43 - The Serve - From hi-techtennis.com - Introduction: The Key to Pro Power: Supinate, then Pronate

 Introduction: The Key to Pro Power: Supinate, then Pronate

I have had many, many people send me videos of their serve, and the one piece that I almost always see missing is the supination in the full racket drop. The way the pros supinate their hands at the full racket drop is one of the great secrets of pro serve power. This supination allows the full pronation to occur through contact.

To see what supination looks like, click on the video on the left once to activate it, then click again to play it. In the final frame, you will see how Malisse's racket is in line with the right side of his body. He does this by supinating, or turning his hand outward, in this final frame. Most people let the racket fall straight down their back without turning their hand outward. If you don't turn the hand outward and get the racket in line with the right side of your body, full pronation becomes impossible to achieve. Click Here to see a very typical racket drop position, where the hand doesn't turn outward.

It is extremely important to understand that pronation is THE source of power in the professional serve. A full body coil, and good knee bend are effective only if they aid the supination/pronation move. You can have the best upper body coil and the best knee bend, and the most perfect toss. But if you don't get into the full supinated position and follow it with pronation, you will not have a big serve. The opposite is also true. You could probably throw out the full body coil and knee bend, and simply rely on supination/pronation, and still hit huge serves. This, in fact, is all that is needed in the overhead.

In the image below, see how Marty Fish gets into this fully supinated position:

Click 'Play' to see Supination

and Internal Shoulder Rotation