John Yandell: Sampras Serve: Hip and Shoulder Rotation

What actually happens when the torso rotates in elite serving?

What is the role of torso rotation in the serve? Without doubt it is one of the most varied elements among top servers, and also, one of the biggest differences between the men and women on the tour.

Some of the greatest servers in history-John McEnroe, Pete Sampras, even Roger Federer– turn away from the ball so far that their backs approach parallel to the baseline.

Many other top players turn far less including players from Greg Rusedski to Novak Djokovic to Rafael Nadal. And on the women’s side, with few exceptions, the turn is usually very limited. This is in fact a possible explanation for the serving problems of some top players. (Click Here for an analysis of Jelena Jankovic’s motion.)

In the first article in this new series, we addressed one of the other major disputed issues in pro serving, “racket head speed,” a term that is thrown around extremely loosely by coaches and commentators, but with very little supporting data. How fast is the racket really going in a world class serve, and when, and for how long? (Click Here.)

Many pro servers have far less turn…