Orange Serve

Nov 15 2019

Warsaw 2019: Developing the Serve at Orange and Green

Download a printable version of the powerpoint here: [download id=”4140″]

Sep 05 2018

How to use vertical throwing to develop the serve

Do you get your kids practising overarm throwing to develop the serve? If you do, then you’ll know that there is a problem!

Read on for Coaching Tips to get players vertically throwing to develop the serve and an activity that parents can do.

Replicating the player’s serve action

A lot of throwing (including for sports like baseball and cricket) is done horizontally. Whilst throwing horizontally is good for coordination and practising an overhead release, it doesn’t replicate the action that players need for their serve.

Once children master the fluid overarm action with good rhythm and technique, it’s important to learn to throw on a more vertical arc to tilt the shoulders and the push out the lead hip. That’s because the serve is an ‘up and out’ action where vertical drive becomes as important and linear or forward momentum.

Next time you work on throwing, throw for height first and distance second.

Activities for Coaches: vertically throwing to develop the serve

Ask your players to throw for height rather than distance. Have the players work in pairs for these activities.

INDOOR coaching sessions

When your courts have dividing curtains – ask the players to stand with one either side of the curtain, about 1-2 meters back) and throw the ball over the curtain to each other.
For courts where there are no curtains – ask players to throw the ball to each other along the arc of the roof without hitting it.

OUTDOOR coaching sessions

Stand players either side of a high fence and get them to throw the ball over the fence to each other.
Place one player at the baseline with their front foot on a bench or chair to tilt their hips and gives a more vertical arc. This player then throws to the second player whose job is to collect the balls and return them to the basket so that the players can exchange places.

Activities for Parents: vertically throwing to develop the serve

You want your child to throw for height rather than distance!

Throwing to develop the serve: INDOOR practise ideas

On an indoor tennis court with dividing curtains – ask your child up to stand close to the side of the curtain and throw the ball over it.
If there are no curtains, have your child throw the ball along the arc of the roof without hitting it.

Throwing to develop the serve: OUTDOOR practise ideas

Stand your child close to the side of a high fence and get them to throw the ball over the fence (you will need several balls or you will need to throw the ball back for each throw).
Ask your child to stand at the baseline with their front foot on a bench or chair – and throw from this position. This tilts the hips and gives a more vertical arc.

Developmental stages of the throw

The pictures below show the developmental stages of the throw. I’d love to tell you where I got them from, and I’d like to give the author credit, but I honestly can’t remember. If anyone knows – please let me know.

How to Correct the Ball Toss on the Serve by Taking the Player’s Weight Off the Back Foot

We apologise for the audio-feedback! This clip was filmed live in possibly the worst audio setting ever; an echoing gym hall! However, we thought this short clip on how to correct the ball toss on the serve was still worth sharing.

Early November I was working with coaches in Romania on teaching the serve. I looked specifically at the importance of having the weight transfer onto the front when the ball is released from the throwing arm. Serving with the weight on the back foot starts a whole chain of linked problems.

What’s the biggest give-away that the child’s weight is on the back-foot when they’re serving? Watch your junior-player when they’re serving; the majority of kids will be moving their front foot when they are serving. The front foot moving indicates that the child has their weight on their back foot – which will have follow on impacts on their ball toss and balance. When the child’s weight is on the back foot, the ball toss will go behind the player – upsetting the player’s serve rhythm and balance. When the ball is going behind the player, they will need hit from below the ball… and they will then change their grip to do that.

You see what’s going on here! One small issue leads to a ton of problems.

LEVEL 2: Other Drills we Recommend for Level 2 Coaches and Candidates

[display-posts include_title=”true” include_link=”true” tag=”level-2″ exclude_current=”true” ]

LEVEL 3: Other Drills we Recommend for Level 3 Coaches and Candidates

[display-posts include_title=”true” include_link=”true” tag=”level-3″ exclude_current=”true” ]

LEVEL 4: Other Drills we Recommend for Level 4 Coaches and Candidates

[display-posts include_title=”true” include_link=”true” tag=”level-4″ exclude_current=”true” ]

See more on Teaching the Serve

[display-posts include_title=”true” include_link=”true” category=”serve”]

Oct 03 2017

5 Ways to Develop the Serve from Red to Orange (Live Video)

Whilst working with the Romanian Tennis Federation in Bucharest Mark demonstrated 5 ways to develop the serve when a player moves from your red programme into your orange programme.
5 development points:

Ball Toss slightly further forward to allow weight transfer during the serve
Set back foot back to allow more rotation in the hips
Acceleration of the racket head (encourage children to hit the ball faster)
Leg drive up to the ball toss
Extended/lengthen racket take-back during service action

Sep 19 2017

Orange Ball: 5 Ways to Develop the Serve (Video; 16:14 minutes)

In this video Mark looks at a few key features of how you can further develop the serve from the red court to the orange court.

Now that we’re on the orange court, the junior player is a bit older, taller, stronger and importantly, more coordinated, than they were on the red court. These changes mean that the player can start to use a bit more of their body than they did on the red court.

So, working on the basis that we’ve got the the foundations of the red serve place, we can add more racket head speed for an offensive serve on the orange court.

Fundamentals of the red serve that must be in place before going forward:

Rhythm
Fluid throwing action
Grip
Stable base

Summary of key additions to the serve from red to orange:

1. A longer swing; this allows more potential for acceleration of the racket.
  - Angling the player’s foot so that it is not at right angles to the service line means that the racket “comes round the corner” further increasing the length of the racket’s trajectory, giving more distance for the racket to build up speed.
  - Note that the longer racket gives a longer trajectory.
2. Adding more rotation; good players don’t rely on the arm to do the work. Using the whole body adds even more to the racket speed.
  - Angling the back foot behind the player naturally allows the player’s right hip and shoulder can come through and add to the racket head speed.
3. Adding linear momentum; essentially ensuring base stability and weight transfer to the back to the front.
  - The ball toss must be in front of the player, so the player must release the ball with the weight having transferred to the front foot.
4. Add ground reaction force by bending the player’s knee as a part of the rhythmical action. This is the beginning of the player starting to drive up. The rule is, “BALL UP, LEGS DOWN. BALL DOWN, LEGS UP”.