PART TWO Newspaper Columns The Elusive Service Toss The service toss is not to be taken for granted. It's very much a triggering element in achieving a fluid service motion, and managing it is trickier than it looks. Even the pros struggle with it - exclusively nerves at that level - occasionally aborting serves at the last moment, catching the toss and starting over. "Sorry mate." Yet, consciously embracing last moment toss reads - dictating whether or not you'll pull the trigger - is a guaranteed rhythm buster and an all-around bad idea. To be an effective server you must be fully committed to completely letting go once the service motion has begun. Only the very worst, completely unhittable tosses should be caught, and then only on a spontaneous basis. Small in-serve adjustments are still more than doable on slightly errant tosses. Plus, playing in the wind often makes that a necessity. Note: Incessant toss catching invites legitimate protests from annoyed, rightly so, receivers. But club player tossing yips are mostly because of poor technique. Tossing technique? Yes, there's even technique on the toss itself, paramount in setting the table for an effective serve. In the accompanying image you can see that I've fully extended my tossing arm up-and-out through its full range of motion - versus the sudden alligator arm quick flips exhibited by too many - before releasing the ball open handed. In the serve ready position, and into the ritual stage as well, the tossing arm should be bent at the elbow or in close proximity to the body - with the ball resting against the strings at the racket's throat, not ram rod straight already extending well in front Hold the ball lightly, finger tips only - not completely enveloped in your hand - in a neutral anatomical position that replicates the way your arm would naturally hang by your side. Definitely not palm up. Using your arm's own swing weight inertia, nothing more, the ball is placed high enough to accommodate a fully extended racket reach. That up and outward toss motion that's produced, away from the body, insures that inviting in front toss. At the release point, the trick is to open your hand, versus rolling the ball off your fingertips. This eliminates any complicating spin, resulting in a knuckleball consistently right where you want it. Serve 'em up. Maximizing Leg Drive on the Serve The serve, like every other shot to one degree or another, is a whole body effort - that kinetic chain again. On the serve in particular, leg drive is a key component in maximizing that chain. Above you can see that I've engaged my legs. As the ball-tossing arm begins to move upward, the upper body begins coiling, and the knees simultaneously bend. Arm up, legs down. Note that I'm in the process of dropping the racket head into the full back-scratch position from the loading stage where the racket is initially cocked up. And my tossing arm is still extended. Up on the ball of my lead foot, I'm readying myself to jump up and into the ball-striking moment. That's effortless power in contrast with the "arm serve" we see all too often in club and rec tennis. My head is up and my eyes are plotting the optimal moment of racket-on-ball impact - an effective cue, versus the usual "watch the ball." Avoid pulling your head down prematurely at all costs - perhaps the biggest challenge in serving which always leads to dysfunctional trunk flexing and tosses invariably dropping too low. Even if you're an old-schooler and not a jump server - as all of today's pro players are and have been for years - at least rising up onto the ball of your front foot during and through the hitting zone will only make you a better server. Way back when, jumping was not permitted, yet the very best in the game still served effectively with even limited upward movement into the ball, although with predictably lower tosses than today's pros. Some might be able to remember huge-serving Roscoe Tanner's "low" toss which some mistakenly thought he struck on the way up. My head is up and my eyes are plotting the optimal moment of racket-on-ball impact - an effective cue, versus the usual "watch the ball." Avoid pulling your head down prematurely at all costs -perhaps the biggest challenge in serving which always leads to dysfunctional trunk flexing and tosses invariably dropping too low. Even if you're an old-schooler and not a jump server - as all of today's pro players are and have been for years - at least rising up onto the ball of your front foot during and through the hitting zone will only make you a better server. If you are a modern day leg-drive jumper, maintain your balance through the follow through by kicking your trailing leg back while landing on your front foot. Since you've landed well into the court with your toss in front, remember to recover your defending position fairly quickly back behind the baseline, but without rushing the serve's finish. If you find - no, when you find - that you're now getting a little more pop on your first serve delivery, and you're drawing shorter responses, then okay, remain inside the baseline to begin taking advantage. In the end keep remembering to "take care of your serve" as television commentator Mary Carillo likes to say. Stick with it. It's always a work in progress for everyone at every level. Serving Tall Serving is both the most difficult and most important shot in the game. Here are a few key components to get the most out of your serve. Being fully extended at the moment of ball contact is paramount if you're going to enjoy a high percentage of successful serves. In the above image, you can see that I'm at full stretch at impact. Taller servers are always at an advantage in creating a more acute downward ball trajectory that's safely over the net - greater margin for error - and yet still lands in the relatively small service box. Be as tall as you can be. By making better use of your legs to drive up into the ball you'll facilitate your maximum reach. Note I have jumped off, and into, the court with my lead foot to insure an unencumbered, upward moving kinetic chain. This is not a foot fault, in that the ball has been struck prior to touchdown. An inline body alignment is also ideal at the strike point to allow for the greatest racket head acceleration through the ball. This is fostered by a toss that's both as high, and in front, as you can comfortably reach with the racket. A relatively low grip position on the handle is recommended to create wrist involvement, and, of course, is applied with minimal tension - a 5 on a scale of 1 to 10 - versus the all too common undermining death grip approach. Finally, note that my head remains up momentarily even after the ball has exploded off the racket face. Club players are often guilty of pulling their head down prior to impact causing premature trunk flexing and blind, poorly-timed ball striking. Have you ever noticed that at times you serve well in the pre-match warm-up only to then serve inconsistently once the match begins? There's a reason. As tennis pro/humorist Vic Braden used to preach: "There's only one ball and you have it, so what's the big hurry in looking across the net for the return before you've struck the serve?" Be acutely aware of avoiding that possible undermining hiccup during the serve practice. Never take it for granted. Finishing the Serve There are five distinct stages to the serve, the most intricate shot in the game: 1) visualization, 2) ritual, 3) racket loading/toss, 4) impact and 5) follow-through. In the accompanying image you can see that I am well past the ball striking moment and in the process of finishing my service motion. My follow-through, or more precisely, the all-important deceleration of the racket, is near its ending point on the left side of my body. I have allowed it to arrive there with a fully relaxed "brakeless" technique by hitting through the ball completely unencumbered of any counterproductive, trying-too-hard, excessive, inefficient muscle tension. To promote this swing freedom you can also see that I'm gripping the racket down low - which I also employ on all my shots - with the butt cap fitting neatly into the concave palm of my hand. This position contributes to the kinetic chain connection of the hips, shoulder, arm and wrist to generate easy racket speed, equaling power. None other than Pete Sampras - whom I saw recently on the Tennis Channel still serving bombs with, would you believe, a puny wooden racket (Donnay Borg model) in a bring-the-wood-back chanty event staged by, who else but John McEnroe - is the best example of this all-time. I've also jumped off my front foot up into the ball striking moment, and then have landed in the court. To maintain balance I have "kicked" my right leg back which also contributes to a biomechanically smooth hitting action. No...
