spin) requires more energy even with the same racquet head speed. That is why it is inefficient for pros to just go for speed alone. When players are low on energy, the first shot to go will be the serve.
Finally the strings play a major role in generating power. By putting in a full bed of 16 guage RPM Blast (poly) at 45 lbs, you will significantly increase the “pop” on the ball. This creates a trampoline effect with your strings allowing you carry the ball on your strings for a longer period of time then launch it off in the direction you desire.
All in all, this is an awesome video and you guys did an incredible job with your research and attention to detail. I would love to see more videos like this in the future! Thank you for making this!
I do not believe you
Jim Bob nah man his real deal messing with the wrong guy ....
focusedtennis.net/team/brandon/
What don't you believe? This is all pretty standard stuff. I say this as someone with lead tape applied to give my frame greater mass without changing the balance (counterweight inside the handle).
@@JimBobe
Agree, this video and comments of Brandon Sullins haves some correct information mixed with a majority of incorrect false, marketing, misleading even harmful information, thus unreliable, unacceptable no matter the certification or title.
Sincerely
:-)
When someone eventually does hit a 160 MPH Tennis Serve, post another video about Why It's Almost Impossible to Hit a 170 MPH Tennis Serve.
You oly have half a second to react.
Baseball players: Pitiful
This is a fun series. Thanks!
I mean it’s just typical to at least include the “tennis legends” name
Shoaib Akhtar: "thats cute"
cricket fans, if you know, you know
He bowled at 160 kph that is 100 miles per hour stupid idiot.
Given that many parts of the world televise pro tennis using metric system and also use the metric system, would it be useful to include the km conversions as well during the video?
Roscoe Tanner was a high-ranked player of the 1970's, 1980's, who was clocked in the 150's.