Have you every seen a tennis player hitting a really fast serve effortlessly?
For most club players the serve is a puzzle that’s hard to crack; in fact the more effort you put in, the less effective the serve is.
There must be something else besides “correct” tennis serve technique that generates this effortless power…
This is just a sample of the full Serve Unlocked video course. Two more videos are coming in the next few days…
This makes a lot of sense to me. In similar applications
like hitting forhamds and back hands, I try to pay more
attention on where I hit the ball and less attention
On how I hit the ball. I learend this from watching some of your prior feel tennis videos It has helped
To improve my tennis skills
Thanks you very muuch
Jerold
Thanks, Jerold. It’s always a good idea to let go of aiming when introducing a new technical element into any stroke.
That’s because with a new element you are introducing a disturbance into your current technique and that will cause errors.
So you need to allow “errors” before the new movement is integrated with your body.
Dear Tomaz,
thankyou for your excellent coaching tips on the serve which I have found extremely useful. YOu have explained techniques that no other coaches have told me, and they make complete sense. I did some practice the other day and was pinging my serves down thanks to your explanations. I wish I could have you as my coach in England. Thankyou very much. Alan Vawdrey
Thanks for the kind feedback, Alan! Hopefully I’ll be adding more tips in the near future…
Tomaz.
Another great video on tennis serve. As usual, simple and natural approach……momentum……Cant wait for my tennis area to open so I can put your great advises to action.
Many thanks and regards.
Jean
Looking forward to your feedback, Jean – and a video of how you’re doing!
Very Nice Tomaz, stay in the moment, stay in the momentum
Tomaz
I continue to be very impressed with your direct and non complex manner of communicating the fundamentals of the game. This one on the serve is top of the list as it creates an instant or rapid mental image which can be readily adopted in action by the average tennis player, like me, who may have been bogged down by many other “intricate” or complex instructions found in many other courses. Like I have been.
Thanks and keep up your good work.
Thanks, George.
The process of building energy is very familiar to all of us since we all used swings as kids and felt very early how to add an impulse of energy at the right time to keep the swing going…
The same principle is used with a tennis serve when we want to accelerate the racquet – and on top of that foundation we can play with serve technique to “polish” it.
Am as appreciative as always about your insightful analysis and easy style of presentation. In this respect you are the best instructor I know of.
Thanks once again, Tomaz.
You’re very welcome, Tarlochan.
thanks Tomaz. i tried it this morning. it felt like the idea added maybe 5-10 mph to my serve. i could feel how relaxed my arm and back were somewhere around the “trophy” position phase. really satisfying feeling on impact! i just concentrated on momentum and getting the ball in the middle of the strings. this is how i’d like to be playing tennis, thank you again!
Wonderful, you are on the right track! The feel for amplifying the momentum will improve over time and you’ll need less and less effort to hit fast tennis serves.
Tomaz
Excellent !!!!! Info about the momentum and their
Advantages effortless means more power letting and learning to
apply that energy thanks
Tomaz, I understand that it takes very little effort to amplify the momentum of the racquet (as you demonstrate with the Total Serve) once it is in motion. It is easy to add to the existing momentum when the racquet or training device is already spinning. But on a serve, we must get the racquet from a motionless state up to maximum speed with only one impulse. Possibly two if you think of the changes (1) from trophy position to drop and then up and (2) the final wrist movement (“snap” or pronation) as two impulses. Can you explain the best way to get the racquet to maximum speed from these one or two impulses? Thanks.
Hi Andrew, it’s best that you watch me carefully do it. The movement starts with the backswing which is actually initiated with the body and not with the arm.
The arm follows the body – as the body “rocks” backwards slightly to begin the movement.
Then we swing effortlessly towards the trophy position but here we don’t lock or become tense but rather start rotating the shoulders and keep a very loose arm.
The arm will “fall behind” and will then catch up and that’s how it will accelerate.
This drill for feeling the acceleration that I showed before is the key to developing power.
This MUST be repeated so often until it is grooved in. Information about this movement WILL NOT produce it. You will need hundreds if not thousands of repetitions.
Good stuff, Tomaz. I have an abreviated serve motion where I start with the racquet over my shoulder but your principles still work as the racquet drops down my back and comes up into the ball. I sacrifice some power from this starting point but my timing is easier and my confidance is much higher , less things to go wrong at the crucial parts of the match.
Also, I like your instruction because it is conceptual. I can sometimes take your ideas straight to the court and apply them during a match. This one: Amplify the momentum, helped loosen up my serve motion in a match without any practice at all, just thinking about your concepts and metaphors made a difference.
Tomaz,
thank you so much, it very long time that I try to serve with power and the only thing I got is a shoulder pain.
Yesterday, after seeing your “momentum” explanation, everything has changed; I have now understood much better how a serve works.
I have seen so many video from several sites about the serve and how to serve but no one has opened my mind like your video.
I have to say that I’d like very much how you explain concept and specially your approach to the feeling.
again, thanks and cheers from Italy
You’re very welcome, Ronnie! Stay in touch…
Tomaz
Thank you for the tips . I have in my notebook exactly 100 tips on the serve, but it is the only stroke that I have remained poor at. When I have practiced them at home without actually hitting balls, I have always felt uncomfortable and have not seen any improvement on the court. I have been swing the racquet at home again using your instructions and my swing now feels much more effortless and balanced.. I can’t wait to get out to the court tomorrow. Incidentally I have always learned the most in any sport by experiencing the FEEL of any change. thanks again ED
You’re very welcome, Ed, thanks for stopping by! One more serve tip coming up soon…
Tomaz’s tips are great. Another excersize that i have found very helpful is to take an old tennis racquet and throw it up in the air as high as you can using the service motion. You will naturally start to use the kinetic chain that starts in your feet and travels up your body to help you whip the racquet up to maximum velocity.
Try to throw the racquet up and forward at about a 75 degree angle to simulate where you would contact the ball.
When i visualise throwing the racquet up through the ball, my serve becomes more powerful. I just need to remember not to release the racquet so i have something to hit the next shot with. 8~)
Wonderful instruction. I’ve watched a really old video of Borg where the former Indian great Vijay Amritraj beat him at the US open. If you look at this video of Vijay’s serve, it illustrates exactly what you’re saying….effortless, fluid. I always wondered how he was doing it. Your instruction brings it together for me. Want to go to the courts and try it out now.
Tomaz,
I have taken a number of tennis serve lessons and have watched hours of videos online but none come close to your explanation on how to use body (momentum) for powerful serves. I’m glad I watched this video. Your explanation is simply superb and thanks for the good work.
Raj
Thanks a lot, Raj. Stay in touch!
This is terrific, to have it there so clear. I have been working on rebuilding my serve for a while, and doing therapeutic massage and a lot of stretching to to be able to let the racket drop lower and to relax through the movement, so it was at a good time that I found your lesson on the “two momentums.” I took it the courts early the next day to play with it, and among the first dozen balls I hit using the second drill, one bounced just beyond the service line at the T and kicked about waist high and just nailed the back fence at that height. Never had hit one like that before. But you are right. You need to hit many, many balls to internalize the movement and the feeling.
Hi Tomaz,
As an intermediate player who doesn’t yet have an “unlocked” serve, how should I be serving when playing games/sets/matches? My main goal is to put the ball in play, hopefully on my first serve, without developing bad habits. Should I do something like you do in your minimum effort drill? Or maybe something like you do in the slice serve drill?
I hope you understand my question. The point is, I want to do something that will put me on the right path, even though a really good serve seems a long way away at this point.
Thanks! Zac
Hi Zac,
I understand your question. The key thing to avoid when playing points is forcing the serve.
You may want to hit aces or winners like the pros do and you’ll try and serve very hard. If you don’t yet feel the principle of effortless power then you will inevitably muscle the serve and break down the technique even more.
So stay within your “speed limit”.
The other most common issue is controlling the serve too much – meaning you think about “not missing”.
That will also cause tension and hold back your improvement.
Therefore serve with the feel of “throwing” and releasing the racquet through the contact point rather than “pushing” the ball.
Hi , fantastic video !! would you have a similar video concerning the forehand ; a video about the momentum of the groundstrokes or the forehand ? really appreciated . maybe I could release more then.
thanks for your answer.
[…] from the racquet through the ball toward the target instead of a more circular motion that creates angular momentum which in turn produces more speed; […]
Learn to throw a fastball in baseball to learn to play an effortless fast serve. The feel is the same, makes your serve very accurate and delivers the serve with the desired spin and power much easier than any other technique. It focuses on the natural pivot of the arm and results in natural transfer of momentum of the rest of the body.
The best serve lesson I’ve ever encountered.