Andy Roddick Serve Analysis
1. FEET » Once he tosses the ball and pushes down, Roddick almost immediately gets up on his toes. He positions his feet closer together than Sampras does, but other than shifting his front foot back a bit in the beginning stages of his motion there isn’t much movement. This is what’s comfortable to him, just as many players serve extremely well by dragging their back foot forward.
2. KNEES » Roddick gets into his knee bend much faster and earlier than Sampras does. It’s a very quick and hard push down that enables Roddick to explosively spring up to the ball. It also gives his serve a herky-jerky and violent appearance that belies the fluidity and relaxation in his swing.
3. RACQUET HEAD » When I worked with 12-year-old Andy Roddick, the backswing on his serve was very much like Sampras’. Today, the trademark of the Roddick serve, other than its overwhelming power, is that his racquet goes up with the toss. The backswing is practically nonexistent. Many players seem to like that it’s more compact and less complicated than the Sampras motion.
4. SHOULDERS » Roddick has a slightly less dramatic shoulder turn than Sampras. His right shoulder drops below his left, ensuring the shoulder-over-shoulder motion that occurs on his serve. Players need to understand that to maximize the consistency and speed of the serve you need an upward motion (like throwing a javelin).
5. LEFT ARM » Since his motion is shorter than Sampras’, Roddick has a slightly lower toss. Although his left hand is turned out more than Sampras’, both of their arms are completely straight and their wrists are locked. This leads to a more accurate and reliable toss. When there’s bend in the wrist, that’s when the toss tends to be difficult to control.
Article by Rick Macci, Photos by John Gress – Tennis.com
You know, once I have watched Roddick play the other day, I shortened my back swing and made a much quicker preparation. This wasn’t conscious or made on purpous, just a feel to get it work quicker. It actually gave me his toss. More consistant than what I was doing before since as you made me learnt, I locks my wrist and dimishes the amount of things that can go wrong and vary.
Although we should not literally copy pro players, there’s always things they do right and we always can and should learn from these key points. Nice analysis.