Myth of the Back Foot: Page 2

The advent of the modern serve dates from the change in this rule. The rule was relaxed so that players were no longer required to keep one foot on the ground at contact.
Players could now leave the ground with both feet, so long as they did not touch down in the court
until after the hit.

This opened the way for a major bio-mechanical advance in serving, as the top players
found they could now get their legs much more involved in the motion. They could now coil their legs
fully with much deeper knee bends. As they uncoiled, they naturally exploded upward and outward into
the air over the court, making contact with both feet off the ground.

Intuitively they all learned to land on the front foot, and to kick the back foot
backwards for balance-without any advice from coaches or teaching pros. The transition, which has
gone largely unnoticed and/or analyzed, is a testament to the natural physical
intuition of the top players.

The additional kinetic force from this new leg action gave players more power and spin. It also produced a contact point that was up to several inches higher and also further forward, changing…