Preventing Serving Injuries

At contact Venus is completely open and also bent over at the waist–an indication she is using her abdominals to pull the racket through.

Maintaining the integrity of the kinetic chain is the cornerstone of proper serve technique. Players need to be able to draw from the power of the legs and trunk to execute a serve safely and effectively. This means establishing good rotation and proper leg drive, and establishing them in the correct sequence. At the USTA we feel that improper or reduced use of these elements can increase risk of injury.

The Potential Problem

Without the contribution of the legs and the torso, the potential for abdominal and arm injuries is increased. In the animation of this Venus Williams serve, we can see several potential sources of strain.

In the preparation phase, there is less shoulder turn than many top players. As a result, Venus opens her body substantially at the contact. The creates an "arm lag" in which the movement of the body is ahead of the movement of the hitting arm.

We can also see that Venus uses less leg drive compared to other top servers, with less knee bend and less explosion forward and…