Kick Serve Drills THAT WORK!!! | INSANE KICK

It's a common tale in the tennis world: players dedicating years, sometimes even decades, to mastering the kick serve, only to find themselves continually falling short of success. The reason behind this persistent struggle lies in the fundamental swing pattern ingrained in most players' serving mechanics, which often impedes the necessary swing path for executing a kick serve with precision.
Unlike other serves like the flat or slice, the kick serve requires a unique swing path, ball toss and contact point to generate the desired topspin and bounce. However, the conventional serving motion adopted by many players typically follows a more linear trajectory, making it challenging to naturally transition into the lateral wrist snap necessary for the kick serve.
Moreover, the kick serve's effectiveness hinges heavily on the player's ability to consistently apply the correct spin and trajectory, factors that are heavily influenced by variables such as grip, stance, and body positioning.
In this tutorial, we discuss several drills to help you master the kick serve in the shortest time span possible:
Drill 1 - Side Spin Bounce:
Hold the racket in a chopper grip and bounce the ball down while focusing on generating side spin. This helps you get used to the correct wrist movement.
Drill 2 - The Sandwich:
Place the ball between your hand and racket, then roll it off your palm to clear the net. Start from the service line or closer to the net if needed.
Drill 3 - Half Grip at the Service Line:
Using a half grip, brush the ball from above your head while aiming to generate topspin and height over the net. Don't worry too much about accuracy; focus on hitting with topspin.
Drill 4 - Three Quarters:
With a slightly further down grip, perform the same swing from three quarters of the court. Try to accelerate slightly and ensure the ball rises off the strings with spin.
Drill 5 - Take a Knee:
Move back to the baseline and lunge down on one knee. Repeat the same swing motion from this position. Doing this on one knee will help you stay side on which is key when it comes to the kick serve.
Drill 6 - Toss Behind:
Place a target area just behind you in the middle of the baseline. Aim to toss and have the the ball land in that zone by throwing just slightly behind you. Remember with the kick serve, the toss and swing move in opposite directions; this is what creates topspin.
Drill 7 - Brush from Baseline:
From the baseline, put everything together at a moderate pace. Maintain a continental grip, stay side-on, toss behind you, and focus on brushing from 7 to 1 o'clock.
Drill 8 - Let the Elbow Hang:
Focus on letting your elbow hang in the follow through. This encourages hitting up the back of the ball and maintaining a side-on position.
Drill 9 - Full Pace:
Give it your all and go for a kick serve at full pace!
Music I Use: Bensound.com/free-music-for-videos
License code: DDFP8ATRQ3MOWGHU
Timecodes
0:00 Intro
0:10 Drill 1 - Side Spin Bounce
1:00 Drill 2 - The Sandwich
1:35 Drill 3 - Half Grip at the Service Line
2:05 Drill 4 - Three Quarters
2:58 Drill 5 - Take a Knee
3:33 Drill 6 - Toss Behind
4:08 Drill 7 - Brush from Baseline
4:52 Drill 8 - Let the Elbow Hang
5:57 Drill 9 - Full Pace

[@svarodzic]

I watched probaly 100s of videos about the kick serve progression. Yours is one of the best - short, concise, all on points, no water! Well done and thank you. You should be doing more instructional videos for sure!

[@SupremeTennis]

Very kind words! Lots more to come for sure. Do you play a lot yourself?

[@blaskbla]

One of the best explanations! Thank you ❤

[@SupremeTennis]

Happy to have helped 👍

[@Johnnybgood76]

Thank you! This is an excellent, step by step progression.

[@SupremeTennis]

No problem. Thank you for the kind words 👍

[@nguyen925]

Amazing pointers, thanks!!!

[@SupremeTennis]

My pleasure

[@svlagonda7417]

Clever tips and well explained your video. Excellent stuff!!

[@SupremeTennis]

Thank you 👍

[@user-wi4ne6ho8y]

Really great tips!! This will help me learn the kick serve, thank you!

[@SupremeTennis]

You’re welcome! Let us know how you get on!

[@simenwu5499]

Beautiful kick. Thanks for the details!

[@SupremeTennis]

My pleasure!

[@massimosanticchia3404]

Great progression. Thank you!

[@SupremeTennis]

You’re welcome! 🙏

[@thedom3403]

I don't actually think you want to use your wrist like that to generate spin. The concept is right, but I find it better to use bigger muscles like triceps and lats to produce the brushing motion so that the wrist joint can remain in a stronger position. This also frees up the wrist to pronate comfortably, which it can't really do while it's deviating like that. That's just what I have found experimenting with every possible way to hit it for hundreds of hours.

[@samcoleman3]

Fully agree - important for avoiding injury

[@NeonThief11425]

I had a tennis meet a couple days ago and I never lost on my kick serve so I will definitely use this to get better❤

[@SupremeTennis]

You legend! 👍

[@daveclifford7895]

Great video, and really good progressions 👏👏

[@SupremeTennis]

Appreciate the support 👍

[@fuhgeddaboutit7848]

Got the subscribe bro. Sound coaching tips, good edit, good narration. 👍

[@SupremeTennis]

Thanks for the support 👍

[@charliee3992]

Another great video, thanks! I like how you cut the serve down into small steps. Will see if I can replicate this next time I go for some serve practice :)

[@SupremeTennis]

Thanks Charlie 👍

[@marcelokov3383]

Excelente!!

[@SupremeTennis]

Thank you!

[@raysurx2010]

Excellent detail! Keep up the great videos!

[@SupremeTennis]

Thank you 🙏

[@martymartinez699]

Thanks!

[@SupremeTennis]

Thanks so much! You are most welcome!

[@dguttula]

Awesome 👏 I tried kick serve yesterday it worked & I got it. Thank you much for your easy tips. I eager to watch more videos more tips from you

[@SupremeTennis]

Thank you! More to come 👍

[@zicotu9407]

This video is a gem, especially the ball toss drill. Thanks so much 👍

[@SupremeTennis]

My pleasure. Let us know how you get on 👍

[@zicotu9407]

@@SupremeTennis Sure thing. Thanks

[@tsolomonliu]

I have been teaching kick serve with a lot of success and use all of the steps in your progression plus a couple more, such as serving from outside the fence or over a fence to teach upward trajectory. I would like to add one key element not mentioned - contact point and orientation of the racket. For maximum kick, the toss needs to be contacted at a height where the main strings are parallel to the ground. (Same as for groundstrokes, simple physics for maximum friction)

[@SupremeTennis]

Absolutely right. Will definitely fit that in the next kick serve tutorial. Where do you coach?

[@satyanarayan3602]

Can you elaborate a lil more though. Are you saying racquet is facing the sky at contact or facing the ground at contact. Or are you saying parallel from the vertical plan so pretty much racquet head is facing 9 o clock

[@SupremeTennis]

At contact, the very top of the frame should be facing around 9 o’clock. You’re right 👍

[@chiloandchepo]

Excellent video 💯

[@SupremeTennis]

Thank you! 👍

[@totogroove]

Really, really good 👍🏼

[@SupremeTennis]

Thanks so much man 👍

[@nglfmark1]

Subscribed, great progression instructions.

[@SupremeTennis]

Thank you 👍

[@some1rational]

this was such an amazing tutorial with step by step progression, love it

[@SupremeTennis]

Thank you so much!

[@aaronlennon3592]

best kick serve tutorial out there, congrats🎉

[@SupremeTennis]

@aaronlennon3592 thank you man!

[@bsinghgill]

Great video! Going to try this later today 😉

[@SupremeTennis]

Let us know how you get on ! 👍

[@ThetennisDr]

Great❤ job

[@SupremeTennis]

Thank you 👍

[@fanaty9125]

NIceeee ! :)

[@SupremeTennis]

Thank you!

[@ericthranduillvargaspenafl4011]

Thanks for the tip. I forgot how important wrist action is

[@SupremeTennis]

Most welcome 👍

[@joaobrinati9708]

Nos bradileiros amamos o esporte !

[@SupremeTennis]

Amazing!

[@narsimha1089]

One question.. when we imagine brush from 7-9 in a click analogy are we talking about clock on ball or clock from a racquet travels on top of our head?appreciate your efforts

[@SupremeTennis]

Good question. I always think of the face of the ball. But around the moment of impact, you want the racket to move from 7 to 1 o’clock of course. So whichever helps you more. Perhaps both.

[@abhs1141]

My own experience, many times when I tried to hit 7 to 1 o clock hitting direction , in reality , I was actually hitting 9 to 3 o clock , resulting in slice serve . Then I tried to hit 6 to 12 direction , then only I get some kind of kick serve .

[@mitchdep]

That follow-through though.

[@SupremeTennis]

Lol thoughts?

[@a2249096060]

What racquet are you using?

[@SupremeTennis]

It’s the head gravity tour. What do you use?

[@keatingaaron]

There is a guy i play with who does really great kicking serves. They swerve, change direction in the air a few times and bounce high. How do I effectively return a good kicking serve? I'm at a loss.

[@SupremeTennis]

Have you tried standing a little wider and a little further back? Many pros stand literally several metres behind the baseline on return, especially on clay. This gives you more time on the ball to read the ‘kick’. As you’d be giving up a lot more ground than usual, make sure to hit a heavy deep return to make up for that. Look at standing wider and running around your backhand to hit more forehands. Maybe chip/slice a few returns.

[@keatingaaron]

Thanks. I will take that on board.

[@SupremeTennis]

@keatingaaron let me know how you get on 👍

[@mightbefire]

I play a couple people that have incredible kicks. I like to move forward to cut off angles and take it on the rise. I don't give it the chance to bounce up and away from me. I'm an aggressive returner and I'm doing this in doubles so it might be a completely different plan if you're playing singles and just looking to get it in. Foot speed always plays a part. My hands are much faster than my feet.

[@SupremeTennis]

@mightbefire definitely a good way of countering the kick. Same for singles too, although having the extra space in doubles, reduces the risk slightly. Good job 👍

[@poofykins]

so is a kick serve better than a flat serve? Cuz ive been playing about 7 months and don't really have any technique on my serve ( i know it's flat cuz i throw the ball up and then swing like i'm hitting it with a frying pan lol) BUT I can get it over 100 Mph - had it clocked by a college coach (best one was 111 mph) and when they are in, nobody in our local club can handle it. would i be better learning proper technique on a power serve and maybe getting it up over 125 ish or trying to learn a Kick or SLice My Goal is to win a tournament by end of the season this year.

[@poofykins]

and this was a really awesome progression, i think i could get this down in one practice session! everything is broken down really easy to understand

[@SupremeTennis]

111mph is huge! You got some firepower there! Learn the slice and the kick too. Adding variety will keep your opponent guessing and also bump up your first serve percentage. If I go flat all the time, I know my first serve percentage will drop below 40%. Adding the slice and kick to your repertoire, also allows you to be more precise with placement. You will be able to target your opponents backhand easier and bring them out of court better.

[@SupremeTennis]

Thank you! Great to hear your aiming towards a tournament win this year. Let us know how you get on 👍

[@poofykins]

@@SupremeTennis haha yah I joke around when I'm going to go all out on a serve and yell out "unleash the cannon" some people don't appreciate that especially when i land it IN haha (just yesterday I blasted a serve that went right between someone's legs cuz they couldn't move out of the way haha) but i've been trying the kick serve like you show...and when i get to the full version OMFG it's SOOOOO SLOW and loopy. but maybe it's just cuz it's been only 2 days lol and i'm impatient :P Gunna keep practicing tho and check your channel for some forehand tips

[@Cientaschentuecher]

the part that is missing in your kick serve is the penetration through the ball. When you play a topspin groundstroke, the pace of the incoming ball helps a lot to let the ball sink into your strings and create power. On the kick serve there is no real incoming pace of the ball. Just hitting up at the ball is not going to create any power and is not going to produce a lot of topsin / kick on the serve. The friction is not high enough. Framing the ball is usually a sign of hitting too much up on the ball and not having enough forward momentum into /through the ball. When you look at the path of your racket and look at all your progression drills they mostly focus on the upwards motion when it should be through and up. That's how you get decent kick. The 'through' part comes from having the correct loop / swing path of the racket during the racket drop behind your body and most importantly from the correct timing of the pronation. If you look at the pros and view their kick serves from a side angle you will see that they hit through the ball while hitting up :)

[@Cientaschentuecher]

look at the side view of fereder in the clip: kzbin.info/www/bejne/n6q6hKeHosuMh6c In the very beginning you can see how much the racket actually hits forward and through the ball. Your demonstrations lack that for the most part and it is a very common reason why people don't have good kick serves. Most coaches don't focus on that part which is arguably the most important part of the kick serve. This is a really good video to learn the kick serves and avoid the mistakes: kzbin.info/www/bejne/ooecoqeHj7Cmebc

[@SupremeTennis]

Nice. Although I don’t compete anymore, I am still looking to constantly improve.. so I appreciate the feedback. And I do agree with you. This video is more aimed towards those just starting out with the kick serve, and I find getting the correct type of spin is a priority during the initial stages. When starting out, for many trying to ‘hit through’ (which definitely is a crucial element to the kick serve) will find this often takes away from generating the correct type of spin.. which is of course top spin. Whilst hitting up and still allowing yourself to penetrate through contact, is a little more advanced. Given the kick serve is already an advanced and very complicated shot, I don’t like tackling this early on. Perhaps I’ll do a more advanced video focusing on this. Something that I can totally work on myself! You make good points and seem to have good technical understanding of the game. Thank you for your comment and maybe you can help me out with the next kick serve video 😉👍

[@Cientaschentuecher]

yeah the kick serve is very advanced and many people never manage to get a consistent good kick serve in their entire tennis life The reason I commented is that I think without the context or a disclaimer that your video is a starting point and not the whole progression towards learning a good kick serve, people might get frustrated because they think it is their fault for not executing your steps correct when in fact your steps aren't suitable to learn a complete and effective kick serve. Great effort though, I know how difficult it is to post content like you did and then you get a lot of criticism

[@johntesoriero3382]

Thats a heavy serve!

[@SupremeTennis]

Thanks!

[@samsno3667]

I put plenty of spin on my serve but can't seem to have the ball move to the right; I just want to know 8 - 2? or 8 - 3?

[@SupremeTennis]

Try 7-1. The more you go from 8, the higher the chance of a slice serve.

[@samsno3667]

@@SupremeTennis I've been doing that 7-1 for a while and still can't get that left to right kick... I've been teaching tennis part time for a long time ... and yet still can't. I have plenty of topspin (when I want to) and yet... I even tried the follow through with the serving arm elbow up and the forearrm dropping out to the right and across the baseline. Anyways ... I'm still trying. I even tried 8-2...blah blah blah . Still experimenting... but I love the ones that have a nice kick to the right that you have. I'm still a pretty good (5.0) player and I've seen some lower level players have some nastly kickers (it almost sounds like a missed hit too .. especially the lefties). Thank you for your replied ... and a good video.

[@watcher687]

I find it a little low percentage unfortunately as I frame the ball too frequently. By the way I wish you had mentioned shoulder over shoulder motion which goes hand in hand with staying sideways. Great video anyway.👍

[@SupremeTennis]

Try these drills. REPEAT over and over, get used to the toss, the motion. And then try the full swing at a much slower pace. Within a few months, you will feel more comfortable and start to frame less. Also, getting good height alone, will give the serve a high bounce, making it difficult for your opponent. Once you get a consistent motion and good height over the net, then you can start to accelerate more and prioritise the spin. Hopefully, by then you will frame the ball less and begin to see a real difference. Keep me posted!

[@watcher687]

@@SupremeTennis Sure. I’ll keep working on it. I hate wide beam rackets on the serve. I think it increases framing risk. I use Pure Aero 98.

[@SupremeTennis]

@watcher687 I use the gravity. Thinking of switching to the blade.

[@dorokhovea]

you hitting slice all that lesson. in the end you can clearly see it by the bounce path.

[@spongebobby188]

He didn't tell us about the grunt that the guy clearly demos! 🤣

[@SupremeTennis]

Haha always helps!

[@crystalizzeable]

Idk man, just look at where your own wrist and racquet faces at 5:13 and then at 6:17. You teach right and do wrong.

[@SupremeTennis]

The last progression is an exaggeration of the high elbow to prevent the racket following through to my left hip. At full pace, my elbow doesn’t hang as high as I demonstrate in the drill. But I still say side on which is the crucial point I try to get across. When you feel comfortable letting the elbow hang, later doing what is most comfortable at a quicker pace, becomes down to personal preference (provided you’re still getting good kick of course). Sampras had a high elbow finish, and I think mimicking his finish would be ideal for most. This isn’t my preference when accelerating at a faster pace. I find it prevents me from getting decent power and this is why you see a slight difference in the finish towards the end of the video. Understand where you’re coming from though.

[@foxyonthrottle690]

I thought to learn something new but I’m not , always the same steps 🥴🥴

[@SupremeTennis]

Tell me where you struggle on the kick serve. Maybe I can help

[@foxyonthrottle690]

@@SupremeTennisI don’t struggle I have a very good kick serve . Tip for you : On the baseline keep your right heel on the ground until you make contact is forcing you to let the ball come down more and not turning to early , for direction : the moment you use your wrist “ i call it hammer motion “ which is actually a short motion ( radial to ulnar deviation combined with flexion for topspin and combined with supination for kick ) the side of the frame goes in the direction you want

[@TheDrakulie]

i will bet you Can't do it from the deuce court

[@SupremeTennis]

Definitely harder.

[@TheDrakulie]

@@SupremeTennis this is where no matter how good your technique, if you hit this serve too often on the deuce court, your lower back will at some point give out

[@TimTheMusicMan]

The kick serve requires skill when players used ‘real’ tennis rackets. The kick serve today is easy as the rackets and strings in todays tennis provides the spin, control and power for the player. The wonders of modern tennis giving to the player. 🤔🤔

[@SupremeTennis]

They definitely help. I can’t imagine even attempting a kick serve with a wooden bat!

[@GershonBenYitzhak]

It still requires lots of skill. Most 3.5/4.0 don't have much of a kick on their serve. Getting the toss and motion right still takes plenty of practice.

[@SupremeTennis]

Def the hardest shot in the game imo

[@GershonBenYitzhak]

@@SupremeTennis I played varsity tennis and even the guy with a really good kick serve couldn't even properly explain to me how to do it. It wasn't until years later that I saw some youtube videos where some things clicked.

[@SupremeTennis]

@GershonBenYitzhak nice! If you could give one tip that helped you the most, what would it be?

[@DeltoidBeast]

There is no power in your kick. You lack full arm pronation all the way from the shoulder. True kick should bounce only once before hitting the fence or the wall. Not single of your kicks did that.

[@SupremeTennis]

No holding back there 😂 Definitely not my best shot, but I’ll work on it 😉

[@DeltoidBeast]

@@SupremeTennis Of course. Straight to the point. Still, your kick is way better than mine.

[@SupremeTennis]

@DeltoidBeast do you compete?

[@DeltoidBeast]

@@SupremeTennis Only against friends :) But I am trying to improve. Would like to compete if I raise my level. That is my dream. I love tennis!

[@SupremeTennis]

@DeltoidBeast glad to hear it. Happy to help where I can. Keep training 👍

[@Chiisan07]

This is not insane kick. My kick goes 1-2 ft over your head

[@SupremeTennis]

Would love to see!

[@ajbnmd]

@Chiisan07: sure it does

[@Cientaschentuecher]

it looks like he's not using very bouncy / fresh balls so that might be a factor