The Sampras Serve: The Racket Path: Page 3

Pete’s finish: Full, relaxed, and very smooth.

The final key position in the swing path is the finish. Watch the animation of Pete’s serve or study the digital movies in ProStrokesGallery
and you will be struck by his full, relaxed finish. Pete himself has described the feeling in his arm when he is serving well as “nice and loose.”
The power is not about muscle contraction or tension – it’s a free, fast flow through the entire motion.

On most first serves, Pete finishes well across his body. His racket hand finishes in line with the center of his left front leg.
On the second serve, or when he is serving the middle in the deuce court, or wide in the ad court, the follow-through can be shorter.
But it still has that loose look and feel.

The racket head continues all the way across the body finishing in line with the center of the left leg.
Pete’s follow-through is long, full and relaxed, ensuring maximum racket head speed.

To learn the feeling of a full relaxed finish, the average player should model Pete’s most extended follow-through position, with the racket hand reaching the center of the front leg. The…