Around The Bend May 2018

AROUND THE BEND

MARCH 2018

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 there 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 our serve we want to focus on accelerating our racquet head through contact and toward the target. By accelerating through to the target this will also help us become more consistent and accurate with our 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!!! The Follow through (accelerating through contact)

TIPOF THE MONTH

By Luke Burden, Director of Athletics

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 straightaway that will be limiting the pace, and also consistency, of the serve. These are the ball toss and follow through. The Toss The ball toss is one of the most important if not the most important aspect of the serve. Think about it, if your ball toss is not consistent how can you have a consistent serve? If your ball toss is different each time you actually have a different serve each time. 1. Relax When starting your serve ensure that you are relaxed and focused on the serve. 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. When working on the ball toss we focus on three important factors.