Two awesome tennis champs have alot in common when it comes to their powerful serves…
1. EXTENSION
Williams hits a flat, hard serve with a bit of topspin. Navratilova hits a kick serve style. Yet these serves have alot in common.
Extension is the most important about their serves. I don’t just mean the full extension of the hitting arm, but also the hitting shoulder and the legs.
Sometimes recreational players think extension should change from serve to serve. It shouldn’t.
The way a player hits the ball does change, but if you start from the tip of either racquet and trace a line straight down to the lead toe, you’ll see that both players have extended upward as far as possible. Without extension like this, it’s impossible to generate power and spin.
2. TOSS
Both these women place their tosses perfectly.
It’s always best to do so while going through the ?rst part of your motion, as if you were going to serve.
Anyone can toss well when standing still, but you need to toss well while serving. Sometimes the movement of your hips can cause you to hook the ball.
The best servers, like Williams and Navratilova, are smooth and can adjust their tosses for different serves.
3. GRIP
You can see from photos that a Continental grip is a must! To ?nd this grip, hold your racquet with the head perpendicular to the ground and grab the handle as if you were shaking someone’s hand.
4. HEAD
Keep your head up! Williams’ eyes are right on the target. Navratilova is looking forward as she plans to rush the net. Her chin hasn’t dropped down or jerked forward.
If you keep your head up and still, you’ll watch the ball long enough.
Williams has her cheeks puffed out as she prepares to release a lot of air when she hits the ball, that’s why she grunts.
Don’t forget to exhale when you serve. It will keep you loose.
5. TORSO
Because Williams is hitting a ?atter serve, her torso opens up and faces the net sooner than Navratilova’s.
On a kick serve, you need to stay sideways slightly longer so you can brush up on the ball rather than hit through it. Notice that Williams doesn’t rotate too far.
6. OFF HAND
Williams and Navratilova tuck their off hands into their bodies around their waists.
Why?
You don’t want to put your nonhitting arm down as you swing. If you do, your head may follow and you might make contact while slumping forward rather than with your body at full extension.
7. LEGS
Power on your serve begins with your legs.
Williams and Navratilova have healthy knee bends on their serves. Each woman leans her lead hip toward the baseline while rotating her upper body back.
If you don’t coil like this, your serve will lack power.
8. FEET
Both women’s feet leave the ground. I like the shoulder-width distances between their feet—that’s excellent balance.
As their front legs move forward and land on the ground, their rear legs will kick back to maintain this balance.
Analyzing these experts can help you get a better game. If you want some simple tips, check out the “Tennis For Beginners” link below…
