Originally posted by stotty
View Post
This is an interesting article.
It's funny because I use lateral pinpoint. See here: http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x4joc07_stotty_sport
My right leg is doing very little, if anything. I certainly don't push off it. I drive, more forwards then upwards, off my left foot. I rely mainly, or so it feels, on my arm and shoulder action to generate power. Even in my youth I only clocked in the low 90's mph on my first serve, tops. My motion is slick and smooth but my legs aren't doing much, not really.
Today, I hit a basket of serves and tried pushing a little more off my back leg. It worked well. I had to do away with my lateral pinpoint and throw the ball less forward to achieve it but at the end of 50 serves it was staring to feel like my entire body was involved in the process of serving, rather than predominantly my arm and shoulder. I'm a little old to switch serving styles but the experiment was an interesting one because, as a coach, it's good to know what other techniques 'feel' like.
tennis_chiro is lateral pinpoint too and I wonder what his serve feels like to him?
It's interesting Ben Kibler cites Navratilova as having a good push. don_budge has long promoted Navratilova as being a great model for female serving. Few ever picked up on his comments on her serve over the years but he's getting justified here. Everyone reaches for Serena's serve as the model to emulate, understandably, but maybe Navratilova's is better?
It's funny because I use lateral pinpoint. See here: http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x4joc07_stotty_sport
My right leg is doing very little, if anything. I certainly don't push off it. I drive, more forwards then upwards, off my left foot. I rely mainly, or so it feels, on my arm and shoulder action to generate power. Even in my youth I only clocked in the low 90's mph on my first serve, tops. My motion is slick and smooth but my legs aren't doing much, not really.
Today, I hit a basket of serves and tried pushing a little more off my back leg. It worked well. I had to do away with my lateral pinpoint and throw the ball less forward to achieve it but at the end of 50 serves it was staring to feel like my entire body was involved in the process of serving, rather than predominantly my arm and shoulder. I'm a little old to switch serving styles but the experiment was an interesting one because, as a coach, it's good to know what other techniques 'feel' like.
tennis_chiro is lateral pinpoint too and I wonder what his serve feels like to him?
It's interesting Ben Kibler cites Navratilova as having a good push. don_budge has long promoted Navratilova as being a great model for female serving. Few ever picked up on his comments on her serve over the years but he's getting justified here. Everyone reaches for Serena's serve as the model to emulate, understandably, but maybe Navratilova's is better?
A higher quality example is here:
But I don't think any of us should be compared to Venus. She didn't have the benefit of full internal shoulder rotation or even extension. I've always thought hers was a different kind of serve and lacked some elements of the classic motions, even as she held the record for speed among women for a long time. I can understand calling her motion a "pulling" action. And I think Sampras is coming more off the left side than Dr. Kibler is saying, although he certainly pushed with his right leg a lot more than players of the past.
don
Leave a comment: