Practice schedule

• Full serve technique 20'
  • Backswing And Toss
  • Serve In Two Parts
  • The Power Move
  • Complete Serve And Flow
• How To Warm Up The Serve

Unlock your serve course by FeelTennis

https://member.feeltennis.net/serveunlocked/ https://simonvdm.github.io/feeltennis/

Unlock your serve.
Focus on feeling the right movement, not on the ball.
Relinquish control.
It’s all about biomechanical speed.
Start from a movement that works ... then let your mind correct with feedback. Don't try to intervene technically. Trust the process.

Serve Biomechanics

This is the most important module of this course as it teaches you how to use your body correctly to generate power.

How We Work On The Serve

Video We work on the serve by going through different stages which means that we don't immediately try to serve "correctly".

• Focus on feeling the right biomechanics and technique without tensing up

3 Laws Of Physics

Video By learning and feeling the 3 main laws of physics you will know without a doubt how to generate effortless power.

• Stretch of muscles between left hip and right shoulder (+ arm)
• Transfer of momentum

4 Major Mistakes

Video These are the most common mistakes when it comes to generating power and then lock your body from unleashing power.

1. Rotation : 120 degrees, elbow rotated more than shoulders
2. Lag : drop racket to bottocks so you have a long travel/acceleration path for the head
3. Deceleration : slow down the body to all the momentum is transfered to the arm
4. Pronation : pronate to transfer all the momentum from the shoulder to the racket head (don't push the all arm through) Practice: 1, 3, 4 (lag is implicit) to feel the full snap and momentum transfer

Tip: Why not vertical? There are 3 planes of movement in the serve: rotation, summersault, cartwheel. Feeltennis teaches the serve without the vertical plane at first, just horizontal shoulders. Reason, people focus too much on vertical (summersault) and it does not create a lot of speed.

The Power Move

Video You have to master this drill to feel how the 3 laws of physics / biomechanics work together to create easy power.

• Practice this without power at first so you can feel how far the ball goes without effort

Pronation Progressions

Video Pronation is not the most natural arm movement so we need to train our arm to move correctly with specific drills.

Susan Case Study

Video By observing this case study you will have a more clear picture of how the learning process of biomechanics works.

• cool demo of progression
• Power move
• Rubber band
• Serve master

How To Warm Up The Serve

Video A 15 minute video session with my student Allen going deeper into how to warm up the serve and why in such a way.

• 3 sources of power : stretch, rotation, momentum transfer
• 4 typical blocks :
  • not enough rotation → 120 degrees on hips, more on elbow
  • not enough lag → racket head dips at bottock level
  • not enough deceleration → keep body still after contact
  • no pronation → arm must “break” at elbow, not be straight after serve

Drills:

• Daily
  • Throw 10 balls → feel correct bio mechanics
  • Swing grocery bag → feel relaxed wrist and acceleration above head
  • Shadow power move : hips, arm lag, deceleration and pronation
• On court
  • Power move → feel arm snap forward without using force → Serve needs to initiate from the hips → don’t turn the front foot, keep the tension in the hips (coil)
  • Pronation drills : 10 sessions x 5 exercises x 15 balls per exercise
  • Warm-up : how to build up your serve every time from correct biomechanics
    • Focus on “throwing the ball” without technique or strength. Get in touch with relaxed power. Get the basics going. I don’t want to “think”. My serve is automated. Thinking ruins your service. Feel the sensation, check that your body is OK
    • Then increase progressively
      • start without rotation, without power, without conscious pronation. all relaxed
      • activate below the waste : rotation, legs push up (but keep top loose)
      • activate the top and pronation (without losing the bottom)
      • Impulse from the legs will end up reaching pronation (wave reaches the forearem from the ground)

Serve Technique

Follow these step-by-step progressions to build a sound technical foundation of a flat serve or to correct the most common flaws.

The Stance

Video How to position your feet so that you are well balanced throughout the service motion.

• Left foot to net post
• Right foot perpendicular to court

Finding A Continental Grip

Video There are some nuances of the Continental grip that allow you to hit with a much looser wrist.

• Racket diagonal in hand
• Not too tight: let racket dangle along leg to get the right relax feel before serving.

Swing To Contact And Pronation

Video The most important and the most complex part of the serve explained in a simple way with two swing paths.

• 45% degree swingpath until contact, then pronate

Backswing And Toss

Video How to integrate the toss and the backswing together in one smooth and effortless action.

Serve In Two Parts

Video Time to assemble the serve from all the previous parts that you developed separately.

The Power Move

Video The key to a powerful serve is the timing of the hip rotation and the racquet drop and here's how to practice that.

Complete Serve And Flow

Video The flow exercises connect all the parts of the serve in a smooth way which helps you generate very efficient power.

Correcting The Waiter

Video A case study of how to work on a so called "waiter's tray" technical flaw. It shows one of the ways on how the player can quickly improve.

Unlocking the Mind

The biggest barrier to hitting fast serves is actually in your mind and I encourage you to study this module repeatedly.

• Unlocking your mind check list
• Desire to hit hard
• Desire for correct technique
• Desire to turn toward the court
• Aiming with you arm
• Not trusting the pronation

As you can see this section is the biggest of all major sections of the Serve Unlocked course because there are so many mental “locks” that I have discovered through my own journey of perfecting the serve and also through countless hours spent on the court trying to figure out what holds back tennis players when it comes to the serve.

I know you might be eager to to start learning some drills and there are lots of them in all other sections of this video course, but it is my experience that unless you unlock your mind first, the drills will not help you much – because you will always have some incorrect mental images and incorrect expectations that will hold you back.

So please take the time to go through this section and check whether your view of the serve is as unlocked as I present it in the Unlocking Your Mind section.

Your comments and questions are very welcome and I’ll make sure to answer all of them.

The Feeling Of Control

Video There is a big difference in the feeling of control that we feel in our arm and the actual control that we have over the outcome.

• You can try to control the movement but you will never serve that way. To really serve you need to "let go" of control and trust the process
• Notice which serves go in. Remember the feeling of those serves. Replay those during the match.
• Accept that not all balls will go in. Don't expect all balls to go in.
• Develop an unlocked consistent service
• Reasonable: 50-60% rate of success on first serve
• Practice, repeat, "aim in your mind"

2 Paths of Development

Video Most tennis players start with a very controlled serve and then add power to it. But it's better if you start with a free swing first.

Correct Learning Process

Video Learn the importance of sticking to the natural movement of your body even when you start missing the target.

• it is not a puzzle to assemble
• start from something that flows and patiently sculpt it without disassembling
• When you practice, you have to give your body time to learn by itself from repetition. It won't do it if you start to do tech corrections.
• Don't intervene on the mechanics; only work on meta topics

I "record" the right movement in my body. Then, during the match, I just let my body replay the movement it knows.

Aiming At The Ball

Video Trying to hit the ball sounds like the most logical thing but you're very likely slowing down your serve by that approach.

• You cannot consciously aim at the ball, that will show you down.
• you have to trust that you will hit the ball without looking
• drill: compare swinging with and without ball. It should feel the same. No tensions. Or: practice with a trendy without strings

I look at the ball very attentively and see it crystal clear before I hit it. It’s just that I don’t really consciously guide my arm to it but just freely swing. It’s the subconscious then that guides the racket so precisely to the ball and hits the sweetspot regularly. But I need to see the ball really well so that the brain knows where in space is the ball exactly.

Desire for Correct Technique

Video If you try too hard to serve with correct technique you will lock your body and prevent effortless power.

Aiming in the Mind (not Arm)

Video This is another way of explaining how the desire for control locks your body and how you need to aim only in your mind.

• Aiming with your arm will lock your wrist. This will stop the transfer of power from your arm to the racket through your wrist
• You really have to let your body and subconscious do it, Not try to intervene you.
• The only thing you need to do is observe the result of what you just did and tell your mind change consciously.
• Don't try to affect specific muscle movements that is "aiming with your arm"

1st and 2nd Serves Mindset

Video If you try too hard to put the ball in on your 1st serve you will again slow down your arm. Learn my "lottery" approach.

• Second serve is just as out of control as the first. Just pick a technique that gets the ball in. Recall it.

Judging The Serve By The Effort

Video This is one of the most important videos in this course as this mental lock affects almost every tennis player I worked with.

Best Way To Unlock Your Serve

Video Learn one of my favorite drills for becoming more loose on the serve with one simple racquet modification.

Desire to Orient Towards the Court

Video Orienting towards the court seems to be something all pros do not to mention that you think it helps you generate more power. It doesn't...

• Why early turning is a problem:
  

• Key technical principle:
  The serve is a circular motion, not a linear push toward the target. Power comes from accepting this circular mechanic and timing a single, fluid shoulder rotation at the correct moment.

• Why players turn into the court too early:
  (1) A natural tendency to look where you want to send the ball, which pulls the head and shoulders toward the target. In this model, your mind conceives of the serve as linear mouvement towards the goal. You can test if you have this issue by deliberately keeping your shoulders perpendicular to the court during serve simulation and feeling if this feels wrong or uncomfortable to you. (2) A lack of trust in pronation. In tennis the arm moves sideways and pronation redirects the ball into the court, which is counterintuitive. It is extra confusing because at the end of the serve the racket finishes pointing toward the target, creating the illusion that the ball was pushed in that direction, even though during contact the body and racket are not aligned that way.

• What to understand and train about pronation:
  Think of the serve as being delivered by the racket head, not by the arm. The racket head is what sends the ball into the court. A useful drill is to isolate pronation: practice serves focused specifically on the pronation action and observe how it redirects the ball independently of the arm’s apparent swing path, to build trust in the mechanic.

Playing for Points

Video While playing competitive tennis is fun and challenging it's also very detrimental to the development of a smooth serve.

• This will teach you to lock your serve as you'll care about results
• Instead just hit buckets of balls by yourself.
• Note: accept to lose all game you serve. Aim to practice correct serve in match conditions without locking

Expecting Collision

Video Overcoming this mental (b)lock is going to take quite a few sessions but it's well worth your effort. Study repeatedly!

Mistakes vs Feedback

Video If you can transform the judgmental way of looking at misses into simply receiving feedback, you'll improve very fast.

• it's just neutral feedback : long, short, left, right

Unlocking the Wrist

A loose wrist is the key to accelerating the racket head really fast and this module helps you unlock it.

The Role of the Wrist

Video The wrist must allow movement so that your arm acts like a double pendulum which allows the racquet head to accelerate fast.

The Cobra Drill

Video This is a simple exercise that helps you loosen up the wrist and should be practiced often as part of your serve warm up.

The 3 Frames Drill

Video The purpose of this drill is to give you a clear mental image of how the racquet moves through contact zone.

Role of the Fingers (2 by 2 Drill)

Video Different fingers have different roles when we serve and if you use them correctly they add another bit of power and control.

Role of the Index Finger

Video Using the index finger correctly is critical for being able to transfer the power of pronation into your racquet.

The 3 Fingers Drill

Video This is one of the classical drills for loosening up your wrist and can be used often in your serve warm ups.

Speed vs Strength

99% of the recreational tennis players muscle the serve and can't break the 100 MPH barrier. Study this module repeatedly.

Unlocking the Technique

Video Trying to use correct technique may sound like the obvious way to improve but it can also hold you back.

Less is More

Video The most counter-intuitive concept is tennis is that less is more. Here's how you can experience that...

Focusing Energy

Video Most players waste a lot of energy when serving but there is way to learn how to focus it into the ball and serve effortlessly.

Maximum Racquet Head Speed At Contact

Video Make sure to work on this concept often as it can make a big difference in your serve speed with a very small change.

With and Without

Video This is a very simple exercise that I use all the time with my students because it works very fast.

Achieving a Whip Effect

Video Serving in a similar manner as you would use a whip creates much more power than if you imagine serving with a rigid stick.

Sources Of Power

Learn how to generate power with your whole body and channel it from the ground up to the arm and hand. The videos on this page focus mostly on how we generate power and connect it through our body, but there are also some clips than help you better understand the role of the arm, how to imagine the serve correctly and other ideas that can potentially rob you of power if you don’t have the correct mental image or you use the arms in the wrong way.

Understanding the Energy Flow

Video Eventually you should move from thinking about mechanics to feeling the energy flow throughout your body.

Power From the Legs

Video Legs are not a huge contributor to power but they help a lot with the initial thrust from the ground.

Starting With the Tip of the Racquet

Video This is one of those tips that can instantly help you serve more effortlessly. Definitely give it a try.

Rhythm of the Serve

Video There are more complex ways of finding the right rhythm on the serve out there but in my view it's quite a simple process.

• There are two phases: arm the bow … and let loose. It's like throwing a ball
• Let your right arm drop happen with natural momentum and speed.

Why You Shouldn’t Serve “Forward”

Video Serving "down" or "forward" makes sense at first glance until you realize that you're hitting into the net most of the time...

• We are doing a high speed circular movement around the shoulder, not a linear push towards the court
• The racquet angle sends the ball in, not our intervention
• You have to let the circular swing happen. Just find the place in that swing path that makes the ball go in

When is the Arm’s “Turn” to Work?

Video This is one of the most important concepts on the serve as most players tighten up their arm way too early while serving.

• Don't activate your arm until the last moment. Wait until you feel it's time to activate.
• Most of the path of the arm is based on momentum.

Feel the Role of the Wrist

Video This feel based exercise will give you the right feel of stretching and then releasing your main muscles that accelerate the racket.

• Don’t push the racket forward, instead release and accelerate.
• Drill : hold and release tip

Power of the Fall

Video The idea of "jumping into the court" is misinterpreted most of the times and done incorrectly. It's more about falling into the court...

• drill: feel yourself falling sideways into the court

The "Being Loose" Clarification

Video Players are often coached to be "loose" on the serve but you can take this too literally and never really get good power on your serve.

• Your body is not loose; your legs and core a doing a lot
• Your arm is loose most of the serve, until pronation

Toss Secrets

Correct the most common mistakes of the toss and learn how to consistently toss the ball in the same position.

Body Too Active

Video There are a lot of moving parts when we're serving and they all affect the accuracy of the toss. Here's how to keep them more "quiet"...

Body Too Tense

Video If you're thinking too much about your toss you'll get stiff and lose the feel for the toss. Here's how to find it again...

How to Work on the Tossing Arm

Video While you follow the advice on how to move your tossing arm correctly, make sure you don't isolate it from your body.

• Yes, toss from the shoulder but don't isolate your arm.
• Instead, integrate your toss into a whole body movement

Dealing With Imperfect Tosses

Video There is a danger of looking for perfection when working on your toss as it cannot be attained. I share my philosophy on imperfect tosses...

• Fully accept that a lot of your tosses will be wrong.
• Don't hit them ! Just start over. It does not matter that the returner has to wait. (can even be an advantage in match)

Throwing vs Releasing

Video We throw the ball in the air when we toss it but it's much better to visualize a release as that helps toss more accurately.

• Don't use a throwing motion, instead create natural momentum for your arm and lift the ball
• Release the ball in the air or visualize "placing it on the top shelf"

Myth of the Perfect Toss

Video While perfect tosses are what we're looking for it's also very useful to know how to serve off imperfect ones as they inevitably happen.

• It is not perfect technique that places your toss correctly, it’s your feel and intention

Finding Ideal Ball Placement

Video The difference between adjusting your serve to your toss and adjusting your toss to your ideal serve and why focus on the latter. There is no theoretical ideal ball placement dot You have to experiment to find the perfect placement for each one of your serves You do this by doing a natural serve without ball, notice where the ball should be, then aim to place itin a box there. Compare the feeling of the serve with and without ball. Are you making adjustments?

Achieving a Vertical Tossing Arm

Video If your left arm is not vertical at some point in the serve it usually means that you also imagine the serving motion incorrectly. Mental image: accelerate upwards

The Integrated Toss

Video The last video that puts everything together and explains how you need to integrate the toss into your serving motion.

Notes to be assigned

Video on "hitting with the arm"

• Learn to hit before the whole move -> move will come naturally
• To avoid facing the court too soon, imagine 2 motions:
  1. 45 degree angle towards the ball with the edge of the racket
  2. pronate racket head towards the court
• Practice: drop the racket head after tossing the ball. (important to get used to dropping the head)
• Think: "I'm not hitting with my whole arm/racket, I'm hitting with the head of the racket"