What elements of tennis serve technique make the top professional tennis players able to blast 100 MPH serves at will? Why are the key areas for a tennis player to focus on in order to achieve the proper tennis serve technique?

The tennis serve is largely made up of the tennis technique. Players who are able to consistently generate powerful serves with heavy spin have a large advantage over their weaker counterparts. On the tennis serve technique, the service motion is made up of very distinct elements which account for why players with great tennis serve’s are able to deliver the big explosive bomb at contact time and time again.

The serve technique involves mainly the kinetic chain synching all of the individual body parts together like the crack of a whip. Proper tennis serve technique involves utilizing the entire body on the serve and timing the tennis serve with equisite accuracy. The power on the tennis serve is created mainly from the core, to the upper body all the way to the tennis racket handle and wrist (the final part of the kinetic chain) and all of this energy is transferred up to the point of contact. It is this exact timing of the energy transfer that results in the powerful tennis serves we see at the pro levels.

Tennis Serve Technique Comparison

Tennis players with poor tennis serve technique often lack the same timing on the serve. They often fail to utilize the entire body, and most of the time the tennis serve becomes an all arm tennis stroke. The end result is a stiff and weak serve. The players themselves may feel as if they are trying to hit the tennis serve as hard as they can, but they are still unable to crank up the power on their serve. This is mainly a result of tennis technique.

The pro tennis serve on the other hand, is often executed with perfect precision, accuracy and explosiveness. At times it may appear as if they are hitting the tennis serve with only half of their strength, but the velocity is still massive. Andy Roddick, for example has the most powerful tennis serve in the world thus far, and various accounts of his tennis serve practices are eye opening. Players have seen him virtually cut his tennis serve motion in half and start his racket in the trophy position and still blast powerful serves every time.

Pete Sampras, another great tennis serve model has one of the most fluid windups in the history of tennis. His tennis serve began with a very gradual and circular windup – where the power is stored until the very last moment at contact where Sampras was able to tee off on his tennis serve. This small delay, or lag as he took time to build the momentum was key in his ability to generate the power and spin at contact.

Pete Sampras Tennis Serve Technique

Tennis serve technique – The Power Sources

The tennis serve technique is not about brute force or strength, but about fluid and effortless timing. The tennis ball is not a heavy brick, so applying pure muscular force will do little to increase power on the tennis serve. On the other hand, maximizing the amount of levers in the tennis serve technique as well as timing the body and utilizing the entire body to create clean contact on the tennis serve is the proper way to achieve the tennis serve technique of the pros.

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A weak tennis serve will most definitely be a liability on a tennis player’s own service games. At the pro levels, holding serve is taken for granted – but at the recreational and club levels this is often not so. This is because professional tennis players normally always have strong serves, and this is due to no other than having technically sound tennis technique.

Tennis Serve Technique Qualities

The tennis serve technique may be one of the most complex motions to master, second only to the forehand. It involves many variables and no one tennis player has exactly the same swing. It’s key to remember that even though the swing shape on the tennis serve for most tennis player will be different, one must adhere to certain commonalities in tennis serve technique in order to achieve the maximum power and efficiency that tennis players are looking for at all levels of the game.

What are the commonalities of proper tennis serve technique?

The grip on the tennis serve is primarily the continental grip. This places the hand and racket at a optimal position for the serve and allows a player to properly hit up and pronate. Any other tennis serve grip would only be detrimental. technique.

Second, having a small ritual prior to the serve is beneficial to set the stance and intiate the serve motion itself. Some players such as in Andy Roddick’s serve may begin the serve with only one or two bounces on the court, while others like Novak Djokovic may bounce the ball five or six or ten times prior to beginning the serve. This is a matter of personal preference.

Third, the weight transfer on the tennis serve is important. Tennis serve technique involves having the player stand on the baseline, with the weight evenly spread amongst the feet, or in some cases slightly forward or backwards. As the motion begins, all the players usually shift their weight forward into the court.

Fourth, the serve tennis technique is hallmarked by having a fluid, relaxed motion. Rushing or any tension in the tennis technique will only result in a poor and weak serve.

Common problems in tennis serve technique

A common tennis serve technique problem among club players is having an inadequate racket drop on the serve. This is called external rotation.

A pitcher, or a quarterback or in any other throwing sports understand that – – the arm must flex backwards and down prior to the release of the ball or in this case the tennis serve.

Notice the similarities between the players in both sports. The baseball pitcher must cock his hand and arm back into the loaded position which is similar to how Pete Sampras and the majority of top professional servers. From this position, it allows the tennis player to achieve maximum power and spin. This is just one of the elements of the tennis serve technique.

A common problem among some tennis players is the issue of having a “waiter’s tray” serve where the racket simply doesn’t drop beneath to achieve the maximum stretch, due to faulty tennis technique, improper grip or lack of shoulder and arm strength.

Learn the Tennis Serve Technique

The racket drop position is key to achieving a maximum drive upwards toward the ball. Think of it as making space for the racket to accelerate.

The tennis serve can be a difficult motion to master, but if a tennis player spends time learning the proper technique in the tennis serve, learning to serve properly will be less of an issue and you may even be on the path to achieving your ideal tennis serve technique.

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Learn How to Hit a Forehand Like Federer, Nadal and Djokovic

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