Rick Newman Tennis Lesson 2: Serve

Rick Newman's Tennis Lesson 2: Serve

I needed a few weeks to recuperate from an ankle injury from hiking at Yosemite. Once I recovered, I also needed time to overcome a severe cold/flu.

Serving Lesson Notes

1. Relax the serving hand (it must be really loose; grip the racquet lightly)
2. Be sure to throw the racquet on the edge (closed) until just before contact with the ball
3. Racquet serve motion must be UP and OUT, with wrist pronation occurring much later after ball contact
4. The "snap" of the wrist is initiated by the server (it's not automatic). It's like a whipping motion on a bullwhip
5. The kinetic chain starts from the legs, moves to the shoulders, then to the serving arm, and lastly to the wrist
6. The ball must not be tossed too far in front, as it opens the racquet face
7. The server must be moving forward
8. The best potion of the racquet to hit for maximum power and leverage is the upper 2/3 of the racquet.

Here is a GoPro Hero4 Silver video recording of my serve:

My Own Learnings:

1. The wrist needs to be actively used in all tennis strokes. It should be used in the top-spin forehand and especially in the flat-serve for the "snap."
2. In the 1-handed and 2-handed backhands, I was not using the wrist actively.