Comments on: How To Develop A Deep Drop / Loop In The Serve

By: Ivano

Ivano — Sat, 04 Apr 2020 13:38:35 +0000

In reply to Tomaz.

yes, I should see what you mean, Federer too is able to maintain the “momentum”, hammering with the racket edge in the ascending phase. What would you suggest to a new tennis player? Letting go of the Federer system and go on with the one you teach in your drill with maintaining the whole time the close racket face, leading always with the racket edge or trying contemporary both of them to see which of the two is more suitable for yourself?
meanwhile thanks so much for your response.

By: Tomaz

Tomaz — Fri, 03 Apr 2020 10:04:23 +0000

In reply to Ivano.

Federer has BRIEF moment of the racket angle at around 45 degrees during the backdrop.

Recreational tennis players who serve incorrectly with the “waiter’s serve” MAINTAIN THE WHOLE TIME the open racket face from the drop to the contact which causes a loss of power and risk of injury.

Federer’s slight open racket face turns back to the edge pointing upward in a split second and he is accelerating upwards towards the ball with the edge leading.

Recreational tennis players still lead / approach the ball with the racket face pointing at the ball.

By: Ivano

Ivano — Thu, 02 Apr 2020 18:33:14 +0000

Great lesson Tomaz, but I keep not understanding the difference between this racquet drop on the edge where you back in a request edge and exit in the opposite one. This appears to be the racquet drop used by Nadal. But Federer uses a to the backdrop with the face of his racket, not with the edge. What’s the difference? Federer movement can maintain the angular momentum you describe. It appears to me being important which system I should use.
Thanks In advance for your response.

By: Desi

Desi — Mon, 23 Dec 2019 17:36:58 +0000

In reply to David.

Glad you are improving your serve. My racquet drop is also very shallow and has caused shoulder bursitis issues in the past. For me, the issue is more mental because my brain thinks my shoulder will experience pain if i do deep drop. By being super relaxed and letting gravity drop the racquet, i am making slow progress.

I grew up playing cricket in India and that has caused the “bowling arm” serve instead of “baseball pitching arm” serve.

This is in my opinion one of the finest and most natural Tennis coaching sites. Tomaz, thank you!

By: Joakim Øster

Joakim Øster — Tue, 05 Dec 2017 23:08:53 +0000

In reply to Joakim Øster.

Oops, forgot the link:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aRn7MHnFDvw&t=455s&ab_channel=USOpenTennisChampionships

By: Joakim Øster

Joakim Øster — Tue, 05 Dec 2017 23:08:01 +0000

Thanks for the video Tomaz!
Talking about being lose, relaxed and practicing in slow motion, I love watching this video of Venus practicing, this is her practice session before a match the same day, and during the 5 minutes she practices serve she’s obviously just focusing on her rhythm, NOT on hitting fast serves, AND she’s the one that actually held the 207 km/h (129 mph) fastest woman serve record (until Lisicki made it 131 mph last year)
So, I think this proves your points…
Another point is this; after practicing serves she practices returning serves, so her hitting partner has to do the serves, and if you watch carefully you will see him do the “loop drill” just before that 🙂
Best, Joakim

By: David

David — Wed, 19 Aug 2015 07:48:18 +0000

This guy is superb. He has opened my eyes to why my serve has always been the worst part of my game. I always thought of the serve in a linear way and never circular loopy way. I have already started working on my first racket drop. Today I was shocked at all the free energy I was getting. I was very nervous but I decided to just to be super relax and let gravity do the work. The racket was not dropping as low as the pros but went from my usual head level to maybe Mid-back level. Even that produced much more spin and power. I will need several more weeks of hard practice to really ingrain this and build confidence.
Then we can talk about my lack of pronation. The rest of my serve is pretty solid with the ball toss and trophy position. But the racket drop is often left out too much. Great videos!! David Goldfarb

By: Tomaz

Tomaz — Mon, 30 Mar 2015 00:14:50 +0000

In reply to Dave. You're very welcome, Dave. Thanks for your feedback. More tennis videos on the way...

By: Dave

Dave — Sun, 29 Mar 2015 21:57:28 +0000

Tomaz, thank you for an unbelievably great video.
I’ve been trying to go through the serve action but it was in hindsight, all too mechanical.
I’d not placed enough importance on the throwing action. I did initially but then forgot about it.
One look at your video and it’s immediately transformed my first and second serve action.
I’m keeping it all slow at the moment and letting it naturally increase in tempo as they continue to consistently drop in.
You’ve transformed my serve action and I’m now going to research your other videos to improve other areas of my game. Thank you.

By: Jermaine Burchell

Jermaine Burchell — Wed, 05 Nov 2014 19:29:34 +0000

In reply to Aine.

Perfect instructions, they make all the sense in the word. I am about to do my professional certification, these instructions will definately fine tune my service motion.
Thanks so much. Feels as if I have my personal coach.
Jermaine.