The Serve: Where Are We Now?
Second Serve

John Yandell

In this series on the serve Where Are We Now? we've looked at the technical commonalities in great serves (Click Here) and at the technical differences in great serves (Click Here) and also what separates the men and the women. (Click Here.)

What is a 2nd Serve?

But what about the second serve? What is a second serve anyway? Is it some distinct or different motion? If you learn a first serve do you have to then learn a completely new motion for the second?

On the message boards out there in the world, there are people arguing that they need a different grip for the second serve. Arguing that if they use a platform or a pinpoint stance for the first serve, they should use the opposite for the second. Claiming that the hitting arm should be bent. Claiming you should consciously finish the swing on the right side of the body.

I have had numerous students ask questions along those lines. And the answers to all are no. To me that's all crazy.

The core fundamentals remain the same on the first and the second. But wait, isn't it different if I want to learn to hit a big kick second serve? Same answer.

Fundamentals

So what are the core fundamentals on both serves? A deep racket drop along the side of the body. Contact with the arm straight and fully extended. The racket shaft tilted toward the player's body. Full hand, arm and racket rotation.

There is some relatively minor variation in the position of the ball at contact on the first serve among pro players and the amount or racket tilt toward the player. Dominic Thiem possibly has the most, Rafa possibly the least.

But there are two underlying points.

The first is that the contact is to the left of the hitting arm-- the right for Rafa. That's usually above the shoulder joint or maybe between the shoulder joint and the head.

The second point is that the contact is just at the front edge of the body—actually the front edge of the face. The idea what you should throw the toss way into the court and hit the ball way in front of you is wrong.

Another core fundamental: full hand, arm, and racket rotation. This means the racket face turns over 90 degrees between the drop and the contact. Then another 90 degrees between the contact and the extension of the motion so that the face of the racket is now on edge and perpendicular to the court.

And no for the millionth time that's not "pronation." It's a rotation driven by the upper arm in the shoulder joint, technically, internal shoulder rotation, or "isr."

Why is it not pronation? Because pronation is the independent rotation of the forearm at the elbow joint.

Brian Gordon's quantitative research has established that this doesn't happen in the serve and it's also clear in the high speed video. Call this rotation pronation if it makes you happy. Just don't try to do it.

2nd Serve Differences

So what are the actual differences when it comes to the second serve? The first difference is in the position of the toss. The second difference is what that toss position does or allows you to do in the path of the upward swing.

As we saw in the second article in this series (Click Here) there are a variety of different toss motions with the arm. On the second serve players use basically the same motion but place the ball differently in two ways.

The first is left to right. As we saw above, the contact on the first serve is above the shoulder or in some cases slightly closer to the head.

Whatever the position on the first serve, on the second serve this ball position at contact moves further toward the body, usually above the center of the head. But for some players like Rafa this left to right change will be relatively slight.

The other change in the toss and ball position at contact is on the front to back axis. Regardless of the exact left to right position, the contact is also now above the center of the head.

These changes in ball position will usually cause changes in the path of the upward swing automatically. The racket drop will deepen somewhat.

As the player hits upward the tilt of the racket will increase, tilting more toward the body. But you can also consciously increase the feeling of hitting up.

Upward Swing

The path of the upward swing, will also automatically be more from left to right and less forward into the court. You can see the differences clearly in the animation contrasting Federer's first and second serves.

Look at the differences in the amount of racket tilt at contact. On the first serve it's maybe 15 or 20 degrees. On the second serve it's about double, maybe 30 degrees or more.

Now look at the differences in the angle of the arm and racket in relation to the baseline at the point of forward extension. The first serve arm movement is more forward toward the net. The second serve arm movement is more toward the sideline.

On the first serve at extension the angle of the arm is maybe 45 degrees to the baseline. On the second it's more like 30 degrees.

The Rotation Stays

But one thing that doesn't change is the amount of hand, arm, and racket rotation. On both serves, the racket face still rotates about 90 degrees from the drop to the contact, and then another 90 degrees from the contact to the extension.

And yes there is somewhat morearch in the back on the second serve. But this isn't something you need to consciously manipulate. It's a natural consequence of the change in ball position and the path of the upward swing.

Visual Modeling

What's the best way to achieve these changes in the toss and the swing path? Model the key positions physically and then create an internal mental image of how they look and feel in your mind's eye.

Model the drop, then model the contact point. Close your eyes and visualize the toss passing directly through that image.

Model the differences in the angle of the arm and racket at extension. Visualize the path of the racket. More outward on the first serve and more upward and to the right on the second. Then put all these images together in a mental movie.

These images become your keys. Don't think about the analysis. Imagine the look and feel of the positions including the ball position at contact.

A final point. What about finishing on the right side on the body? If you have a more extreme left to right ball position at contact and really hit up to get more kick, that can happen.

Let if it does. But don't force it.

After the extension and full arm rotation, the hitting arm should just relax and fall. It may come all the way across the body, or it may come down in the middle of the body, or it may come down on the right side. All those finishes are just naturally extensions of a great second serve motion.