Tennis Serve Lesson: 3 Reasons why you don’t get into the correct RACKET DROP position

[@MeikeBabelTennis]

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[@webberangie7]

Your online coaching is my favorite by far. I love how specific and detailed you do your coaching. So so helpful. Thank you!!!

[@MeikeBabelTennis]

Thank you!

[@opalpearl3051]

Your are far and away the best coach on the Internet. Love your videos.

[@Onlybhstrpes]

yup

[@Mick_7878]

Too funny! My daughter (a 15yr old competitive junior player) switched her serve grip - MID SWING, DURING her service motion (…just like you said in the video)! Took her a long time to break this habit. Another excellent lesson. THANK YOU!

[@MeikeBabelTennis]

Yes, it’s a lot of work to make that change!

[@jaakko8506]

one cannot overemphasize the importance of the grip, great video. have struggled, literally, over a decade with my serve, and only recently found out that the culprit was the grip, or, as highlighted here, that it gradually slipped over towards right, clockwise. so, if you struggle as well, check regularly while training and make sure that you maintain the proper hammer grip as clearly demonstrated here👍

[@geoffhess2267]

You’re a wonderful teacher Meike. Always looking for drills to maintain/improve my racquet drop. Particularly like the two ball drill. Looking forward to trying that in my next practice session.

[@MeikeBabelTennis]

Thank you! Let me know what you thought about the drills and how you felt.

[@dannyseverns5733]

Love your explanations! Seriously, such a great teacher of the game. Keep it up!

[@MeikeBabelTennis]

Thank you so much!

[@rafaelmarquez1315]

Thank you Meike. This is the most challenging aspect of our game

[@MeikeBabelTennis]

I agree, I struggled with my serve on and off!

[@soozig1909]

Thank you. I have struggled with my serve. I use younger pros on the side. The one for my team tennis practice is constantly trying to tell me to quit doing what they tell me, and to just throw like a football. This confirms what I’ve always thought…she’s purposely trying to sabotage my tennis “career”!😂

[@MeikeBabelTennis]

If you throw the football very high and not far, they are getting closer. But since you also open your hips like crazy when you throw a football they don't get the mechanics of the serve. I saw some footage from Dak Prescott and Tom Brady where they're specifically working on opening the hips and that's exactly the opposite of what you want on the serve. This "throw like a pitch/ football" is just one of the cues that someone once used and then everybody accepted it as the gospel.

[@12juslookin]

Thanks to you I understand what is happening with my serve grip. Now to fix it.

[@MeikeBabelTennis]

Let me know if you manage it. The first step really is to know what's going on.

[@sogeartworks-ke6cl]

Thank you! Love the clarity of your instructions. You know your subject. Clearly! I had always issues with the "hit up" and "it's a throwing motion" instructions. Now I got it!!!!

[@MeikeBabelTennis]

You are so welcome!

[@laurikasti26]

Tip #1 was huge for me. I’ve heard swing up on the ball like millilons of times but only now I understood the necessary hand structure how to do it.

[@MeikeBabelTennis]

I've had that as well. Heard something a million times but then heard it explained in another way and boom!

[@eileenwang7265]

You are so good at explaining this. Talented

[@MeikeBabelTennis]

Thank yoU!

[@lcervantes8505]

Great points! Looks as if the correct drop is away from the body as opposed to down the back. Is this a product of cocking (supinating) the hand full stop? Or from pointing the elbow forward?

[@RaphaClassic]

To execute the drill at 3:38 absolutely use a stinky sock, I was trying it with a freshly washed one at first, but results were absolutely superior with the stinky one. Wanted to get that sucker as far away as possible 😄

[@MeikeBabelTennis]

Haha! Brilliant! I think subconsciously that was the reason for using a stinky sock!

[@pierre8813]

Great analysis. Your tips are gold. Thx a lot Meike

[@MeikeBabelTennis]

Glad you think so!

[@adambird9949]

So good👏… And I’d definitely be listening to advice from a coach with such a great serve action👏

[@MeikeBabelTennis]

Thank you!

[@billthestinker]

great lesson Coach, thank you so much for your time

[@MeikeBabelTennis]

Of course! And thank you for supporting me!

[@JoseLeitao]

Impressive, I've watched so so many KZbin videos, with great quality but yours are a notch above. That hand going up tip? So useful and makes sense, because before all I could think is that it was an elbow thingy. Please do not see this as a negative criticism but rather something useful to us viewers - your videos could be bundled up differently on your page, let's say a section for serves, another for forehand, etc. Thank you so much for all you're doing, won yourself a new subscriber!

[@ccsdk]

Excellent... Thx

[@olesyatimerbulatova3069]

I am happy to find your channel. Many thanks!

[@dennisang5608]

I love the two balls drill!

[@MeikeBabelTennis]

It's very fun!

[@Godzilla9]

Nice lesson Meike, thanks.

[@MeikeBabelTennis]

Thank you!

[@CH-yp5by]

I do a similar drill by picking a ball off the court behind my back foot with my ball toss pointing up so my hip on my toss arm is higher than the hip on my back foot side. Meike what would be great is if you could do a video on how to hit the sweet spot better on your serve, I can do it serving without engaging my legs but as soon as I engage my legs I find it hard to hit the sweet spot I always hit too high!

[@MeikeBabelTennis]

That's a good idea, yes. And that drill is great. I'm not flexible any more to do it :-)

[@Phil-kv7rk]

Thanks

[@MeikeBabelTennis]

You're welcome and thanks for your support!

[@geoffhess2267]

To check for a possible mid-swing grip change, simply freeze at the end of the stroke. If a grip change is occurring, you will likely see more of an eastern forehand grip. Starting the serve with the continental grip, there should be no change from the beginning to end of the stroke.

[@firebug0310]

Thanks!

[@MeikeBabelTennis]

Thank you for your support!

[@firebug0310]

Great tutorial as always. I wish I knew this 2 years ago before tearing up my rotator cuff 😢

[@MeikeBabelTennis]

Ugh, that's not good to hear! Hope you're ok now!

[@Belmiciotto]

Or the grip change can happen during the overhead stroke, starting with continental and sliding into eastern.

[@geoffhess2267]

Hi Meike. I’ve been doing multiple practice sessions-with video positioned behind me-focusing solely on trying to get a deep racquet drop. When I video my shadow swing it’s perfect, so physically there’s no problem. But I just can’t reproduce it during a ball toss. I revert to a less than optimal racquet drop. My best results (although not 100 % successful) have been when I do a shadow swing immediately followed by a ball toss and swing. So frustrating! I’ll try concentrating on your tip # 1 on my next practice to see if that will help.

[@MeikeBabelTennis]

It's frustrating for sure! We think we do something only to watch it on film and there is absolutely no change! Keep working on it!

[@johnwozniak4947]

I have exactly the same problem. Frustrating as hell. I’m going to try these suggestions.

[@MeikeBabelTennis]

@@johnwozniak4947 Let me know how it goes.

[@michaellunnemann143]

It is the best way explain to.

[@marktace1]

What you are showing isn’t how pitchers really throw. The only real difference is the amount of shoulder tilt and some pitchers who pitch overhand vs. 3/4 or sidearm have similar shoulder tilt to a proper serve. Remember both serves and pitches tend to be hit/thrown level or slightly up at contact/release so the motion is the similar.

[@tennisjourney]

I'm a right hander and was wondering if you need to change the feet placement on the Ad side. I have a platform stance and both of my feet are parallel to the baseline on both side now.

[@MeikeBabelTennis]

You still want to be side on. For many right handed players that's a bit easier on the Ad side, just more natural. I wouldn't mess with the foot position too much.

[@dardoporta5346]

Great! "no pasa nada", pero voy a seguir intentando. I had noticed exactly what you perfectly explain here. My clue was when I saw my hand after the serve it was in forehand position grip.. 🤦‍♂🤣

[@MeikeBabelTennis]

Glad it helped!

[@jackspradlin4183]

I am one of those players who start at continental, end up eastern. The reason is my racket drop or lack of, cannot get on edge going up and out, my thumb flies off continental. I will try to throw hand upwards for a better drop, nothing to lose!

[@MeikeBabelTennis]

True. And it will take a while to make changes. Let me know how it goes!

[@Belmiciotto]

Try serving with 3 fingers. It really improved my racket drop. Pronation improved also.😊

[@TeamTennisfr]

Crucial last point. Indeed lack of mobility reduces the depth of the drop and bad idea to go against that. The body decides, not the brain.

[@MeikeBabelTennis]

So, so true!

[@jcassada60]

Great instruction! Thank you.

[@Belmiciotto]

I’d be pretty darn happy with your racket drop, Meike!

[@coachtripleb5121]

Hmmmm Big thankyou Meike the throw up makes a hell of a lot of sense. Also I will look out for clients who change that grip in their serve motion lol😂

[@MeikeBabelTennis]

It surprised me how many players do that.

[@petertrahan9785]

Yes, the serve is "like a pitch" in many ways. Not many people can actually pitch, however. As demonstrated by Meike when she went through a pitching motion with no pronation. Pitchers pronate. They don't do what Meike did. The serve is "like a pitch" in many ways. Is that a helpful thought? I don't know. Very few people can pitch with pronation, so I would agree that it might not be very helpful. But it is true. The serve is "like a pitch" in many ways.

[@thomasc4777]

Meike, where do you reside in Spain? I ask only because I'm looking for a second retirement home, condo would be fine, away from the winter months in NYC. Florida is not the answer. Looking for a warm climate, but not oppressively hot and humid. Good (western) medical care is a must. Love areas to walk and bike. Nearby gym is a must. Tennis courts too, although a hard surface is fine. A drive, rather than a plane, to the beach would be ideal too. I can speak conversational Spanish. You're athletic, so I'm sure you did adequate research. Thank you very much.

[@coachbrucelee]

This is my Achilles' Heel, coach. I tried..everything. to no avail..

[@MeikeBabelTennis]

Keep working on it in super small increments!

[@KatrinBothmer-Westphal]

Wow… das könnte mein Problem lösen. Ich werde es bei der nächsten Gelegenheit sofort probieren. Es spricht jedenfalls total meine Probleme mit dem Aufschlag an. Ich habe so einen Knoten in meinem Kopf. Ich verstehe nicht, warum mein Körper immer wieder so skurrile Dinge tut. 😅

[@MeikeBabelTennis]

Der Koerper versucht einen Weg zu finden, um alles aus der Ausgangslage umzusetzen. Und wenn da ein bisschen was nicht stimmt, macht der Koerper halt was er kann.

[@johnkimgretzky]

I also think that Madison Key's server is the best of the best in tennis. Thank you.

[@MeikeBabelTennis]

I agree. Her serve is a thing of beauty!

[@donavansmalley4146]

It's closer to a football throwing motion

[@CH-yp5by]

true but the angle needs to be higher

[@donavansmalley4146]

@@CH-yp5by absolutely

[@mikelvercors4789]

Merci !

[@MeikeBabelTennis]

Thank you for your support!

[@mario17-t34]

Alas , no single science on tennis, everybody is different, do like whoever you pay to

[@八極麻花捲]

Meike is a good coach but talking serve is not like throwing a ball and totally neglecting the benefit of that explanation is awfully wrong. No one ever said serve is same as pitch a ball. People were saying it’s alike. Doing that also help to develope muscle strength and motion memory. One need to adjust and change from that practice to real serve. The tip and approach were never wrong. Please don’t step on other people’s achievement and claim your own success.

[@cirneco1581]

Disagree. I don't believe she said it's not a throwing motion but rather stated it's not a horizontal throwing motion. It's easy for someone learning to serve to focus too much on a horizontal throwing motion after relating a serve to throwing a ball. I had a heck of a time getting my serve back after 25+ years away from tennis. As soon as I kept hearing serve like you're throwing a ball, my serve got worse, net , net , net. Until I thought to myself it's like throwing a ball vertically things slowly came back. Obviously there is more involved than throwing vertically but it's a good starting point . To get that racket drop bend knees and jump upward, not too much, but that vertical thrust is what naturally drops racket behind you. Again more involved with serve motion esp between first and second serve but again good starting point is a vertical throw as she encouraged as a starting point to feel how the racquet should start it's motion when beginning the hitting phase of the serve. Meike great coach, really breaks things down.

[@八極麻花捲]

@@cirneco1581 you are wrong. Period. So does her. For different reasons. I hate a type of people who try to bring up attention by making a budging statement like this pitcher one. Saying it’s wrong to catch people’s attention and give something no better at best. Learning is a complex by its own. There is a technic to teach wrong thing in order to build up desired result because you can’t go from a to b with no steps. The pitcher move serve very well to fill the gap and bring many benefits. People like you only look at the down side and ignore the benefit. Worse of all, you can’t bring a replacement to fill the gap. The pitcher thing has many folds of purpose and Mieke just discussed a very shallow one. If you hit net, check your eye, not the hitting motion. If you stay your eye on the ball, it will pass net.

[@Belmiciotto]

There must be some similarity besides pronation otherwise Sharapova wouldn’t have been practicing throwing a football when she was on tour.