Service Toss Tip

The hardest thing in tennis to succeed at for most people is the service toss. The reasons are numerous, but can be summed up as follows: most people toss with their non-dominant arm. This means that the most crucial part of the serve must be executed with the arm with which you have the least amount of coordination.

So, can anything be done to help ensure a "true" toss, one that is always roughly in the same location at the proper height, proper distance from the body, and proper position relative to you?

You have likely all heard the general technical items before, and to be sure, they do assist in having a true toss.  They are:

1) Keep arm straight throughout the toss
2) Touch bicep to nose in order to ensure you arm goes all the way up (this is a tool, need not be done in actuality)
3) Ball on the tips of your fingers, rather than in the palm of the hand
4) Release ball at eye level
5) Toss 6-12 inches above your racquet at full extension.
6) Toss at 1 o'clock for righties, 11 o'clock for lefties (12 o'clock runs from your left shoulder perpendicular to the net)

Ok, so you have been taught all the above and your toss is STILL askew with the variance of a failing IPO.  Now what?

Many players, too many to count do one specific thing incorrectly when going through the tossing motion (down together, up together) - they watch the ball from ready position, and track it downward and back upward while the ball is in their hand, and continue to track after the release.  What are they missing?

In order to place the ball to the specific target area needed for your serve, you MUST target that area by looking at it with your eyes prior to releasing the toss.  How can you shoot a target with your eyes closed or by looking away from the target? None of us have a sixth sense. We must view the area in space before we toss. That means from ready position, instead of following the ball when you begin moving your arms "down together," immediately look up and visually target the area you want to place the toss. This one correction will allow you to immediately know if it is askew, and will help you improve your toss by reducing the variance.

Note that well prior to the release of Djokovic's toss, he is already looking towards his vertical target for his toss.

Now go and improve that toss!

French Open Preview - What To Watch For

The French Open begins next Monday.  The dirt slam offers viewers longer points, and challenges the endurance and anaerobic fitness of the players the most of any major.  Before you begin enjoying the top level tennis for two weeks, let me give you some key factors that may help you accurately predict a winner during a given match, as well as the winner of both the Men's and Women's Draws.

First Serve % - At the French, the first serve percentage of the players is more critical to success than at any other major.  The more second serves an opponent sees on a high bouncing slow court, the more likely the server will be on the defensive from the first strike.  Getting more first serves in means starting the point either on the offensive or at least neutral. The player with the higher first serve percentage, all other things relatively equal, will usually win.

Average Length of Rally - By paying attention to this stat, you can immediately see if a big serving, ultra aggressive player - like a Milos Raonic or John Isner - has any chance to win a round in a 3 out of 5 set match.  This stat is even important for Serena Williams and Maria Sharapova. For these types of players, the average length of rally must be less than 5 balls.  These players are not anaerobically fit enough (ala Nadal, Errani) to maintain a high level of play over the course of the match if the rally lasts more than five balls.  These players must be aggressive early and try to end the points as quickly as possible, or they can be ground into the clay by counter punching specialists.  Conversely players like Nadal, Ferrer, Radwanska want long points if they are going to succeed. The one loss Nadal suffered at the French at the hands of Robin Soderling in 2009 was due to Soderling ending the points quickly early in the rally, going for broke.

Drop shots  - The drop shot is a fantastic weapon that is used more often on clay than any other surface.  If you see a player being successful with the drop shot in a match, it is a good bet they are dominating the rallies. This is a player to consider picking to win.

Defensive Prowess - Does a player, when pulled wide off the court, go for a winner or do they respond with a high loopy ball or squash shot down the middle to try to neutralize the point and make their opponent hit yet another shot? Clay rewards patience and defensive tennis, so the players doing more defensive work (attempting to lengthen the rallies rather than win the rally) when stressed are usually more successful.

Rain - This is the only major that will play matches in the rain (to a degree). This is an important factor because the more water on the court, the slower the court.  This gives defensive players and players with better anaerobic fitness even more of an advantage. Damper courts, being slower, helps kill the pace of big servers, and will lengthen the rallies as it is easier to run a slower ball down.  The balls also get damp in the rain, which slows them down.  Aggressive players will be at more of a disadvantage in these conditions.

Conversely, if it does not rain and it is hot and sunny, the court conditions will be drier, speeding up the court. This will give big servers and hitters a better chance to hit through the court and shorten the points.

Nadal Has Not Lost a Match At The French When Not Injured - He's 60-1 all time at Roland Garros for a reason. His one loss saw him nursing a sore knee.


For Batman: The Dark Knight Rises Fans - Nadal as Bane : "Oh, you think the clay is your ally, but you merely adopted the dirt. I was born in it, molded by it. I didn’t see the grass and cement until I was already a man; by then, it was nothing to me but trivial! The earth-courts betray you, because they belong to me. I will show you where I have made my home, whilst preparing to bring dominance. Then, I will break you. Your precious unforced errors, gratefully accepted. I will need them. Ah yes, I was wondering what would break first. Your spirit, or your body."

 Pick someone else at your own peril.

This Is The One Major a Woman Not Named Serena Has A Better Chance Than Serena To Win. History says Serena won't win this year. Yes, she won last year, but it was 11 years since her previous victory. This is the event Serena more often than not will suffer an early exit, or a major upset. She must be "on" ending the points quickly in EVERY match if she's going to win again. If you're a betting person, take the field. The field is 10-2 over the last 12.  There is a reason - the court is not a good fit for Serena's game.

Pronation Part Trois - The Serve

In this third installment on pronation, I will be discussing how pronation impacts the serve, and why it is crucial in developing your serve into an unstoppable weapon.  As discussed in the previous two blog posts on pronation, pronation is defined as an inward rotation (towards the sternum) of the arm.

On the serve, the arm literally should rotate 180 degrees during the stroke -  90 degrees from the forward swing to the contact point, and another 90 degrees from the contact point to a point where the arm is parallel to the ground, with the palm facing outwardly.  This mimics the natural throwing motion you see from Major League Baseball players.

The quicker a player is able to accelerate through the pronation during the serve, with additional emphasis on the acceleration through the contact, the faster the players serve will be. Once a player has mastered this pronation and the acceleration of it, he or she can then attempt to increase the speed of their serve buy using their legs and hips to increase torque and upward acceleration.

It should be noted that in order for any player to properly pronate on the serve, you must use a continental grip. This is because it is the only grip that allows the racquet to mimic the palm of your hand as a natural extension if your arm.

See below how the greatest server of all time, Pete Sampras, pronates perfectly during his motion.

In the above photograph, Sampras has already begun exploding up to the ball.  At this point, the edge of his racquet is heading directly for the ball.  By attacking the ball with the edge of the racquet, less surface area is cutting through the air, which maximizes the acceleration up to the ball.  If he were not pronating, the edge of his racquet would strike the ball.  Here, the palm of his right hand is facing left.

Now you can see that Sampras's forearm has rotated 90 degrees to contact. The palm of his right hand is now facing forward towards his target.

 Here you can clearly see that Sampras's right forearm is parallel to the ground, and his right palm is now facing to the right, his forearm having rotated another 90 degrees.  All told, a 180 degree rotation.

How can you practice this technique?

Without a racquet

First toss the ball as you would in your motion, and attempt to hit the ball with the edge of your hand (pinkie).  Freeze at contact.

Second, toss and attack the ball with the edge of your hand and at the last second either catch the ball, or hit it with the palm of your hand.  Freeze at the catch or contact.

Third, toss, attack with the edge of your hand, strike the ball with the palm of your hand, then pronate 90 degrees, with your arm parallel to the ground, palm facing outwardly, and your thumb down.

With a racquet
 (All the drills discussed below require a continental grip)

First, begin in trophy position, toss the ball and try to it the ball at full extension with the edge of the racquet.  Freeze at contact.

Second, toss the ball, and attack the ball with the edge, and right before contact rotate your arm so you contact the ball with the strings.  Freeze at contact,

Third, Toss the ball, attack with the edge, contact the ball with the strings, and then freeze with your arm parallel to the ground with an inverted L (racquet head pointing to ground), with the edge of the racquet pointing to the target.

Fourth - Repeat steps 1-3 and then follow through by relaxing to your non dominant side.

Now you know how to pronate properly on the serve.  Time to channel Sampras in your next match!