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.