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Tennis Lessons / Serve / Step 4

Trophy Pose

In this step you need to combine your lower and upper body preparation to get to something called the trophy pose. It's called the trophy pose because if you've ever seen a tennis tournament trophy, there's a good chance the player is in this pose. The trophy pose is the completion of your preparation. From this position, you are ready to swing forward. In this step, we are not going to teach anything new. Instead, I am going to talk about how you put together the previous steps to get to the trophy pose. The key is to time your lower body and upper body preparations so that they finish at the same time.

How To :

1. Weight starts on front foot, arms stay together.

2. Weight rocks back, arms separate and drop.

3. Time it so that you reach the following body positions at the same instant: tossing arm fully extended and your toss is at it's highest point / your hitting arm and racket are in the "L" position / and your knees are fully bent with the weight centered on each foot .

Figure 1: Getting to the Trophy Pose

At the beginning of my motion, all the weight is on my front foot. From there, my weight rocks back. As that happens, my arms separate and drop down together. I keep my weight on my back foot for a brief moment as my arms rise – I toss the ball and raise my racket while keeping my palm down. From here, I time it so that my lower body and upper body complete their respective preparations at the same time and I get to the trophy pose.

Let me emphasize, at this point, the importance of staying balanced and in control at all points during your preparation. This motion should be smooth and relaxed. You should be able to get to the trophy pose and then hold that position for as long as you please (or until your legs get tired). In practice though, your momentum will keep moving forward through your trophy pose.

As with other elements of the serve, not all pros reach a trophy pose in which their lower and upper bodies have completed their respective preparations at the same time. It is not necessary to use our timing, but it is recommended if you are starting out. This method makes timing the preparation very easy. Everything finishes at the same time. It's easy to develop rhythm and it gets you doing everything necessary for a powerful and effective serve. My recommendation would be to master this method, then if you are so inclined, tweak it and find a style that you might find more comfortable.

Common Errors:

Not staying balanced.

Being off balance negatively affects your technique later in the serve. If you are falling to the left or the right as you prepare and push off your legs, chances are your contact point is not going to be correct. To see if you are properly balanced, get to the trophy pose. Now try and hold that position for several seconds. If you can't, then you aren't on balance.

Not staying relaxed.

Tight muscles mean a weak serve. You not only want a "loose and live" arm, but also a relaxed body. Just like the forehand or backhand, you are "coiling up" like a spring. That won't happen if you are trying to "muscle your serve."

Read Serve Step 5 »

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