The Sampras Serve: The Racket Path: Page 2

Pete’s Contact: Perfect arm
extension and rotation.

The second factor in maximizing the acceleration of the racket head is achieving full arm extension, and also, full arm rotation at the contact point.
At contact, Pete’s arm is completely straight. When viewed from in front or behind, the arm is pointing almost directly upward, literally at 90 degrees to the court surface.
From the side view we can see his arm is also tilted slightly forward from the shoulder. This is a function of the ball toss and places the contact point slightly
in front of the plane of his body.

Note the arm, although straight and quite extended, is raised only slightly above the level of his shoulder.
This is due primarily to Pete’s unique body position – or rather the angle of his entire torso and body in relation
to the court, as we’ll explore in a later article.

The movement of the arm from the drop position to the contact involves two components.
First, a triceps extension. Second, a palm, forearm, and upper arm rotation.