How To TIME The Non Dominant Arm On The Serve | Tennis Serve Lesson

Summary

In this engaging tennis lesson, John from Performance Plus Tennis focuses on the critical role of the non-dominant arm, particularly the tossing arm, in the serve. He clarifies common misconceptions about keeping the arm up, emphasizing the importance of raising the arm post ball release to achieve a strong, coiled position for power generation. John explains that professional players maintain a consistent angle between the torso and the tossing arm, which naturally leads to a 45-degree angle that loads the upper body for a powerful serve. He advises players to pay close attention to the timing and movement of the non-dominant arm, which should pull away as the ball begins its descent, triggering the swing and stabilizing the body during the serve. By mastering the timing and movement of the non-dominant arm, players can significantly improve their serve's power and control.

Takeaways

• 🎾 The non-dominant arm plays a crucial role in the serve, particularly in timing and power generation.
• 📈 After releasing the ball, high-performance servers continue to raise their non-dominant arm to achieve a vertical or beyond-vertical position for a strong coiled position.
• 🚫 Avoid letting the non-dominant arm just fade away after the ball is tossed; it should actively rise to contribute to power.
• 🤸‍♂️ The tossing arm should not simply stay up but must uncoil to trigger the body's rotation and serve motion.
• 🕒 The timing of the non-dominant arm's movement is critical for the serve's success, often pulling away as the ball begins its descent.
• 📏 The left arm's movement naturally maintains an angle with the torso, which helps load the upper body for the serve.
• 🏋️‍♀️ The left arm stretches up and back, loading the body into a strong position essential for a powerful serve.
• 🤲 The left hand's position at the lowest point of the racket drop is a common sight in professional players, indicating control and timing.
• 👀 Focus on the non-dominant arm's actions rather than just the swing to improve serve timing and coordination.
• 🧭 If experiencing serve timing issues, it's likely due to incorrect calibration of the non-dominant arm's movements.
• 📹 Suggests self-filming or having someone observe your serve to ensure proper execution of the non-dominant arm's role.

Q & A

What is the primary focus of today's tennis lesson?

The primary focus of today's tennis lesson is the timing and the role of the non-dominant arm, particularly the tossing arm, during the serve.

What is the common mistake made by many recreational players regarding the non-dominant arm after releasing the ball?

Many recreational players tend to let their non-dominant arm fade or fail to raise it high after releasing the ball, which is not the practice observed in high-performance servers.

What should a high-performance server do with their non-dominant arm once the ball is released?

High-performance servers deliberately continue to raise their non-dominant arm up and get it at least vertical, and in some cases, even coil it back beyond vertical to generate power.

How does the position of the non-dominant arm affect the server's upper body during the serve?

Once the non-dominant arm is raised vertically, the shoulders naturally follow the hand, creating a 45-degree angle that helps load up the upper body for a powerful serve.

Why is it crucial for the non-dominant arm to not stay up during the entire serve?

The non-dominant arm should not stay up because it needs to uncoil and act as a catalyst for the body's rotation, which is essential for generating power in the serve.

What is the role of the non-dominant arm in timing the swing during the serve?

The non-dominant arm plays a critical role in controlling the body during the serve and is also vital in the timing of the swing, as it moves away first, naturally triggering the swing to come to the ball.

When should a player pull their non-dominant arm away during the serve?

A player should pull their non-dominant arm away as the ball begins its descent, which is typically when the racket drop gets to its lowest point.

What is the typical height of the ball toss for most professionals above the contact point?

Most professionals toss the ball about 24 to 30 inches above the contact point.

How can mistiming the serve be related to the movement of the non-dominant arm?

Mistiming the serve can often be due to miscalibration of the non-dominant arm's movement, such as pulling it away too early or too late, which can cause the player to swing early or hit the ball low.

What advice is given for players to improve their serve performance?

Players are advised to focus on the role of their non-dominant arm, ensuring it gets into a strong vertical position after the ball is released, and then moves away at the right time to trigger the swing.

What is the recommendation for players regarding sharing the lesson video?

The recommendation is to share the video with friends but not with opponents they are trying to beat, as the goal is not to improve their serve as well.

Outlines

00:00

🎾 The Role of the Non-Dominant Arm in Tennis Serving

In this video segment, John from Performance Plus Tennis focuses on the importance of the non-dominant arm, particularly the tossing arm, in the timing and power generation of a tennis serve. He emphasizes that after the ball is released, high-performance servers continue to raise their non-dominant arm to a vertical or even beyond vertical position, which is crucial for generating power. The arm's movement is not just about keeping it up, but also about timing its descent to trigger the body's rotation and swing. The left arm's role is pivotal in controlling body movement and the timing of the swing. John suggests that the left arm should pull away as the ball begins its descent, which is the timing mechanism for most professionals. He advises players to pay close attention to the non-dominant arm's movement rather than just the swing itself for better serve coordination and timing.

05:01

💡 Practical Application and Encouragement for Improvement

The second paragraph of the script encourages viewers to apply the discussed principles on the court, focusing on the non-dominant arm's role in serving to enhance their performance. John invites viewers to share their experiences in the comments section, and also asks for likes and subscriptions to the channel. He humorously suggests not to share the video with opponents to avoid giving them an advantage. The segment concludes with a thank you note and an anticipation of the next video in the series.

Keywords

💡Tennis Serve

The tennis serve is a shot to start a point and can be a player's most powerful stroke. In the video, the focus is on improving the serve by understanding the timing and role of the non-dominant arm during the serve, which is crucial for generating power and control.

💡Non-Dominant Arm

Refers to the arm that is not primarily used for striking the ball in tennis, typically the left arm for right-handed players. The video emphasizes the importance of raising and using this arm effectively during the serve to achieve a strong, coiled position that aids in power generation.

💡Timing

Timing in tennis refers to the coordination of movements to execute a shot effectively. The video discusses the timing of the non-dominant arm's movement in relation to the ball toss and the swing, which is essential for a powerful and controlled serve.

💡Ball Toss

The act of tossing the ball upward before striking it in a serve. The height and timing of the ball toss are critical for setting up the serve. The video mentions that professional players maintain a consistent height for the ball toss to ensure proper timing for their swing.

💡Coiled Position

A term used to describe the body's posture before uncoiling to generate power in a tennis serve. The video explains that after releasing the ball, the non-dominant arm should rise to create a coiled position, which allows for the generation of power when the arm uncoils.

💡Power Generation

The process of creating force in a tennis serve to hit the ball with speed. The video highlights that a deliberate raising of the non-dominant arm and getting into a coiled position are key to generating power in the serve.

💡Control

The ability to direct the ball accurately during a serve. The video suggests that by understanding and improving the timing and role of the non-dominant arm, a player can enhance both power and control over their serve.

💡Arm Movement

The specific motion of the non-dominant arm during the serve. The video details that after the ball is tossed and the arm is raised, it should not remain static but should move away to trigger the swing, which is a critical part of the serve's timing mechanism.

💡Professional Players

High-performance tennis players who serve as examples of proper technique. The video uses professional players as a reference point to demonstrate the correct timing and movement of the non-dominant arm during a serve.

💡Swing

The motion of the dominant arm and racket used to strike the ball in a serve. The video explains that the non-dominant arm's movement is closely tied to the timing of the swing, with the arm pulling away just as the ball begins its descent to facilitate a powerful serve.

💡Serve Performance

The overall effectiveness of a tennis player's serve, including factors like power, accuracy, and consistency. The video aims to help viewers improve their serve performance by focusing on the role and timing of the non-dominant arm.

Highlights

The non-dominant arm plays a crucial role in the timing and power of a tennis serve.

High-performance servers continue to raise their non-dominant arm after the ball is released, creating a strong coiled position.

Recreational players often let their non-dominant arm fade after the ball is tossed, which is not optimal for power generation.

The non-dominant arm should reach a vertical position to load the upper body for a powerful serve.

Maintaining a consistent angle between the torso and the non-dominant arm is important for a natural and effective serve.

The non-dominant arm's movement triggers the body's swing, which is essential for generating serve power.

Professional players match the lowest point of the racket drop with the height of the non-dominant hand for timing control.

The non-dominant arm should pull away as the ball begins its descent to cue the legs to push for contact.

Mistiming the serve is often due to incorrect calibration of the non-dominant arm's movement.

Focusing on the non-dominant arm's role can help improve serve timing and overall performance.

The timing mechanism for the serve involves the non-dominant arm pulling away as the ball starts to descend.

Professionals typically toss the ball 24 to 30 inches above the contact point for optimal timing.

The non-dominant arm's position at the critical stage of the serve helps stabilize the body and control the swing.

Improving the role of the non-dominant arm in the serve can lead to better control and power.

The video encourages viewers to practice the role of the non-dominant arm to enhance their serve performance.

The lesson emphasizes the importance of the non-dominant arm in coordinating and timing the serve.

The video provides a comprehensive guide on the role of the non-dominant arm in tennis serves, including practical tips for improvement.

Transcripts

hello everybody John here with

Performance Plus tennis in today's

lesson we're going to talk about the

timing and the role of the non-dominant

arm on the serve in particularly the

tossing arm and get a lot of questions

about the timing of that and of course

there's a lot of different theories

about it oftentimes we hear coaches say

you got to keep your arm up you got to

keep your arm up other coaches say

different things about about the tossing

arm but we're going to cover that today

and this is going to help you not only

get more power but also have better

control over your serve understand the

timing of it much much better so this

should really help you improve your

shirt performance the first key about

the non-dominant hand or the tossing arm

is that once the ball is released we see

a lot of recreational players that'll

just kind of let the arm fade it'll just

kind of fade or fail to really get high

but if you look at every single high

performance server once the balls

released they very deliberately continue

to raise that left arm up and get it at

least vertical we're going to see it get

vertical and in some cases we'll even

see it coil back Beyond vertical and the

role here is to get into a good strong

coiled position where you can generate

power and there's no exceptions there's

not a single Pro out there that's

tossing the ball and dropping the arm

okay so the arm has to get up there so

film yourself or have someone look at

your serve and make sure that you're

doing everything you can to place the

ball and then get yourself really into

that nice vertical position and when you

do that what happens is is that once I

let the ball go my shoulders will

naturally want to follow my hand so from

this point forward the angle between my

torso and my tossing arm really Remains

the Same look here to there cuz I'm not

going to go like this it would be very

unnatural and awkward so naturally what

happens is that once the left hand

releases the ball and Rises the

shoulders follow and I get into this

nice 45 degree angle without even

thinking about it okay and that's going

to really help load up your upper body

and we're not going to talk about the

legs and the roll of the legs in this

lesson that's secondary that's another

part of it but we're just going to work

on what the left arm does here okay so

release and extend with very strong

purpose and at this point in time I'm

stretching that left arm up and back and

I even feel it all the way from my lat

all the way up through my hand so it's

loading me into a strong position and

that's very very important no matter how

high your Ball Toss is no matter what

your Tempo is or your style is you got

to get that left arm up now that we've

establish the position you need to get

into what is the timing and the movement

that happens next and this is so

important because we hear coaches all

the time saying keep your arm up keep

your arm up and I have students that

come to me periodically or players that

play in our tournaments and they're

keeping the arm up and they're actually

swinging and keeping the arm up and it's

literally blocking you from getting the

rotation in your body that you need to

generate the power so the left arm can't

stay up it loads so that it can uncoil

and be the Catalyst that get your body

to move okay so once you place the ball

up in the air and you get into stretch

position depending on the timing the

height of your ball toss and so forth

your left arm is going to go John it's

time to play and it's going to move away

and when it moves away it's going to

naturally trigger the swing to come to

the ball because when my left arm pulls

away my body is not going to stay still

okay now again we're not getting into

the legs but the legs are going to play

a role in pushing while the left arm

pulls away and then the swing is going

to catch up and and go to the ball

without you even thinking about it okay

now if you watch most Pros virtually

every single Pro when the when the

racket drop gets to his lowest point

it's almost always matched by the height

of the left hand so the left hand moves

away first and the racket catches up but

the left hand is actually in its holding

position when the racket gets to the

bottom and the reason is is controlling

your body during the critical stage of

the serve of the swing up to the ball so

when you're here you've already made

your move and now you hold and that

helps stabilize and hold your body so

the left arm has plays a critical role

in in controlling what you do with your

body and it also plays a vital role in

the timing of your swing now for most

and you'll see this amongst Pros the

left arm will pull away as the ball

begins its descent most Pros are tossing

the ball about 24 to 30 in above the

contact point so when they see that ball

beginning to descend that is their cue

to pull the left hand away and then push

with the legs and up they go for contact

and that is the timing mechanism if

you're mistiming your serve more than

likely you're just miscalibration what

you're doing with the left hand often

times you might be pulling it too early

and that causes you to swing early and

maybe that causes a hitch or if you're

allowing the ball to drop too late

you're just pulling that left hand away

too late and you're hitting the ball low

or you're hitting it in the throat if

you're reaching up so I would say don't

pay so much attention to what you're

doing with your swing as much as you're

going to pay attention to what you're

doing with your non-dominant arm okay so

obviously there's a lot more components

to the serve and a lot of other things

to to work on and calibrate but all

things aside this is the key element

that's going to help you coordinate and

and time your sure thanks so much for

watching today's lesson and I hope you

get out on the court and work on the

role of the non-dominant arm and see how

it improves the performance of your

serve and let me know in the comments

section down below please give us a like

subscribe to the channel share this

video with a friend but I don't

recommend you share it with one of your

opponents that you're trying to beat we

don't want to improve their surf too

thanks again for watching today's lesson

and we'll see you in the next video