Alexander Zverev Serve Problem

[@JeffLewistennis]

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[@lognathan7119]

The high toss is a result of his serve style. The high toss cannot be fixed without changing the serve style. His serving arm, specifically the elbow, starts moving only after he has tossed the ball. After he tosses the ball, he has to bring the serving elbow up, then get to the trophy position, then racquet drop, then pronation and finally hit the ball. The ball has to remain in the air until all of these happens. So that is the reason for the higher toss. With players who have low toss, like Kyrigos, you see see that their serving arm elbow is already up before they even toss the ball. To fix this, you have to make the player *think* that they are changing the serving style (even though they might not ultimately change). First start with 1/2 serve where the serving arm starts with the trophy position. Then ask them to do 3/4 serve where the serving arms moves along with left arm and directly goes to trophy position (Roddick style). Another drill I have found useful is to have the player take three balls (or four if they can hold four), and serve all three balls continuously without stopping. Challenge them to rapidly serve all three balls in succession. Serving "rapidly" does not refer to serve speed, it just means how soon the player can finish serving the three balls.

[@JeffLewistennis]

Yeah his hitting arm wouldn’t lag as much. Tough to change timing on something you’ve done for so long for sure. Thanks for the comment!

[@DATennis]

A bit late but that toss wasn't the only aspect to improve. As your comment states his high toss is product of how he does he motion, but one thing he does do wrong mechanically is how he sends his right arm back to the righ and his palm is kind of opening. He is rolling his shoulder back then corrects it to go into trophy position, all that produced tension in the muscle and motion, with his high toss and tension in pressure points it was a recipe for double faults. Nowadays his toss is not as high and he is closing his palm more from the start, still it's sad to see for me. One of the most gifted players I've seen. But his biomechanics are not the best in serve or forehand to reach his full potential, I saw a potential dominant number 1 if he had better technique.

[@twinwankel]

I think his issue is that he is not leaning into the court on his kicker. Instead he is angling his upper torso into the ball. And I think his way is more prone to mistake because he is driving the ball down as opposed to spinning the ball down when you lean in. His way is more of a first serve as opposed to a true second serve. If you watch Fed or Raonic, their hip is directed into the court and then will lean in various degrees on contact. Because Zverev is so tall, he can get away with this but ultimately in crunch time, the margins are so thin, he will double fault. Too much risk but that's how he rolls.

[@JeffLewistennis]

Interesting. Will have to take a closer look at that aspect as well. Thanks for commenting!

[@kingarthurusatenniscoach1415]

toss too high, a J toss, also does not place the ball forward into the court He should reas Vic Braden book