Constructing the Kick

Let’s engineer a beautiful mechanically sound kick serve!

In my first article on the kick serve, I broke down the kick motion into its important technical elements–the "building materials" so to speak. (Click Here.)  Now comes the exciting part: the actual construction project!  In this second article, I will describe how to take the materials and engineer a beautiful, mechanically sound kick serve–like building a house–step by step.

Building a great kick is much harder than merely accurately describing its working parts.  In my experience, even with a good athlete, the entire project can take 12-24 months.  It simply takes time before the serve is ready for the pressures of competition.  Even after this initial mastery is achieved, there is still the need for continued refinement and maintenance.  

Over the course of this process, the player should go through four distinct stages. So pay close attention, hold on tight to your mouse, and here we go.

Make sure you start with a strong continental grip and a good foundation stance.

Stage 1 is the foundation in which the player masters certain beginning fundamentals.  When a player first comes to me looking to learn a kick, I make sure that…