Top 5 Best Tennis Servers Of All Time (My Bias Opinion)
Summary
TLDRIn this insightful video, John Craig from Performance Plus Tennis shares his top five favorite servers in tennis history, excluding those over 6'3" due to their height advantage. He discusses the unique techniques and contributions of each player, including Poncho Gonzalez, Boris Becker, John McEnroe, Pete Sampras, and Roger Federer, highlighting their impact on the evolution of the serve. Craig ultimately names Pete Sampras as his all-time favorite server, praising his ability to combine all elements of great serving into one powerful package.
Takeaways
- π John Craig's favorite serve in tennis is the topic of the video, discussing the best servers of all time.
- πΎ The discussion excludes servers taller than 6'3 to focus on those who had effective serves despite not having a height advantage.
- π΄ Poncho Gonzalez is highlighted for his feared serve and unique long axis pronation technique during his era.
- 𦡠Boris Becker is noted for his leg drive and being a pioneer in modern serving techniques, despite using an Eastern forehand grip.
- π John MacEnroe, a left-handed server, is recognized for his unique style, accuracy, and effectiveness with a corkscrew motion.
- π€Έ Pete Sampras is praised for his combination of motion, coil, leg drive, and confidence, making him a top server.
- π Roger Federer, despite not being extremely tall, is admired for his beautiful technique and ability to hit various spots on the court.
- π₯ Pete Sampras is revealed as John Craig's all-time favorite server due to his comprehensive mastery of serving elements.
- π Sampras' serve is considered a model for modern players, with his long axis pronation being particularly influential.
- π The video encourages viewer feedback on their favorite servers and promotes engagement through likes, shares, and comments.
- π The video is part of a series from Performance Plus Tennis, offering more content for tennis enthusiasts.
Q & A
Who is the speaker in the transcript and what is his area of expertise?
-The speaker in the transcript is John Craig, and he is an expert in tennis, specifically known as the 'serve builder' in the online tennis world.
What criteria is the speaker using to exclude certain players from his list of favorite servers?
-The speaker is excluding servers who are taller than 6'3 because they have a distinct advantage, and he wants to emphasize servers who are not as tall but had very effective serves.
Which player does the speaker mention as the most feared server of all time during his era?
-Poncho Gonzalez is mentioned as the most feared server of all time during his era.
What unique technical aspect did Poncho Gonzalez have in his serve that was ahead of his time?
-Poncho Gonzalez had a long arm pronation through the shoulder, a technical aspect that was not commonly discussed or known during his time.
Why does the speaker appreciate Boris Becker's serving technique?
-The speaker appreciates Boris Becker's serving technique because he was one of the first players to use a leg drive technique, which has become a standard in modern tennis.
What makes John McEnroe's serve unique according to the speaker?
-John McEnroe's serve is unique because of his corkscrew lefty style, which involved a tremendous rotation and coil, making his serve very accurate and difficult to read.
What is special about Pete Sampras's serving technique?
-Pete Sampras's serving technique is special because he combined all the elements of a great serve, including leg drive, coil, and a unique tossing motion that made his serve very difficult to predict.
Why does the speaker rank Roger Federer so highly among his favorite servers?
-The speaker ranks Roger Federer highly because, despite not being extremely tall, Federer had beautiful technique and could generate easy power, making him one of the greatest servers of all time.
Who does the speaker ultimately rank as the number one server of all time?
-The speaker ultimately ranks Pete Sampras as the number one server of all time.
What is the speaker's rationale for ranking Pete Sampras above Roger Federer?
-The speaker ranks Pete Sampras above Roger Federer because Sampras set the model for the modern serve and tied together all the elements and components of great servers into one tremendous package.
How does the speaker describe the evolution of the serve through the years?
-The speaker describes the evolution of the serve through the years by highlighting the technical advancements and unique styles of different servers, from Poncho Gonzalez's arm pronation to Boris Becker's leg drive, and Pete Sampras's combination of all elements into a modern serve.
Outlines
πΎ Introduction to Favorite Servers
John Craig introduces the video by discussing his fondness for the serve shot and his reputation as the 'serve builder' in the online tennis community. He shares that he will be discussing his top five favorite servers of all time, excluding those taller than 6'3 to emphasize effective serves from less towering players. The video aims to highlight the technical aspects and evolution of the serve in tennis history.
π Historical Greats and Their Techniques
The paragraph delves into the details of John's top five favorite servers, starting with Poncho Gonzalez, known for his feared serve and unique long arm pronation. Boris Becker is noted for his leg drive and modern serve technique, while John McEnroe's left-handed serve and coil are highlighted. Pete Sampras is celebrated for his motion and leg drive, and Roger Federer's effortless technique and ability to hit various spots on the court are admired. The paragraph concludes with John revealing Pete Sampras as his all-time favorite server due to his comprehensive mastery of serving elements.
Mindmap
Keywords
π‘Serve
π‘Poncho Gonzalez
π‘Boris Becker
π‘John MacEnroe
π‘Pete Sampras
π‘Roger Federer
π‘Technical Element
π‘Long Axis Rotation
π‘Leg Drive
π‘Tossing Motion
π‘Serve Evolution
Highlights
John Craig discusses his top five favorite tennis servers of all time, excluding those taller than 6'3 to emphasize effective serves from less-tall players.
Poncho Gonzalez is highlighted for his feared serve and unique long arm pronation through the shoulder, contributing to the understanding of serve technique.
Boris Becker is noted for his innovative leg drive and being a pioneer in modern tennis serving techniques with his powerful and effective serve.
John MacEnroe's unique left-handed serve with a corkscrew motion and his ability to generate tremendous rotation and coil is discussed.
Pete Sampras is praised for his combination of all elements of a great serve, including leg drive, motion, and confidence under pressure.
Roger Federer's serve is analyzed for its beautiful technique, effortless power generation, and unique tossing motion.
Pete Sampras is revealed as John Craig's favorite server of all time due to his perfect blend of serving elements into a powerful package.
The importance of long axis pronation in serving is emphasized, with many players today trying to mimic this technique.
Roger Federer's serve is recognized for its ability to hit spots on the court that are difficult for others to reach.
The video aims to explore the evolution of the serve through the years and the technical contributions of each server mentioned.
John Craig's reputation as the 'serve builder' in the online tennis world is mentioned, indicating his extensive knowledge and analysis of serves.
The video invites viewer feedback on their favorite server of all time, encouraging engagement and discussion.
The video is part of a series from Performance Plus Tennis, offering more content for tennis enthusiasts and learners.
John Craig's methodical approach to analyzing serves chronologically provides a historical perspective on the development of tennis serving techniques.
The video touches on the impact of equipment changes, such as the transition from wooden rackets, on serving effectiveness.
The unique serving styles of left-handed servers like John MacEnroe are explored, highlighting the variety in serving techniques.
The video concludes with a call to action for viewers to subscribe to the channel for more tennis insights and lessons.
Transcripts
hello everybody John Craig here with
Performance Plus tennis a little bit of
a different video for you today and it
comes from a lot of questions I get
about you know who's your favorite
server John who do you think are the
best servers of all time and many of you
know that the serve is my favorite uh
shot to teach in tennis I'm known as the
serve builder in the online tennis world
I've looked at every serve of every
player from way back in the early days
so I'm going to go through my fa five
favorite servers I'm going to do it
chronologically and then I'm going to
reveal in the end who my favorite
alltime server is and um I'm not going
to include servers that are taller than
6'3 and the reason is is because they
have a distinct Advantage John nner uh
IO Carlovich those guys have amazing
serves but I want I want to emphasize
the servers that are not as tall that
had very very effective serves um and
also that maybe had technical things
that are interesting that contributed to
the development of the serve um as it
evolved Through The Years so uh my first
favorite that I'm going to talk about is
um Poncho Gonzalez and Poncho Gonzalez
was probably the most feared server of
all time during his era and he had a
phenomenal serve and there are great
photos of Poncho serving that reveal the
long AIS pronation through the shoulder
that no one really talked about or
really knew about back in those times
but whether he did it with intention or
it just happened to happen he had
beautiful technique on his motion so he
was in an era where you couldn't jump so
his feet were on the ground when he made
contact um but he had an amazingly
powerful serve and I think his is worth
noting as being one of the most
effective serves in history certainly
one of the most feared and he was a
major contributor to understanding the
technical element of the serve that
really generated tremendous
power moving forward my next favorite
that I want to talk about is Boris
Becker now Boris Becker the reason why I
like Boris Becker is because he was
really the first player that I remember
who served with a technique in his legs
like we have now in modern tennis that
we see all the players doing he loaded
his legs he had tremendous leg drive he
got he had a beautiful trophy
position really lifted himself up had
tremendous lift power through the legs
so he really kind of set the standard
for what the modern serve became and his
serve was very powerful and very
effective one quick note about Boris
though that was really unique
is I had think he is the only big server
great server in history who actually
served with with an Eastern forhand grip
which is really unique because he was
able to still execute a full range of
long axis rotation through his motion
and through contact even though he had
an Eastern grip which is quite unique
but he was a enormous had enormous serve
big server uh very fear during his time
so he's really my number two pick for
what my five best servers of all time
next up is John mackenro and I had to
include a lefty server in my list and
and John mackenro had a tremendous serve
cork screw Lefty um he had a very unique
style where he really had tremendous
rotation it really started with his
stance where both feet were literally
lined up on the Baseline and when he
coiled into his trophy position he was
literally exposing his back to you he
had a tremendous coil in his serve and
when he coiled you couldn't really tell
where he was going with the serf so even
though he played in an era where wooden
rackets were were the predominant racket
certainly in his early part of his
career he had a tremendously effective
serve he could pull off Ace's Left Right
Center he had tremendous accuracy it was
very difficult to read to serve um I
think he really brought the the rotation
and coil to the game he also used his
legs quite well and drove up with the
with his legs so I'm going to say that
John mackenro is my favorite left-handed
server of all time now some of you are
thinking well what about Goran Ivanovich
or Rosco Tanner yeah those guys had
really good serves as well obviously
very good serves but um John macko
stands out as a unique server had a
unique style uh didn't have the biggest
serve but it was very very accurate very
effective and very difficult to read so
John macenroe is my next pick as one of
my all-time favorite servers next up
Pete SAS how could we not have Pete SAS
on any list of the great servers of all
time and what I loved about Pete was
almost everything we talked about with
the other servers so far he had a
tremendous motion great motion very much
like a poncho Gonzalez where he had the
best long access pration tremendous
Motion in his serve he had a great coil
very much like John mackenro where his
back was exposed to the opponent so he
could really rotate and coil around it
was very difficult to read where his
serve was going and he also had great
leg drive he had a great position great
leg drive like Boris Becker so he had a
every element of the serve was there and
the thing that's fascinating about Pete
SAS is he could put the ball on a dime
easily on his first or second serve and
when he was under pressure and had to
get a serve in even a second serve he
came up with second serves that were
really like first serves he had
tremendous confidence in his in his
serve under the greatest amounts of
pressure and won so many key points in
his career so I think Pete SAS
tremendous server he's definitely in my
top five list of all time should be in
everyone's and Pete sess is in the list
for sure and finally my favorite server
one of my favorite servers the top five
is Roger Federer again Roger feder
wasn't extremely tall at 6'1 but he had
beautiful technique he could generate
easy power it looked like it was so
effortless that it never looked like he
was forcing a serve at all and then he
could could pop that serve over 130 if
he wanted to anytime he could hit the
spots um he had again had great leg
Drive Great coil great technique and he
had a he had a different type of a of a
a tossing motion where his his tossing
arm moved parallel to the Baseline and
the ball arked back and what made that
so effective is that as the ball arked
back he could take it either early and
slice it a little bit later and flatten
it or even a little bit later and Top
Spin it but you really couldn't pick
that up you couldn't see what spin he
was going to hit or what Target he was
aiming for until he made contact with
the ball so he perfected this unique
movement in his serve that made him one
of the greatest servers of all time and
I think he's second on the alltime list
for Aces even though he was only 6' one
and he could hit spots on the court that
almost no one else could hit and he
could do that without you seeing where
the ball's going until it went there so
Roger feder makes my top five and
finally let me reveal my number one
server of all time out the top five that
I've mentioned that's Pete SAS because
Pete SAS really did tie together all the
elements and components of the great
servers and and built it into one
tremendous package and I think that even
though Roger feder had more Aces because
he had a longer career I think that
Roger tried to emulate a lot of things
that Pete did on his serve as well so
Pete set the model for the for the
modern serve and really the the empasis
of the long AIS pronation through the
serve uh was very unique a lot of
players are trying to mimic that today
and everyone would like to have Pete
sanr serve so certainly he is my top
server of all time on players that are
below
6'3 thanks so much for watching today's
video and I'd love to hear your feedback
and who you think your favorite player
is of all time thanks for watching Once
Again subscribe to the channel if you've
not done so already leave your comments
down below give us a like share this
video with a friend stay tuned we've got
a lot more coming here at Performance
Plus tennis we'll see you in the next
lesson
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