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Today's
tennis players are very knowledgeable. They read about the
game, buy tennis videos and watch TV tennis.
Despite
all their sophisticated knowledge over 50% of club level players
have a serve deficiency in their serves. They serve with a
"waitress" position, which has the racket head lying
parallel to the ground at the cocked position rather than
on edge.
The
racket should be on edge when it is in the cocked position
because it should resemble the position of the arm preparatory
to a throwing action.
When
the racket is on edge and the elbow is bent, then as it straightens
out, it also has the second function of turning the forearm
outward so that the wrist can roll and snap outward to give
the racket maximum acceleration.
When
the forearm is all ready turned forward in the cocked position
this second function of the elbow has been eliminated which
means there is no wrist roll but only a wrist snap. This is
of course far less effective and also puts great stress on
the wrist.
Most
tennis players are knowledgeable of this problem. So why do
they persist with this flaw? The answer is it is not because
they don't want to serve with a throwing motion, it is simply
fear of missing the ball.
What
happens is that as the player swings backwards and goes into
the correct "on edge" cocked position their brain
says to them "wait a minute. The racket is on edge behind
your back. You may miss the ball. Why not just turn it flat
right now then you can be sure to meet the ball with the full
racket face." And of course 50% of the players succumb
to this small voice and they end up at best with an ineffectual
serve, and at worse with a strained wrist.
A good
exercise to overcome this problem is to choke the racket near
the throat and hit the ball with an abbreviated backswing,
just focusing the "on edge" cocked position and
then the roll of the racket as it reaches up toward the sky.
Gradually
the grip can be lengthened, the backswing and the follow through
added as confidence starts to grow.
The
whole kinetic chain including the pronation of the forearm
will collectively produce a smooth and effective serve.
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