Nikola, just wanted to say this video has really helped me with my serve so thanks a million. I’m sort of in between the beginner and intermediate stage but felt I had to go back to the fundamentals on the serve as if I were a beginner. I didn’t realise something as simple as starting at the service line and gradually moving back (this is my own drill atm) could have such a profound effect on my ability to serve consistently.
I am so so thankful for finding this channel. It greatly improves my skills. And im thousands of kilometers away. Internet is awesome. People like you are awesome. Thank you!
When I was learning the kick serve my coach taught us to hit the kick serve with a wooden racquet, I know I am dating myself. Hahe when I was learning the kick serve it took me over a year of hitting serves everyday for almost a year, but I mastered it, the I started using a slice and kick together for a fourth option on my serves. The ball I hit literally bouncing off the court and it’s sliced from any direction I decide to hit. I did discover that most people have a problem hitting the slice kicker to their backhand, and I get a lot of short returns or even aces or unreturnable balls, the slice kicker took me about a year to develop it into a good weapon. I am also 5’7 and I think that helps me with my serve because I use my legs and hit the ball in front of me about 11:30 to 12:30 on different serves. Like Mac was saying, no body is trying to hide a kick serve, most people disguise their flat and slice serves, and just put the kicker to put the ball in play. Coach Nick have you ever combined other serves together and try completely different type of serves. Great job on the video coach and I appreciate your hard work and dedication to the game of tennis my friend.
@@naomikwan3569 Hey, I know that sounds quite odd but I'm from France and we have the same family name. Furthermore from the little i see you seem to look pretty much like my big sister. May we be from the same family ? Let me know haha
Just started 5 weeks ago…I’m 55…70 years old is amazing @Walter…I hope I can still walk at 70 🤣 I started with the wrong shoes so now I have plantar fasciitis. I’m seeing a Physiotherapist for it 🤦🏻♂️ this is what happens when your mind thinks you’re 20 but the body is 55 years old. 🤦🏻♂️
You have a great range of serve videos available, some with more mechanical detail than this one. I appreciate your various teaching lessons. I think here the really touch part for me is the acceleration forcing the racket outward to leave the tip facing the French before the true upward element. I'll keep working. Thanks.
Thank you. I’m an amateur to intermediate and I was wrongly trying to hit kick serves as a second serve. It didn’t have any power on it and I was mainly using as a spin shot to increase the chance of getting the ball in. I know I have been hitting the ball very thin when I try to hit a kick. So I will stick with the flat and maybe try the slice. I started tennis later in life and I have to realize that as a 36 year old with two young kids and a career that being an elite level player is not going to happen. I don’t really have the time to develop a kick serve. Thanks for the video.
Hi, recreational player here 🖐 So, I dislocated my shoulder 2 times in the span of 10 years, both times in the serve. The second time, I went to a specialist (doctor) who recommended to use a more 'pusher' aproach on the serve, instead of the classic 'raquet drop/pronation'. Anyway, because of this, I am careful in my second serve, tossing the ball at 1 (not at 11) and cutting it up when it starts to drop. Not the 2nd greatest serve 😅 But my serve improved a lot thanks to your videos. Thank you! Regards from Argentina.
Hey! What I managed to understand is that you need to keep your toss arm low, bent in elbow and close to your body. That helps to lower left shoulder (right goes up and makes less angle to your hitting arm trajectory, which helps to save shoulder rotator). Regards from Russia!
Great lesson, many thanks. What I always find slightly confusing is the notion of throwing at one o'clock, throwing at 11 o'clock and so on. I mean, I know what is meant, but this always depends on your perspective / reference point, that is, where you are looking. I find it much easier, for example, to say: For a flat serve, toss the ball towards the right net post (i.e., the same direction your left foot points toward). That is much easier for me than the "o'clock" reference.
I had a private lesson yesterday, also did a little bit of serve practice. I accidentally hit my first kick serve. Don't know how, but it was really satisfying to see the ball kick up so high!
thank you very much for lesson it was very understandable very professional and I will do this Lord is mighty sore and thank you very much again for your big big job I know you work a lot of year to have this information for us and one more time a lot of thank you for that
Hlo again coach Nick... I love the way you teach me(us viewers) on how to make our serve and be the best with it...im still playing competition in our place (recreational) and l seldom use flat serve because im not confident with it...tnx for the technique and me and my son really appreciate what lesson we learn from you...Hope you could share(give)your old rackets to me Coach Nick since our rackets here in the Philippines is soo expensive....Thanks a lot and continue making video
Hi Coach! Thanks for the video! What is your advice to those who learned the kick too early and have developed only slice/kick serves? The way I see it there are only two options: 1) get really good at ground strokes and win majority of points from there 2) take a long time to redevelope serve as a weapon
The obvious answer is just to start NOW and practice developing a flat serve. It will only improve your slice and and kick and it’s the easiest to properly develop anyway. It’s extremely unlikely that you have a serve that actually kicks in the first place if you can’t hit a flat serve. Bucket of balls and practice my friend, that’s the only way
You need definitly to develop the flat serve ! I learned to serve by myself (watching youtube tutorials) and used the Kick very soon because it was the only serve I had a good enough consistency with. But my serve was very weak, so I praticed the flat serve for a couple of years (and improved my toss and timing) and now I have a pretty good serve for my level. Something very nice happened : my slice and kick serve got naturally much more power, even on second serve while keeping as much consistency. Conclusion : go practice fundamentals ! It will never be a waste.
Hey Nikola, I've been a huge tennis fan (mainly watching) since Rafa's Wimbledon win in '08. Unfortunately I've very rarely played since then. However I've just recently started playing again with friends and I've been watching all your videos. They're so awesome man, thank you so much for making these. I feel like I've learned a lot, I just need to keep playing and improving.
Very enlightening video sir thank you very much . However i am not sure why i am still struggling with my forehand. earlier i used to rotate my wrist. Now i stopped using my wrist as i saw one of your video. Iplay my forehand correctly when i am practicing alone by dropping the ball . But when i practise with someone my forehand let me down :D
i played my today and i watched your forehand and backhand videos. it really helped me to get my loop in the forehand. thank you so much! my coach said he saw alot of improvement in my forehand and backhand . still my serve is not good, the toss is wayyy off. if you would like do a video of the grip in all of the shots. i cant figure out what my serve grip is. thank you for these videos!
@@IntuitiveTennis thank you so much! I found this channel 3 or so months ago so I'm still watching the videos from the latest . I didnt see it. Anyways thanks! Keep going!❤
Nice review video. Learnt more from the serve videos earlier - in terms of execution points. But great explanation on the fallacies of learning the kick serve. Looking forward to timing video - how to time takebacks on incoming balls of wildly varying speeds and topspin/trajectory.
Great flat serve progression. I’m redoing my serve from scratch and this is the best tutorial on youtube. I got down everything relatively quickly until introduction the lag. Any tips?
Hi. I find these videos really helpful for beginners. I had a question about the Serve. What is the ‘acceptable length’ in terms of metres for a serve. I.e. does it have to get very close to the line every time to be considered a ‘good’ serve? Thanks.
In my opinion, the toss is the most important part of the serve. And it requires a lot practice for beginner or intermediate player to master. The flat serve will be easy if the toss is good. The kick serve is definitely the most difficult serve of all.
Thank you for a very useful video! I'm practicing my slice serve for a while. Coaches usually say I should move my racket laterally in contact point. But even in your slice serve I see a hand pronation. So the racket in slowmotion doesn't look like brushing the ball. I saw one japanese coach on youtube saying it's more about the place of ball contact the string bed and the general movement is the same as flat serve. Could you please explain more about racket and hand movement at the contact point?
Nikola, first thank you for the video. Question. When I serve fast; that is, trying to hit hard, I find that at the end of the serve my hand moves from the continental grip slightly towards the eastern grip (half a bevel of the handle). I know it is hard for you to know/see what one does wrong. But, if you were to guess, what causes this? And what should I do to stay with continental grip from the beginning to the end? TIA.
Nik, I find it more difficult to serve on the deuce side. If I want to do the simple drill 2:19 on the deuce side, what adjustments do I need to make? Should I use the same stance as serving from the ad side(or should I stand slightly more open to the court)? Should I rotate my body more to hit the ball since the target is now to the left side of my body?
I would have thought that it's not necessarily that learning the kick serve first is the issue, but rather learning fundamentally incorrect swing (ie. waiter's tray serve) is the problem. A lot of players would go towards waiter's tray serve at first even with the continental grip. This is OK as long as one progresses past that eventually (eg. first work on the toss and timing, etc). I agree that thinking about the various complex elements of the kick serve, such as bending various body parts and changing toss isn't good at the beginning at all. But there may be cases where trying to learn just the basic principle of the kick serve (ie. a bit of topspin on the ball) from the start could actually help to avoid staying the waiter's tray swing for too long.
I had the exact same problem. I'm practicing my kick serves mostly these days but occasionally hit flat just so I don't forget how to hit flat. A year of kick may throw off my first serve percentage.
Hi Nick, do you have a video on how to develop the biomechanics for moving from racquet drop to getting the racquet to power loop to the right side of the body/lead from the edge into contact?
Although you recommend learning the flat serve first, I find learning the top spin serve helps me remember to swing the racquet in an upward motion. If I just hit flat serves, I might fall into the habit of treating the serve like an overhead (from the baseline).
Thank you so much for your videos! Especially the serving series with Anna. I have watched so many videos and they don't break it down to beginner, intermediate, and full-fletched like you do. It really helps to work on bite-size mechanics at a time. I went from double fault to at least minimal to no double fault right now. Where are you based?
Hey there mister coach. first of all, thank you for your great lessons, we appreciate them alot♥ Second: I have little unusual question xd- so I started playing tennis 6 months ago, it was my dream since ever. I had about 20-25 hours lessons with coaches for basic strokes. Coaches have told me what to do for serve in tennis, and then i started practicing my serve alone-together with following lessons from youtube including yours. Into last 6 months i managed to develop full serve motion with speed up to 100-105.. mph and great consinstency. Now my question is IF my achievement is considered like something just ultra talented athletes could do? has any of your students achieved this level of serve this fast? Thank you so much for reading.
Nick - do you have a video where you speak to the mechanics of the loop portion of the serve (when learning this)? I ask, as it might be helpful to discuss how the shoulder leads the loop as the racket drops. One of the mistakes I made was leading the loop with the elbow which resulted in incorrect form into the ball which took me some time to figure out. Do you go over the specific mechanics of the loop somewhere?
Nick any idea why doing a kick serve motion was the key for me getting comfortable with serving? I found it easier to toss to 1oclock, but use the kick motion to glance across the ball. With practice I found this so much easier to get in, with spin, than the flat serve where I kept pounding it into the net. Thoughts?
Great video Nik I've been studying this (and a few of your other service ones) intently the past 6 weeks and have developed a fairly good motion (if I do say so myself :)). One question: it looks like the back should be kept fairly straight and not arched, correct? Bend from the knees with the back relatively straight and push the hips towards the court appears to be the correct motion. I ask as I was developing some lower back pain and then noticed, from video'ing myself, that I have been arching my back. Thanks!
hi the grip for the serve u should call it the chopper grip and its like ur gonna chop someone that how ive always learnt the grip for serve and slide from my coach and now I have played in the LYG and national tourneys
Good lord, that bit about learning the kick serve too early felt like it was directed specifically at me. It's so hard to try to flatten out and speed up your first serve if you've already spent a ton of time on the kick serve. It feels very weird to hit a flat serve for a long time. 😵💫
@@IntuitiveTennis for the next while I am just going to play a mini game of not trying to put too much into it and just get the toss and weight transfer right. My shoulder hurts so much when I serve but it's mostly because I am not getting the weight transfer and rotation needed. It's all arm and honestly, if I keep servingike that I won't be able to keep playing 😬 I'll worry about more power once I've picked the low hanging fruit. I'm sure you've got videos for that too 😉
Can you do a video about breathing when playing or practicing? I just started taking lessons and I find myself being out of breath. I'm not out of shape but not extremely fit either and I'm 30. Maybe and underlying medical thing but would like to know your opinions on breathing.
I am 6 month Tennis beginner aged 40. Recently switched from Wilson encode(285gm) to Ezone 98 (305gm) Unstrung. I started feeling strong pain in my right shoulder especially after doing 10 to 15 serves during my game. Is it due to the weight of the new racquet ? Once the pain starts I can barely hold the racquet. After 6 to 8 hrs of rest again my should becomes normal. Hope you can give some advice to me. I like your videos. Thank you in advance
Hi , I have started playing tennis for a week , i am left handed and since i hit some of my forehands in a wrong way , my wrist is hurting . my forehand’s gotten better . but the pain is still there . Specifically when serving
@@ironky2185 all I have is a great flat serve...my second serve needs work...its arm path for sure and the snap at the end pronantion...watch pete sampras....which really got my first seve going here in nyc! as your arm and racquet make contact u need to be facing you and your racquet straight into your opponent! hope this helps!!
Flat serve is easier to learn … but there is a reason why majority of high performances coaches focus first on a kick serve when they teach small kids. Easier does not mean the best way long term. For adult amateurs who want to start playing matches ASAP it could be a right approach.
I am from Pakistan I have 3 questions 1: Have you played any national tournament in your life? If not, why? 2: How to determine the level of a player like 4.5/5.0? 3: I am 20 years old I want to start tennis after hard work how long will it take to get to at least national tournaments? Thanks!
for your 3rd question, most professional players have been playing since they were about 5 or 6 and make it onto the atp tour at about 20-23 years old, so thats around 15 years of playing for the most elite players, to play at national tournaments I would say between 5-7 years but the likelihood of getting very far is very low, but maybe a bit higher for a country like Pakistan where maybe the amount of really good players is lower but to be realistic I would probably say about 10 years.
Hi Nick, Do you think Bjorn Borg's serve can be apply in todays game for club / recreational players. Everytime I looked at Borg's serve, it look really simple and powerful at times. Here's the 1980 Wimbledon with Johnny Mc ruclips.net/video/UnwYdF8a5ws/видео.html and heres the 2000 exhibition game ruclips.net/video/FYfW5jVxYX8/видео.html Can you do a video analysis/training on Borg's serve if you find it useful for todays club / recreational player. Thank you
Why does it take so long for a person to develop a kick serve when they already have a solid first serve? As Nikola said there are only two things different. A toss and a lot less rotation. Not sure how this could take a year to develop unless the player does not understand that there are just two differences. If you are a junior, get a ball bucket and go out and practice. Place something that you can easily see maybe 20 degrees to your right and then only turn that much. But experiment. The more you turn the more power but less top. So experiment and practice. I have a pinched nerve that gives my right shoulder a ton of pain and not recovering anytime soon. So I am working on being lefty. My lefty forehand is fine since I have a two hander normally but I am trying to do the ATP forehand with it. Not terrible. The one hand backhand, a lot of good shots and a few in the net and a few into or over the back fence but I see progress. The serve, no racquet speed whatsoever. But I am working on a specific supination / pronation exercise. Right handed I can hit the ball from the start of 4 courts to the 4th court. With the left hand 20 feet. But I work on it daily and yesterday to the end of the second court. I think a lot of coaches leave out how important pronation is on all serves, and that you have to build up the pronation movement.
Foot fault coach. Hahe just joking my friend. I seen Mac get called for a foot fault and he lost it on the empire. I miss going to the Lipton it was a great tournament and I meant so many great players. What is your thoughts on foot faults?
New Merch 👉bit.ly/3wMfLOF
Will we get more color in the “High level player” tee? The black tee is just too hot to wear in the summer😂
@@Tinyciwei l
@@Tinyciwei i will try
@@Tinyciwei gute c die
The lag....single most impactful serve tip ever for me. In a week the results for me have been remarkable. Thank you!!
Nikola, just wanted to say this video has really helped me with my serve so thanks a million. I’m sort of in between the beginner and intermediate stage but felt I had to go back to the fundamentals on the serve as if I were a beginner. I didn’t realise something as simple as starting at the service line and gradually moving back (this is my own drill atm) could have such a profound effect on my ability to serve consistently.
I am so so thankful for finding this channel. It greatly improves my skills. And im thousands of kilometers away. Internet is awesome. People like you are awesome. Thank you!
When I was learning the kick serve my coach taught us to hit the kick serve with a wooden racquet, I know I am dating myself. Hahe when I was learning the kick serve it took me over a year of hitting serves everyday for almost a year, but I mastered it, the I started using a slice and kick together for a fourth option on my serves. The ball I hit literally bouncing off the court and it’s sliced from any direction I decide to hit. I did discover that most people have a problem hitting the slice kicker to their backhand, and I get a lot of short returns or even aces or unreturnable balls, the slice kicker took me about a year to develop it into a good weapon. I am also 5’7 and I think that helps me with my serve because I use my legs and hit the ball in front of me about 11:30 to 12:30 on different serves. Like Mac was saying, no body is trying to hide a kick serve, most people disguise their flat and slice serves, and just put the kicker to put the ball in play. Coach Nick have you ever combined other serves together and try completely different type of serves. Great job on the video coach and I appreciate your hard work and dedication to the game of tennis my friend.
Yeah I took the bait and fell into kick serve trap. Pretty much spot on😂
I’ve been back on the practice court trying to groove in better mechanics!
"Late starter at age 16?".... try 70! Ha, ha, ha...
I just started too 43 👍
Just started too ...
@@naomikwan3569 Hey, I know that sounds quite odd but I'm from France and we have the same family name. Furthermore from the little i see you seem to look pretty much like my big sister. May we be from the same family ? Let me know haha
🤣
I've started five months ago at 39
Just started 5 weeks ago…I’m 55…70 years old is amazing @Walter…I hope I can still walk at 70 🤣 I started with the wrong shoes so now I have plantar fasciitis. I’m seeing a Physiotherapist for it 🤦🏻♂️ this is what happens when your mind thinks you’re 20 but the body is 55 years old. 🤦🏻♂️
Perfect timing... I need this video in my life!
You have a great range of serve videos available, some with more mechanical detail than this one. I appreciate your various teaching lessons. I think here the really touch part for me is the acceleration forcing the racket outward to leave the tip facing the French before the true upward element. I'll keep working. Thanks.
Thank you. I’m an amateur to intermediate and I was wrongly trying to hit kick serves as a second serve. It didn’t have any power on it and I was mainly using as a spin shot to increase the chance of getting the ball in. I know I have been hitting the ball very thin when I try to hit a kick. So I will stick with the flat and maybe try the slice.
I started tennis later in life and I have to realize that as a 36 year old with two young kids and a career that being an elite level player is not going to happen. I don’t really have the time to develop a kick serve. Thanks for the video.
Just in time Nick! Amazing video!
Awesome instructional video. Still working on my kick serve.
Hey Nick, would like a video in which you tell us which gear you recommend for tennis. Shoes, rackets, etc. Cheers.
Topnotch advice on the serve, Nik. Also, your condensation of the techniques for the three service types goes right to the heart of the matter.
Thank you George
Great video. Just in time to me. Thank you.
Hi, recreational player here 🖐
So, I dislocated my shoulder 2 times in the span of 10 years, both times in the serve. The second time, I went to a specialist (doctor) who recommended to use a more 'pusher' aproach on the serve, instead of the classic 'raquet drop/pronation'.
Anyway, because of this, I am careful in my second serve, tossing the ball at 1 (not at 11) and cutting it up when it starts to drop. Not the 2nd greatest serve 😅
But my serve improved a lot thanks to your videos. Thank you!
Regards from Argentina.
Hey! What I managed to understand is that you need to keep your toss arm low, bent in elbow and close to your body. That helps to lower left shoulder (right goes up and makes less angle to your hitting arm trajectory, which helps to save shoulder rotator). Regards from Russia!
Very informative and helpful video Nikola! Thank you
great video and advice on the natural progression of the serve. Thank you !
This is a great video for serve training. Thanks for sharing your experience with us!
best tennis channel around 💯
Great lesson, many thanks. What I always find slightly confusing is the notion of throwing at one o'clock, throwing at 11 o'clock and so on. I mean, I know what is meant, but this always depends on your perspective / reference point, that is, where you are looking. I find it much easier, for example, to say: For a flat serve, toss the ball towards the right net post (i.e., the same direction your left foot points toward). That is much easier for me than the "o'clock" reference.
I explain the clock here 👉 ruclips.net/video/PXt7NbymwRw/видео.html
@@IntuitiveTennis Many thanks. Did not expect such a fast reply, must be late over there ^^ :-D
I’m subbing since I’m a beginner…! Hope to see more beginner videos!! Love your videos!!
Excellent coaching 👍
Love the instructions, thanks coach!
Really good tips and advice !
Great serving 🎾 tips.
I had a private lesson yesterday, also did a little bit of serve practice. I accidentally hit my first kick serve. Don't know how, but it was really satisfying to see the ball kick up so high!
thank you very much for lesson it was very understandable very professional and I will do this Lord is mighty sore and thank you very much again for your big big job I know you work a lot of year to have this information for us and one more time a lot of thank you for that
Excellent video. I’d like to work on my game with you Nick. Hopefully once the USA / Canada travel opens up
Hlo again coach Nick... I love the way you teach me(us viewers) on how to make our serve and be the best with it...im still playing competition in our place (recreational) and l seldom use flat serve because im not confident with it...tnx for the technique and me and my son really appreciate what lesson we learn from you...Hope you could share(give)your old rackets to me Coach Nick since our rackets here in the Philippines is soo expensive....Thanks a lot and continue making video
This is very useful
Thanks coach, Kick serve is probably the most difficult technique to learn in tennis
am i the only one that finds a kick serve significantly easier than a flat?????
Hi Coach! Thanks for the video! What is your advice to those who learned the kick too early and have developed only slice/kick serves? The way I see it there are only two options:
1) get really good at ground strokes and win majority of points from there
2) take a long time to redevelope serve as a weapon
The obvious answer is just to start NOW and practice developing a flat serve. It will only improve your slice and and kick and it’s the easiest to properly develop anyway. It’s extremely unlikely that you have a serve that actually kicks in the first place if you can’t hit a flat serve. Bucket of balls and practice my friend, that’s the only way
You need definitly to develop the flat serve !
I learned to serve by myself (watching youtube tutorials) and used the Kick very soon because it was the only serve I had a good enough consistency with. But my serve was very weak, so I praticed the flat serve for a couple of years (and improved my toss and timing) and now I have a pretty good serve for my level. Something very nice happened : my slice and kick serve got naturally much more power, even on second serve while keeping as much consistency.
Conclusion : go practice fundamentals ! It will never be a waste.
Hey Nikola, I've been a huge tennis fan (mainly watching) since Rafa's Wimbledon win in '08. Unfortunately I've very rarely played since then. However I've just recently started playing again with friends and I've been watching all your videos. They're so awesome man, thank you so much for making these. I feel like I've learned a lot, I just need to keep playing and improving.
Thank you. Glad you are playing again 🙌🙌
Appreciate you Nik. great channel. great tips
🫶
Thank you
Very enlightening video sir thank you very much . However i am not sure why i am still struggling with my forehand. earlier i used to rotate my wrist. Now i stopped using my wrist as i saw one of your video. Iplay my forehand correctly when i am practicing alone by dropping the ball . But when i practise with someone my forehand let me down :D
i played my today and i watched your forehand and backhand videos. it really helped me to get my loop in the forehand. thank you so much! my coach said he saw alot of improvement in my forehand and backhand . still my serve is not good, the toss is wayyy off. if you would like do a video of the grip in all of the shots. i cant figure out what my serve grip is. thank you for these videos!
Ultimate grip guide 👉 ruclips.net/video/WEMbmDurvNk/видео.html
@@IntuitiveTennis thank you so much! I found this channel 3 or so months ago so I'm still watching the videos from the latest . I didnt see it. Anyways thanks! Keep going!❤
Great video Nick, i am still learning a flat serve!
You can do it!
Nice review video. Learnt more from the serve videos earlier - in terms of execution points. But great explanation on the fallacies of learning the kick serve. Looking forward to timing video - how to time takebacks on incoming balls of wildly varying speeds and topspin/trajectory.
Very helpful. Thank you. Dave from St. Louis
Glad it was helpful!
테니스장의 분위기가 너무 좋음 토요일 낮에 연습하러 나가고싶은 느낌 I like the weather and vibe of tennis court
Great flat serve progression. I’m redoing my serve from scratch and this is the best tutorial on youtube. I got down everything relatively quickly until introduction the lag. Any tips?
ruclips.net/video/q79I1rP0VpE/видео.html
Love it!
thanks for the help
🙏
The audio on this one was extremely low. Thanks!
Turn up the volume
@@baby16gurl9 You can't really be that stupid, can you?
@@AJ-pn9dm hahahahahahah
@@AJ-pn9dm hes beyond stupid
@@AJ-pn9dm This is awesome lol
Great video!
🙏
How many reps would you say you need for the various progressions? How consistent should you be with one progression before moving on to the next one?
10 in a row
20 in a row
then progress
Hi. I find these videos really helpful for beginners. I had a question about the Serve. What is the ‘acceptable length’ in terms of metres for a serve. I.e. does it have to get very close to the line every time to be considered a ‘good’ serve? Thanks.
Does not have to be close to the line
ruclips.net/video/4783VBs8E1w/видео.html
Great video, thank you! Can you specify the reference toss points (via clock times) for each serve style with respect to a lefty?
It’s the opposite for lefties. 1 o’clock is 11 and vice versa
In my opinion, the toss is the most important part of the serve. And it requires a lot practice for beginner or intermediate player to master. The flat serve will be easy if the toss is good. The kick serve is definitely the most difficult serve of all.
Thank you for a very useful video! I'm practicing my slice serve for a while. Coaches usually say I should move my racket laterally in contact point. But even in your slice serve I see a hand pronation. So the racket in slowmotion doesn't look like brushing the ball. I saw one japanese coach on youtube saying it's more about the place of ball contact the string bed and the general movement is the same as flat serve. Could you please explain more about racket and hand movement at the contact point?
Nikola, first thank you for the video. Question. When I serve fast; that is, trying to hit hard, I find that at the end of the serve my hand moves from the continental grip slightly towards the eastern grip (half a bevel of the handle). I know it is hard for you to know/see what one does wrong. But, if you were to guess, what causes this? And what should I do to stay with continental grip from the beginning to the end?
TIA.
Try this 👉 ruclips.net/video/qKFiEMd2Yxk/видео.html
@@IntuitiveTennis thank you
Great video and instruction 🎾 Do you give lessons in person?
Nick is it possible to release a video about the reverse slice serve, the one hit from the left (odd side) and flies to the right side ?
Sure…
Would be great !
Nik, I find it more difficult to serve on the deuce side. If I want to do the simple drill 2:19 on the deuce side, what adjustments do I need to make? Should I use the same stance as serving from the ad side(or should I stand slightly more open to the court)? Should I rotate my body more to hit the ball since the target is now to the left side of my body?
ruclips.net/video/2LQvpHO59nE/видео.html
Thanks coach. How you call normal kind a top spin ( light version of kick) serve, after slice I think we go for it, doing spin on 7 to 1 o'clock.
I would have thought that it's not necessarily that learning the kick serve first is the issue, but rather learning fundamentally incorrect swing (ie. waiter's tray serve) is the problem. A lot of players would go towards waiter's tray serve at first even with the continental grip. This is OK as long as one progresses past that eventually (eg. first work on the toss and timing, etc). I agree that thinking about the various complex elements of the kick serve, such as bending various body parts and changing toss isn't good at the beginning at all. But there may be cases where trying to learn just the basic principle of the kick serve (ie. a bit of topspin on the ball) from the start could actually help to avoid staying the waiter's tray swing for too long.
I had the exact same problem. I'm practicing my kick serves mostly these days but occasionally hit flat just so I don't forget how to hit flat. A year of kick may throw off my first serve percentage.
Hi Nick, do you have a video on how to develop the biomechanics for moving from racquet drop to getting the racquet to power loop to the right side of the body/lead from the edge into contact?
Although you recommend learning the flat serve first, I find learning the top spin serve helps me remember to swing the racquet in an upward motion. If I just hit flat serves, I might fall into the habit of treating the serve like an overhead (from the baseline).
Thank you so much for your videos! Especially the serving series with Anna. I have watched so many videos and they don't break it down to beginner, intermediate, and full-fletched like you do. It really helps to work on bite-size mechanics at a time. I went from double fault to at least minimal to no double fault right now. Where are you based?
South East Florida - maybe Miami ...
Hello Nikola, is it best to keep the speed of your serve the same, whether it's your first or second serve and the type of serve?
Complicated answer ruclips.net/video/U39OzzOxaMM/видео.html
Hey there mister coach. first of all, thank you for your great lessons, we appreciate them alot♥
Second: I have little unusual question xd- so I started playing tennis 6 months ago, it was my dream since ever. I had about 20-25 hours lessons with coaches for basic strokes. Coaches have told me what to do for serve in tennis, and then i started practicing my serve alone-together with following lessons from youtube including yours. Into last 6 months i managed to develop full serve motion with speed up to 100-105.. mph and great consinstency. Now my question is IF my achievement is considered like something just ultra talented athletes could do? has any of your students achieved this level of serve this fast? Thank you so much for reading.
I forgot to add i also have a good Kick serve,besides the Flat
That is incredible for the amount of time you’ve been playing. Make sure it goes in consistently or the speed doesn’t matter. Keep going 💪💪
@@IntuitiveTennis thank you so much🙏🙏
Wow, 100-105 mph, you are definitely talented, I would say not 20% of 4.5 level could serve that fast with consistency.
@@yeli1775 i appreciate your comment ♥
Thank you Coach! You are the best.
🙏
Nick - do you have a video where you speak to the mechanics of the loop portion of the serve (when learning this)? I ask, as it might be helpful to discuss how the shoulder leads the loop as the racket drops. One of the mistakes I made was leading the loop with the elbow which resulted in incorrect form into the ball which took me some time to figure out. Do you go over the specific mechanics of the loop somewhere?
Just made a short on this ruclips.net/user/shorts2cTeivK9bQo?feature=share
Nick any idea why doing a kick serve motion was the key for me getting comfortable with serving? I found it easier to toss to 1oclock, but use the kick motion to glance across the ball. With practice I found this so much easier to get in, with spin, than the flat serve where I kept pounding it into the net. Thoughts?
It’s a slice not kick if u contacting at 1
Great video Nik I've been studying this (and a few of your other service ones) intently the past 6 weeks and have developed a fairly good motion (if I do say so myself :)). One question: it looks like the back should be kept fairly straight and not arched, correct? Bend from the knees with the back relatively straight and push the hips towards the court appears to be the correct motion. I ask as I was developing some lower back pain and then noticed, from video'ing myself, that I have been arching my back. Thanks!
Got a video on that coming soon…
@@IntuitiveTennis Fantastic! Thanks Nik really appreciate it.
hi the grip for the serve u should call it the chopper grip and its like ur gonna chop someone that how ive always learnt the grip for serve and slide from my coach and now I have played in the LYG and national tourneys
Nahhh man my tennis coach taught me all wrong 😂. Thank you so much!
Good lord, that bit about learning the kick serve too early felt like it was directed specifically at me.
It's so hard to try to flatten out and speed up your first serve if you've already spent a ton of time on the kick serve. It feels very weird to hit a flat serve for a long time. 😵💫
Keep going telquel
@@IntuitiveTennis for the next while I am just going to play a mini game of not trying to put too much into it and just get the toss and weight transfer right.
My shoulder hurts so much when I serve but it's mostly because I am not getting the weight transfer and rotation needed. It's all arm and honestly, if I keep servingike that I won't be able to keep playing 😬
I'll worry about more power once I've picked the low hanging fruit. I'm sure you've got videos for that too 😉
can you make a video on the new usta system? it would really help a lot of people (there's no more zats, champs and supers)
48M. I'm serious about getting better at tennis. Should I move to Florida to train. If so, where in Florida?
Can you do a video about breathing when playing or practicing? I just started taking lessons and I find myself being out of breath. I'm not out of shape but not extremely fit either and I'm 30. Maybe and underlying medical thing but would like to know your opinions on breathing.
It’s very important 👉 ruclips.net/video/eMbtpMRO5EM/видео.html
@@IntuitiveTennis thank you!
How much would you charge to do an online lesson? I'm in the UK so I can't travel to your academy in US 😞
I am 6 month Tennis beginner aged 40. Recently switched from Wilson encode(285gm) to Ezone 98 (305gm) Unstrung. I started feeling strong pain in my right shoulder especially after doing 10 to 15 serves during my game. Is it due to the weight of the new racquet ? Once the pain starts I can barely hold the racquet. After 6 to 8 hrs of rest again my should becomes normal.
Hope you can give some advice to me.
I like your videos. Thank you in advance
Use the guidelines for beginners in this video ruclips.net/video/0z0Pw7i5DuI/видео.html
Hi , I have started playing tennis for a week , i am left handed and since i hit some of my forehands in a wrong way , my wrist is hurting . my forehand’s gotten better . but the pain is still there . Specifically when serving
I too have gotten used to a lateral swing path, because I’ve just been doing kick serves, how do I unlearn this? Thanks I’m advance!
toss it in front of u and at 12 or 1 ocklock
@@soofitnsexy I've tried but my swing path is still very lateral
@@ironky2185 all I have is a great flat serve...my second serve needs work...its arm path for sure and the snap at the end pronantion...watch pete sampras....which really got my first seve going here in nyc! as your arm and racquet make contact u need to be facing you and your racquet straight into your opponent! hope this helps!!
Are you in Florida? What part? I'm in St Pete.
In my kick serves I always accidentally generate a lot of side spin. Any clue on why this is happened?
ruclips.net/video/RReBwUHe1ug/видео.html
Videos of coaching Shamir help me a lot!
at what point do you transition to slice and to then to kick? once you’re making 19/20 balls in the court during practice serving?
Sure
What are those yellow lines for?
Flat serve is easier to learn … but there is a reason why majority of high performances coaches focus first on a kick serve when they teach small kids. Easier does not mean the best way long term.
For adult amateurs who want to start playing matches ASAP it could be a right approach.
May I don't understand about serves,but this is the only video which I found very ordinary from you sir...need much more comprehensive video...
I am from Pakistan
I have 3 questions
1: Have you played any national tournament in your life? If not, why?
2: How to determine the level of a player like 4.5/5.0?
3: I am 20 years old I want to start tennis after hard work how long will it take to get to at least national tournaments?
Thanks!
Have a video coming up on that…
for your 3rd question, most professional players have been playing since they were about 5 or 6 and make it onto the atp tour at about 20-23 years old, so thats around 15 years of playing for the most elite players, to play at national tournaments I would say between 5-7 years but the likelihood of getting very far is very low, but maybe a bit higher for a country like Pakistan where maybe the amount of really good players is lower but to be realistic I would probably say about 10 years.
GOod tennis!
Hi Nick, Do you think Bjorn Borg's serve can be apply in todays game for club / recreational players. Everytime I looked at Borg's serve, it look really simple and powerful at times. Here's the 1980 Wimbledon with Johnny Mc ruclips.net/video/UnwYdF8a5ws/видео.html and heres the 2000 exhibition game ruclips.net/video/FYfW5jVxYX8/видео.html Can you do a video analysis/training on Borg's serve if you find it useful for todays club / recreational player. Thank you
Borg has a great serve but it’s not quite like today’s players I will cover it down the road
Why does it take so long for a person to develop a kick serve when they already have a solid first serve? As Nikola said there are only two things different. A toss and a lot less rotation. Not sure how this could take a year to develop unless the player does not understand that there are just two differences. If you are a junior, get a ball bucket and go out and practice. Place something that you can easily see maybe 20 degrees to your right and then only turn that much. But experiment. The more you turn the more power but less top. So experiment and practice. I have a pinched nerve that gives my right shoulder a ton of pain and not recovering anytime soon. So I am working on being lefty. My lefty forehand is fine since I have a two hander normally but I am trying to do the ATP forehand with it. Not terrible. The one hand backhand, a lot of good shots and a few in the net and a few into or over the back fence but I see progress. The serve, no racquet speed whatsoever. But I am working on a specific supination / pronation exercise. Right handed I can hit the ball from the start of 4 courts to the 4th court. With the left hand 20 feet. But I work on it daily and yesterday to the end of the second court. I think a lot of coaches leave out how important pronation is on all serves, and that you have to build up the pronation movement.
Please make the video louder next time 😉
are those pickle ball lines on your court?
Is it too late for me if I already learned the Kick server first? I feel like its so hard to hit a flat server. I'm I screwed?
Not at all. Put in the reps and you can learn it
Instead of tossing and then start the backswing, start the backswing and then once in the trophy position toss the ball up, kind of like Boris Becker
Learn flat serve first, double fault 60% if you are not 6 ft
I want to start with the underarm service
👍
Foot fault coach. Hahe just joking my friend. I seen Mac get called for a foot fault and he lost it on the empire. I miss going to the Lipton it was a great tournament and I meant so many great players. What is your thoughts on foot faults?
ruclips.net/video/Om84TmRk2i0/видео.htmlsi=c3IxmJS_uiWZmik8
@@IntuitiveTennis this was a great video you shared. Thank you
Someone ruined that awesome tennis court with pickleball lines
Can you please tell me how I can watch US OPEN (live matches)? I am from Croatia and I don't have Eurosport. Please something free and safely. 🙏
You forgot about underhand serve...
Another court with pickleball lines 🤬🤬🤬
at least it's still a tennis court 🥺
@@IntuitiveTennis agreed but...