Footwork on your serve?
by Harvey Rubin, Tennis Pro

Yes, footwork on your serve. What, never heard of it? Although it's not a common topic, the positioning and subsequent movement of your feet during your serve is a key determining factor in the speed and delivery of your serve. If you are serious about putting some "pop" in your serve, your feet have to be doing the right things.

What are the right things? Glad you asked!

What gives your ball the velocity you are looking for is basically a function of two elements: first, your racket head speed and second, your body weight moving into the serve. The first element is controlled by your upper body, your arm and shoulder and your wrist snap . However, in order to get your body weight moving into the court your feet have to be working to transfer your center of gravity forward.

Your center of gravity moves during the service motion. It is in a
forward attitude as you bounce the ball and prepare to toss. As you rock back during the toss, your center of gravity is transferred rearward and this is the crucial phase where you must re-transfer that center of gravity forward as you make contact with the ball. This is a function of footwork.

For a right handed server, that right foot must be brought forward
either before, which is the practice of most players on the tour, or
simultaneously as the ball is struck. It is imperative that your left
heel be planted during the service motion allowing for the slight
lifting of the left toe to help the transfer from front to back as you
toss the ball.

So many recreational players move their front foot during the serve thereby losing the anchor point from which their power is based. Of course, there are those who defy the rules and flourish. Marcello Rios would move his right foot all over the place (he was a lefty) and still serve like a demon.

However, for most of us, the laws of physics, whether we're aware of them or not, still apply and govern our performance in the wonderful game of tennis. So, think about your footwork on your serve and create the winning form that will give your serve an added dimension of power.

[ back ]