Doc's Tip of the Day -- Tossing Motion on the Serve

One of the most important parts of the Serve is of course the toss. What appears to be a routine or automatic move is in fact not that easy at all. I will discuss these points:

1. how you hold the ball in your tossing hand.
2. the length of travel of the arm.
3. the speed of the arm.
4. the turn of the front shoulder during the ascent of the tossing arm.
5. the release of the ball out of the hand.

First, when holding the ball in your hand, the ball should not be held with your fingers. You want to cradle the ball at the base of your fingers and the very top part of your palm. The ball should lay in your hand, try not to grab ball.

Secondly, know if your arm descends first or if it ascends from the start point. IF your arm descends, make sure your tossing hand (knuckle) touches the inside of your leg, before ascending. After releasing the ball, continue moving your arm straight up to an angle of 180 degrees to your front leg.

Thirdly, the speed of the arm is constant. It does not accelerate to release the ball. The motion speed is relatively slow and controlled because momentum is built up due to the length of arm travel.

Fourth, because of the turn of the front shoulder when the arm is ascending, the arm ascends at a slight angle to the front leg. This angle is approximately 83+/-2 degrees. This is because you want to toss the ball in front of your body or at approximately 12 o'clock to your front foot.

And lastly, when you release the toss out of your hand do not flick or move the WRIST. This is very important. The ball should have very minimal spin or none at all after tossed. afdd

Doc's Tip of the Day -- Return of Serve

When returning serve, these actions are extremely important.
1. Have a slightly angled stance towards the server or into the court. (Your outside foot will be closer to net)
2. Split step forward when landing. (your split should be at least 1 inch vertically)
3. Your first move as you come down from your split step is a unit body turn.
4. Start immediately adjusting your feet to get into position for proper contact distance.
5. Establish balance, by holding your weight and do not lean or try to go forward to hit the return.
5. It is satisfactory to wait for the ball the come to you so you can maintain your balance.

* on faster serves, you may only have time to turn or pivot after split stepping.
* on serves spinning fast away from you, you must take multiple steps after split stepping to get to the ball. afdd