Comments on: Tennis Serve Toss For Flat, Top Spin And Slice Serves

By: Peter

Peter — Thu, 13 Oct 2016 22:22:37 +0000

Its true that for slice and flat serve ideal would be to toss the ball the same, but for a slice serve it is a bit easier to get the spin on the ball and the angle when you toss the ball a bit more to the right than your usual flat serve toss.

so flat is a straight toss, slice is a toss to the right and kick is a toss to the left (for a right handed person).

By: Tomaz

Tomaz — Tue, 15 Dec 2015 14:46:26 +0000

In reply to jp.

Thanks for the pointers, jp. The ball toss is never behind the baseline so that’s why there are also images from the side angle.

As for the ball toss, Federer wants to disguise his serve hence the tosses the ball in the same place.

When you’re learning a slice serve, you should toss the ball more to the right as it’s easier to produce a good slice serve and therefore feel better how to execute it.

Tossing as Federer does is the next stage of learning which is actually an expert level and I don’t recommend it for recreational tennis players.

By: jp

jp — Tue, 15 Dec 2015 14:32:42 +0000

Hi and congratulations for your work.
I find that the two pics showing the toss ball for slice and flat serve of RF could lead to misconceptions. Following the red line, it seems that the ball would fall down on the ground behind the player, which could lead to think that the ball should be tossed behind for flat and slice serves…
What is also strange is that the ball is more to the left for the slice serve when it’s commonly adviced to toss it more to the right.

By: Tomaz

Tomaz — Thu, 30 Jan 2014 09:35:38 +0000

In reply to Zach.

Hi Zach,

The first step in getting a consistent toss is knowing exactly where you want it. It’s NOT technique of the toss but rather knowing exact placement which you can imagine as a box above and in front and slightly to the right of you.

Step two is just trying to toss the ball into this box without much thinking of how you wanna do it, assuming the basics of tossing technique is there: straight arm, tossing together with the backswing, no use of wrist and fingers.

Step three is massive repetition and patience. 🙂

By: Zach

Zach — Wed, 29 Jan 2014 17:57:41 +0000

Hi Tomaz,

What’s the best way to create consistency in the toss? In this video you talk mainly about finding the correct placement, but once you’ve identified it, controlling the toss is obviously still a problem. Any tips?

Thanks! Zach

By: Tomaz

Tomaz — Fri, 07 Sep 2012 12:13:27 +0000

In reply to Dublin Stringer. Here's a link to Kohlschreiber's toss: Yes, he really shortened the tossing motion - interesting observation...

By: Dublin Stringer

Dublin Stringer — Thu, 06 Sep 2012 12:02:01 +0000

I was watching Kohlschreiber v Tipsarevic yesterday and noticed a very odd tossing action from Kohlschreiber. He’s doing extremely well this year, so I guess it must be working well for him, but any thoughts on why Philipp has decided to employ this new toss? My thinking is he’s just cutting out what is really an unnecessary drop of the tossing arm and therefore increasing the accuracy and consistency of his toss and therefore serve. Wasn’t Dementijeva doing something similarly funny before she retired.

By: Tomaz

Tomaz — Thu, 06 Sep 2012 06:37:35 +0000

In reply to JH. Thanks, JH. For the smooth slow motion video I am using the Casio Exilim EX-ZR200 camera. You can also find it on Amazon.com.

By: JH

JH — Thu, 06 Sep 2012 02:30:17 +0000

Good video, can’t wait to try to top spin with my Sons when we hit tennis court.
A question not relate to tennis.
What model of Camera you are using to take the slow motion video?

By: Arturo Hernandez

Arturo Hernandez — Wed, 05 Sep 2012 13:58:06 +0000

In reply to Tomaz. It's funny because I never thought about the fact that it would be hard to read if it was simply not as in front. The way I was taught was to toss over my head. But I have also read that some players simply position themselves differently for a kick serve by moving below the ball more for a kick serve. I have never consciously tried that but I wonder if that makes any sense.