Nineteen-year-old rising star Andy Murray of Scotland has assaulted the rankings in the last two years, moving nearly 500 spots to his current position inside the Top 40. Solid in every aspect of his game, Murray uses his serve to dictate play right from the get-go. And with a few minor changes, he could make it even better.

1. This is a typical stance for most players. It has no significance as far as racquet acceleration and power— each player simply has his or her own way of beginning to focus on the serve. One note: When my partner, Dr. Gideon Ariel, and I analyzed subjects who used this stance, with the racquet extended, there was an increase in the activity in their trapezius (neck and shoulder) muscles. Some players actually got a little stiff using this method. That’s why baseball pitchers shrug their shoulders and exhale to relax the muscles before throwing.

2. Notice that Murray’s tossing hand is nearly parallel to the baseline rather than extended toward his opponent. This causes his body to coil, and it’s the uncoiling of the body in a particular sequence from the ground up that generates racquet speed. That sequence is called the “kinetic chain.” Notice also that Murray’s dominant arm is extended backward. Many players think they should look like the classic serving trophy, with the hitting elbow tucked way down behind them. But that trophy designer must have had a pitiful serve.

3. At this point, Murray brings his back foot up toward his front, which momentarily stops him from uncoiling his body. He relies on loading the muscles in his upper body rather than generating a complete kinetic chain. His knees are bent to activate a forward and upward movement. While the knee bend is an initiator of the kinetic chain, in our research we found that the knee bend alone was not a huge factor in serve speed and generated less than 10 m.p.h. for most subjects.

4. Here is where Murray fails to maximize his racquet-head speed. His body isn’t going as forward and upward as it could be. He tosses the ball farther back than, say, Andy Roddick does. In our research center, we found that the greatest racquet speed was produced when the player’s upper arm was going up and forward toward the net, as in a baseball pitch. Murray’s upper arm is traveling more upward than forward, which will limit his speed.

5. Murray makes contact with the ball at the peak of the toss, which has major advantages in serving percentages. One or two inches in height can often mean the difference between an ace or a ball that hits the tape. Andy continues to uncoil his body, which helps to increase racquet-head speed. Note that Murray’s feet have left the ground. If you jump to hit the ball before the upper arm has achieved maximum speed, you’ll lose power. This is not true if the ball is tossed out front and the server is pulled off the ground when he reaches for it.

6. Murray has one foot behind the baseline when he lands. (Roddick lands more than 2 feet inside the baseline.) It’s important to get the toss as far out in front as you can. As Murray’s game continues to improve, I think you’ll see him tossing the ball farther out toward the net to maximize racquet-head speed, while remaining properly balanced to attack the net or play the point out from the baseline.

Article by Vic Braden, Photos by Tommy Hindley – Tennis.com

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

The subtle differences in the way a player may stand or take the racquet back when he serves is a matter of individual style. Anything goes, as long as it’s not detrimental to the result. Sampras and Roddick have completely different styles when it comes to their serves, but at the moment of truth—contact—everything hits the mark exactly as it should. That’s why they’re two of the best servers the pro game has seen in the past 20 years.

1. FEET » Sampras has a nice wide base on his serve with his feet flat on the court. He uses more of a platform stance than Roddick, and, other than coming up off his heels, doesn’t alter the positioning of his feet during his motion. But he still gets great weight transfer into the serve.

2. KNEES » At this point in the delivery, Sampras doesn’t have much of a knee bend. His motion is longer and more deliberate than Roddick’s and it will take Sampras a bit more time to start to push down. But don’t let this picture fool you; Sampras has a terrific knee bend.

3. RACQUET HEAD » The length of the backswing is one of the obvious differences between Sampras and Roddick. Here you see that Sampras has dropped his racquet down at the beginning of his serve. It’s a very smooth and rhythmic motion. While his racquet speed is extraordinary, it’s the result of a gradual buildup of momentum.

4. SHOULDERS » One of the great features of the Sampras serve is the coiling of his shoulders and upper body. His back is practically facing his opponent. You don’t want to turn too much on the serve, as that can disrupt your timing, but you need to create torque with body rotation in order to get the most out of your delivery. Sampras strikes the right balance.

5. LEFT ARM » The left arm is completely straight as Sampras stretches to properly place the toss. It also shows what great elasticity and flexibility he has in his motion. He’s in what I call the power position—there’s a nice incline in the shoulders and you could practically draw a straight line from his left arm through to his right leg.

Article by Rick Macci, Photos by Joshua Roberts – Tennis.com

2. HEAD
Ivanisevic’s eyes, like Isner’s, are on the ball, though his head doesn’t look as relaxed because he’s closer to making con-tact and getting ready to exhale. His head doesn’t jerk or twist, because he’s placed the ball well out in front of him.

3. SHOULDERS
Ivanisevic’s left shoulder is rotated far behind him. He’s also leaning into the court. There’s going to be some serious uncoiling here, and that translates into racquet-head speed. Here’s something club players need to remember when working on their shoulder turns: Don’t force it. You don’t want to make your shoulder turn; you have to learn to let it turn. Forcing things creates tension, and tension kills your serve. Try taking your racquet back without tossing a ball to get a feel for the motion.

4. RACQUET ARM
You’ve probably been told quite often to “get your elbow up” when you serve. Then what should we make of the fact that you can’t see Ivanisevic’s hitting elbow in this picture because it’s dropped so low? The most important thing is that you lift your elbow up when you lower your racquet head and begin to accelerate into the ball. It’s OK to drop your arm when you start your motion, as long as your movement is fl uid and you pass through the “elbow up” phase without staying there for a long time.

5. STANCE
Stances are little more than idiosyncrasies. They don’t have a lot to do with the moment of truth, but it’s sometimes good to try different stances because it might help you solve some other, more important problem.

Article by Rick Macci – Tennis.com

1. TOSSING ARM
Today you see most pros lift their tossing arms fi rst rather than both arms together. That’s a big change from the past and something club players should experiment with. Your hitting arm has to catch up to the ball eventually, so when your tossing arm goes up first, it forces you to swing faster through the “back scratch” phase of the motion. Notice the extension on Isner’s tossing arm—it’s straight. He hasn’t flicked the ball into the air with his wrist. In fact, this isn’t a “toss” at all. I tell my students to “place” the ball or “lay it up there” with no spin, just the way Isner has done here.

2. HEAD
Isner’s eyes are on the target and his head is still, but what I see most—and this is the key to a great serve—is calmness. It looks like he’s just moseying along, but we know what’s coming. The best serves are rhythmic and relaxed; the server just lets it happen. It’s like water fl owing out of a fountain—I call it liquid power.

3. SHOULDERS
Isner’s shoulders and hips are going to rotate away from the net a bit more than you see in this picture, which captures him at a slightly earlier point in his delivery than Ivanisevic in the opposite photo.

4. RACQUET ARM
Isner’s strings are tilted slightly downward, toward the court, as he begins his take-back. With some players, this is even more pronounced. If the palm of your hitting hand points down, you can take the racquet back more naturally. Remember to use a Continental grip so it’s easier to produce spin and pronate your arm.

5. STANCE
We’ve seen enough good servers to know that a lot of different stances can succeed. But whether you keep both feet in place or move your back foot up to meet your front one, there are some basic elements to every good stance. Isner’s right foot is a little behind his left foot, which points diagonally toward the net post. This almost-sideways position allows him to coil more and get his racquet moving faster. Club players tend to face the net too soon; when your body opens up early, you lose energy and power.

Article by Rick Macci – Tennis.com