From: clin@eng.umd.edu (Charles Lin)
Subject: Re: Spin serves
Date: Tue, 21 Jul 92 21:23:11 GMT
Organization: College of Engineering, University of Maryland, College Park
Originator: clin@coke.eng.umd.edu


In article <1992Jul21.185412.12100@morrow.stanford.edu>, AS.TLK@forsythe.stanford.edu (Timothy Kaufman) writes:
>clin@eng.umd.edu (Charles Lin) writes:
>>
>>get second serves in is to add spin to the serve and hit it
>>as hard as the first serve (though using the power to add spin).
>>I used to think (and still do) that it was a silly piece of advice.
>
>Try using a backhand grip rather than the Continental.  You will
>probably find it very difficult to hit a flat serve this way even
>if you try.  At least for me, it tends to produce a natural
>spin motion.
>

   Well, as much as I thought this was a silly piece of advice,
I actually do spin my second serve.  Not with enough pace,
unfortunately, but there's spin there.  I have something of
an exaggerated backhand grip for the spin serve (a la Edberg)
and sometimes can manage a flat serve if I put my mind to it.
I spin both first and second serves, though I'm still waiting for
the day that I can kick the serve high enough so that it bounces
into the fence.

   The reason I say it's silly has nothing to do with it being
bad advice, or that it's wrong.  Spin is supposed to help you
keep the ball in.  But while one is learning, there is
sometimes a tendency to hit the ball edge on, or to spin it
too wide in one direction or another, or mishit it so that it
goes straight down.  It takes a while to convince yourself that
this is any better than pushing the ball like a amateurish badminton
serve.  Is it important to learn the spin serve?  Sure.  It
certainly helps a lot by keeping the ball in and making the
ball behave different than the opponent expects.

   I guess what I'm criticizing is that is the ease with
which this advice is given.  For example, suppose I say
"Develop a big serve".   Well, this advice is very handy,
if you can carry it out.   You can give plenty of reasons
why you ought to have one, but even someone as good as
Monica Seles had an ordinary serve for a long, long time,
and Connors was never really able to get a really good
first delivery.   The advice is good, the ability to
execute may not be so easy.

   Now, most of the time, the advice isn't given so simply.
There will be hints on how to hit the slice serve, and they're
useful, but I would guess having a good tennis "pro" teach
you would be the best since there's the feedback that a "pro"
can give you and that person can force you to keep trying
even when immediate results aren't there.

   Actually, I'm not so guilty of most of the problems
I've been lashing out at.  It's partly an observation of
how others play, and how I used to play.  Thanks for passing
along the advice, however.  I think it's rather surprising how
somr players are able to generate the kind of spin they do
with a forehand grip (see Becker or Jarryd).

--
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