Rick Newman Tennis Lesson 7: Serve

Rick Newman's Tennis Lesson 7: Serve

After two weeks without playing tennis (because the Sunnyvale Tennis Center courts were being resurfaced), I finally had a tennis lesson with Rick Newman. It seemed that I "lost" some of my serve technique over the past two weeks and needed time to regain it.

Serving Lesson Notes

1. Relax the serving hand (it must be really loose; grip the racquet lightly)
2. Be sure to throw the racquet on the edge (closed) until just before contact with the ball
3. Racquet serve motion must be UP and OUT, with wrist pronation occurring much later after ball contact
4. The "snap" of the wrist is initiated by the server (it's not automatic). It's like a whipping motion on a bullwhip
5. The kinetic chain starts from the legs, moves to the shoulders, then to the serving arm, and lastly to the wrist
6. The ball must not be tossed too far in front, as it opens the racquet face
7. The server must be moving forward
8. The best portion of the racquet to hit for maximum power and leverage is the upper 2/3 of the racquet.

Here is a GoPro 4 Silver video I recorded of my tennis lesson: