0 g. [! L$ c1 O" {! ~Kick Serve; J" i) q2 Y5 S# Z8 q0 f
Introduction to the Kick Serve 6 N% u7 \3 M; n2 p VThe kick serve is a weapon every player wants in their arsenal because it’s a high-percentage serve and it’s a tough serve to return aggressively. It’s high-percentage because you’re putting a lot of spin on the tennis ball and that spin is going to pull it into the tennis court and it’s a tough serve to return because that spin is also going to make the tennis ball bounce strangely making it difficult for your opponent to make solid contact.3 K0 q! ]9 u6 ~& E8 S
Now we’ve taught the kick serve by highlighting the differences between the kick and the flat serves, so if you’re unsure about the mechanics of the flat serve I suggest you go review those videos first before you try and learn the kick." S& B! h5 ]4 b( E" b7 I
The kick serve is a tough serve to master but if you watch the videos in this section you should learn all the mechanics involved in the shot and it should get you hitting a solid kick." G" Z8 I3 N9 `
! I7 k% F2 F4 r5 d1 Q7 F6 B) Z
1. Where to Toss the Tennis Ball" J% w! E v9 \6 G, ]
9 @! X- f+ f: ?8 L# MThe first difference between the kick serve and the flat serve is the location of the toss. You need to toss the ball so that, at contact, it is directly above your head. - {; R: p s; S- M5 K$ b$ f5 r# m6 }The first key difference between the kick serve and the flat serve is the location of the toss. The mechanics of the toss for either serve are the same: hold the tennis ball in your fingers (but not your finger tips or your palm), raise your arm in a smooth and relaxed motion, release the tennis ball at about the top of your head and continue to raise your tossing arm after you’ve release the ball. The location of where you toss the tennis ball is what’s different. When hitting a kick serve, you want to toss the tennis ball so that you can hit it when it’s directly above your head. A good way to get the tennis ball to the right location is to aim for your hitting arm shoulder when you toss. For example, I would toss the tennis ball up over my head and try and land it on my left shoulder (because I’m left handed I toss with my right hand – for all your right handers out there it’s the opposite). Again, that should put the tennis ball in the right spot – directly above your head – when you hit it. " @! p9 R* e- e0 pNow I compare my kick serve and my flat serve side-by-side to illustrate how the location of my toss differs depending on which serve I’m hitting. In these shots, I’m hitting to the ad court. The serve to my left is my kick serve and the one to my right is my flat serve. As I wind up on my flat serve, I toss the tennis ball into the court so that I can hit it a little bit in front of my body. However, on the kick serve I toss the tennis ball so that it drifts over my head. That’s because, later on in the serve, I’m going to make contact with the tennis ball in a different spot than I will with the flat serve. That spot – my point of contact – is directly above my head.0 v) ^6 M6 P$ R$ n+ z3 V+ E4 I$ }
You have some flexibility in terms of how far you toss the tennis ball into the court. That flexibility depends on how aggressive you are trying to be with your kick serve. In the video, I’m not being particularly aggressive so my toss stays more or less in line with the baseline. However, when Frank hits his kick serve, his toss is drifting into the court because he’s being more aggressive with his kick. He’s trying to hit it harder (with more pace) than I am. Tossing the tennis ball into the court like Frank is doing is fine as long as your body follows your toss into the court and you get yourself under the ball at contact. Even though Frank has tossed the ball into the court, his body position is the same as mine at contact. ; R2 R4 ?, R$ ^6 b: O8 ~ 9 V0 S/ p5 i- e' C9 F" d/ K2. Amount of Shoulder Turn 8 z/ m! {+ [* z; [5 j; Q# X 3 o# W0 x$ U2 z" u8 p; M! Y9 s; {As you’ll see in video #3, the direction you swing a pronate on a kick serve is different from a flat serve. To facilitate this motion, you need to turn your shoulders a little bit more. 1 b+ U3 r3 q( E |& RAnother typical difference between the kick serve and the flat serve is the amount of upper body rotation you get during the preparation and racket drop. With the kick serve, your upper body tends to rotate a little bit further around than it would on a flat serve. The reason is that, later on in the serve, your arm moves in a different direction on a kick serve than it does on a flat serve. We won’t get into why it’s different in this video – we’ll do that in the next video – but if I was, for example, going to throw a tennis ball at the camera (like I do in the video // or picture) my shoulders shouldn’t have to turn as far as if I were throwing the ball to the side. In the latter case, now my shoulders need to rotate further around so my arm can move naturally to the side. This same concept applies to the difference between the kick serve and the flat serve. 4 H0 U. m' K' i, L: [: \8 PIn the video, we compare Frank’s kick serve and his flat serve to see how his shoulder turn differs during his preparation. Frank’s kick serve is on the left and his flat serve is on the right. In the trophy pose you can see his shoulder turn is greater on the kick serve. This difference remains the same later in the motion when Frank gets to the racket drop. In the video we put a line through Frank’s shoulders during the various stages of his preparation for both the flat and kick serves to demonstrate how his shoulder turn is a little bit greater on the kick serve. $ G; k' g+ m; L5 Z/ X3 u6 b$ r, B! \# h8 g
3. Swing Direction and Pronation7 y2 a- S4 ^9 @2 t5 J8 {
/ h& h4 o; x$ ~7 {. |The direction you swing and pronate has to let you brush up and across the back of the tennis ball. That will put the correct spin on the ball. u8 {; V7 u0 R1 o6 k% [The direction you swing and pronate when you make contact with the tennis ball is another element / factor that separates the kick serve from the flat serve. When you hit a flat serve, you’re trying to swing through the ball – you want to “slap it,” or hit it clean. On a kick serve, now what you’re trying to do is swing up and across the tennis ball. That means you have to swing in a different direction. By swinging up and across the back of the tennis ball, you’ll put spin on it. That will pull the ball into the service box and cause it to “bounce funny,” or kick to the side. 2 Z5 ~6 {# y( v3 p) o+ E! vIn the video we compare the direction you swing when you hit a flat and a kick serve. We have Frank split screened. The serve to the left is Frank’s kick and the one to the right is the flat. First, let’s watch his flat serve. When he winds up and swings his arm is moving into the court. However, on the kick serve, when he swings his arm and the racket are moving across the tennis ball. When we play these clips together it should be clear that his arm is moving in a different direction on his kick serve than it is on his flat serve. He’s swinging more across the tennis ball. % J7 y1 ], o8 r7 Y" v$ }, h4 oLet’s look at Frank’s contact points because this next point is critical. The directions his tennis racket strings are facing when he hits the ball are more or less the same. The strings are facing the direction he wants to hit the tennis ball. Even though he’s swinging in different directions his strings are facing where he wants the tennis ball to go. This is key. 7 g* T7 I4 J4 [& X9 d: L( T! I7 P
I’m going to take a moment to expand upon this last point because it’s really, really important. You want your strings to be facing the same direction when you hit the tennis ball regardless of which serve you are hitting. However, your arm is moving in a different direction on a kick serve than it is on a flat serve. That means you have to time your pronation differently on a kick serve so that your strings are facing the right direction at contact. In the video I show how this works. If I am trying to get my palm to face the camera, the timing of my pronation is different when I swing to my side versus straight at the camera. That same concept applies to a kick serve and a flat serve. You have to time your pronation so that your strings are facing the same direction at contact regardless of what direction your arm is moving prior to hitting the tennis ball. 6 [ b0 `9 h) b3 v0 `Finally, let’s compare Oliver’s kick serve and flat serve side by side. His kick serve is to the left and his flat serve to the right. We’ll use this split screen to see how the brushing action of the kick serve is different from the solid contact of a flat serve. On a flat serve, Oliver swings pretty much straight through the tennis ball and hits it square. On the kick serve, he swings up and across the tennis ball. He doesn’t hit the ball “cleanly” because he’s trying to put spin on the ball.7 O/ m$ r3 R5 f* [4 F0 p
If we compare Oliver’s respective contact points, you’ll notice that his contact point on the kick serve is slightly lower than on a flat serve. Probably by several inches (but not more). The reason he lets the ball drop is because he has to be able to swing up on the ball to generate some topspin. " A* y. n4 ^0 A0 Y: P
, p6 z: q2 O; H$ A/ b
4. Follow Through; K: K! X, W* x! w2 S
3 z0 T8 S! z. {; Z
The follow through on a kick serve differs from that of a flat serve because the way you were swinging prior to and at contact was difference. While the fundamentals of the follow through are still there, the direction in which your arm and racket moves is slightly more to the side of your body.7 ~9 o0 q+ Z' P$ d' H# X% _
The final element of the kick serve is the follow through. Because you were swinging in a different direction prior to and at contact, you’ll follow through in a different direction. The rest of the mechanics of the follow through are the same: all your weight ends up on you front foot, your racket head points down at the court during your follow through and you bring the racket around to the other side of your body.: i9 d( ^! G7 A5 s; h% u) H2 i
In the video we compare Oliver Akli’s follow throughs on his kick serve and flat serve. Because Oliver swung up and across the ball on his kick serve, he is going to follow through more to his side. It looks like his arm is moving toward the camera as opposed to into the court on his flat serve. You will end up with some space in between your arm and the side of your body. e7 y- {- L" J0 n; `, k5 g9 A; \; Z
Introduction to the Kick Serve Progressions3 k* b( k* N4 h/ O0 |4 j2 @
. {* S$ G, [+ t& Y# g9 _& g
Once you’ve watched the above fundamentals videos, you’re ready to build your kick serve using the videos in this series.6 C2 M" G( i& Q! d
Welcome to the kick serve progressions section of the website. In this section, we’ve going to build you up to a fundamentally sound kick serve. 4 h0 l- X" L" SWe’ve made several assumptions in this section. First, we assume that you can hit a flat serve like we laid out in the fundamentals / progressions sections of the website. Some of the things we talk about in this section require that you’re able to do the steps we’ve laid out in those other sections. Second, we assume you’ve watched all the videos in the kick serve fundamentals section of the website. Specifically, you should understand where your toss needs to be (directly over your head!) when you hit it. If your toss is a little errant, you should practice until you can put the tennis ball in the same place consistently before you approach the tennis lessons in this section." e3 t- k3 e& n& j" b
That said, you shouldn’t be scared away from this section. Learning the kick serve, once you’ve mastered the serve fundamentals, isn’t particularly difficult. There are four progressions in this section that will build you up to a fundamentally sound kick serve. Once you lock down these steps, you’ll be in position to take your kick serve to the next level – to turn it into a major asset to your game.# O5 ]. S5 H) d
' I" p5 l) l$ ` z: ^' Y1. Swing and Pronate: Z& f( m, T- G& O5 f* @& \* c
The first step of the kick serve progressions is to learn how to swing and pronate correctly. The motion is very, very abbreviated to start so that you can focus on this one mechanical element of the shot.# w/ r# E. \( ^6 z/ b% Q {4 N
The first step of the kick serve progressions is to learn how to swing up at the tennis ball correctly. In the kick serve fundamentals section of the website, we said that you needed to swing up and across the tennis ball in order to generate both topspin and sidespin. However, we didn’t go into more detail about what direction you were swinging.7 ^5 N& ^( r( E% X$ ^. e# [
At 20 seconds into the video we focus on the tennis ball behind me. We’re going to pretend that the tennis ball is a clock. If you are right handed, you want to swing from approximately 7 o’clock to 1 o’clock across the tennis ball when hitting a kick serve. 8 o’clock to 2 o’clock works as well. The key is to swing diagonally across the ball in order to create topspin and sidespin.) V6 N# g7 S- w6 f+ ?4 C
At 50 seconds in the video I demonstrate a way you can visualize this motion. Hold a tennis ball in front of you, imagine the ball was a clock (visualize the numbers surround the ball), and then move your hand across the tennis ball from 7 to 1 o’clock.- w) e, i0 _* `7 f% R, P% c, b
If you are left handed, you’ll be swinging across the ball from 5 o’clock to 11 o’clock. However, the same concept applies: you want to be swinging up and across the tennis ball." s. T% y: N, |
At 1:30 in the video we start discussing how to shadow the motion. To begin, choke up on the tennis racket handle. That will help you learn how to pronate properly. Starting at the service line with your hitting arm and racket in the “L” position, shadow the swing, pronate, and FREEZE right after you pronate., ~% r0 W3 s. q# l6 W4 H
Zooming in at 2:25 in the video on the swing, you’ll notice that when I pronate the tennis racket handle ends up on the side of my forearm. That’s key. Having the handle finish off to the side of your forearm ensures that you are pronating properly when shadowing the kick serve swing.2 [3 @1 a2 p: \5 [# u* Q
At 2:40 I demonstrate incorrect pronation. The tennis racket runs into my forearm./ o$ {5 w3 F" B/ t* m
At 2:50 in the video we apply a mirroring affect to my shadowing. This should help all you right handers out there understand how you should pronate – what the relationship between your forearm and tennis racket handle should end up looking like – during the swing.2 I1 m+ r c5 Z+ }( p# J1 Q
At 3:10 in the video I start hitting the tennis ball. I start by framing the tennis ball. This helps me attack the ball with the side of my frame and might help you learn how to swing correctly. 8 P3 o9 B- ?( A* `0 [At 3:50 I hit some tennis balls “for real.” Just like in the serve progressions section of the website, I start my hitting VERY softly. I’m trying to work the technique. Immediately after I hit and pronate, I freeze. There is no follow through. + M( J% L, [! Z/ B2 Z1 }. k) r3 o: H, p
2. Follow Through7 \7 Q p" T8 Z x/ w+ M
Once you’ve got the swing down you can add the follow through. The entire swing should be done very, very deliberately. Work the technique.9 W- h8 O# [" t
. H9 p+ C. E4 O, |: B
3. Move Back 8 @# ]3 T( v' r. l+ zIt’s now time to move back and swing a little bit harder. Despite the faster swing, you need to make sure that your correct mechanics remain intact. 0 p' x* Q9 V1 j" T2 d4 [! X, B# F+ s! b( ~
4. Full Kick Serve Motion " x) T" y! i7 O- e- ]
You can now move back to the baseline and try to hit a “real” kick serve. Start with an abbreviated backswing. Then use your entire service motion.* @* @+ }( g4 P5 s
發表於 2011-6-23 15:44:48
收藏
讚