Lesson 1: SLOW DOWN - Complete Your Toss First
The professional serve is built up so slowly and gradually that most pros actually COMPLETE THEIR TOSS before doing anything else! It's hard to believe, but most of them do. Here is a classic example. Study this clip for awhile and see just how little Ginepri has moved when his tossing motion is complete. I highlighted his racquet in the final frame to show where it is on completion of the toss. Ginepri still has his racquet in front of his body at the completion of the toss! Ginepri is an extreme example, but as you'll see below, other servers have the racquet just slightly farther back and pointing up to the sky at the end of the toss. Either way, the racquet has hardly moved at all at the completion of the toss.
Watch this clip for awhile and get a sense of what it feels like to complete the toss before doing anything else. You have to be extremely patient, realizing that in the beginning of the serve you are simply storing up energy for later. In a sense you have to load the gun before you can shoot it. Or it's like a rubber band. You have to pull it back awhile before you can release it. It's all about storing up energy to be released later.
This is the first movement I want you to practice. Right now, not even on a court. You don't even need a racquet. Just stand up like you are going to serve. Now pretend to toss the ball all the way in a nice slow motion. When your tossing arm is fully extended, feel your hitting hand between your hip and chest level, slightly behind you. This is probably going to feel ridiculously slow to you. But practice this over and over again. Get the feeling of not being rushed. You have to trust that you have plenty of time here at the beginning to actually complete the toss before doing anything else. After mastering this it will feel great knowing that you are storing up all this energy for later.
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