Around The Bend February 2019

AROUND THE BEND

FEBRUARY 2019

PAGE 11

H B C C T E N N I S N E W S

3. Ball Toss release and position We speak to our players about reaching up to release the ball. Too often players will “throw” the ball causing an inconsistent toss position. By reaching up and “placing” the ball into position we find that you will become much more consistent with getting the ball into the correct hitting position. The contact position should be in line with the right shoulder and approx. 1ft in front of the baseline. The follow through after contact shows us a lot about what is actually happening at contact. Many players will stop their swing just after contact thinking this will give them more control, when in fact it results in a weaker serve. If your swing is stopping just after contact it means that your racquet was decelerating on contact. To help increase pace on your serve, focus on accelerating your racquet head through contact and toward the target. This will help you become more consistent and accurate with your serve. Try these couple of tips to get more pace and consistency on your serve and be sure to check in next month as we break down the backhand!!!

TIPOF THEMONTH By Luke Burden, Director of Athletics

Improve Your Serve

One of the most common statements we hear is “my serve is weak, how can I serve faster?" Usually there are two areas we can look at right away that will limit the pace and also consistency of the serve. These are the ball toss and follow through. The Toss The ball toss is the most important aspect of the serve. Think about it, if your ball toss is not consistent how can you have a consistent serve? When working on the ball toss we focus on three important factors. 1. Relax When starting your serve, be sure you are relaxed and focused. A relaxed ball toss arm, with the wrist laid back, will help you replicate the ball toss time and time again. 2. Weight transfer Ideally we want to transfer our weight onto the front foot when releasing the ball. By starting on the back foot and transferring the weight to the front foot it helps us to ensure the ball toss is in front. Often we will see players consistently tossing the ball behind themselves and most often the problem is they are transferring their weight backwards.