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!