More Videos Coming Soon!
Feel free to send suggestions!
Tennis Lessons / Serve / Step 6
Leg Push
The leg push works in tandem with the racket drop.
How To :
1. Push off and up into the court.
2. Time it so that you have fully pushed off and your legs are straight at the same instant you reach the racket drop.
Figure 1: Pushing off
From the trophy pose, I push off my legs up and into the court. Coaches sometimes refer to this as the leg drive. Watch my timing – I am fully pushed off at the same moment I reach the racket drop. Also, take a look at the pictures of the pros in the pictures section of the site. They are either on their toes or barely, barely off the ground when they are in the racket drop position.
I commented in the previous article that the racket drop was essential to an effective serve. It is, in fact, this entire body position that is mandatory. Every good server out there reaches the racket drop at the same moment they have fully pushed off their legs.
Common Errors:
Mistiming the leg push and racket drop.
Because the timing is critical, mistiming the two will lead to an incorrect service motion.
Unfortunately, evaluating your timing is difficult because it happens so fast. It is extremely difficult for anyone – including great coaches – to examine someone’s racket drop and leg push with the naked eye. My recommendation, if you have any questions about your timing, is to film yourself and watch in slow motion.
Sign up for our free weekly newsletter
Each week, we bring you EXCLUSIVE video instruction that you won't find anywhere else. Fill in your name and email address. It's easy, it's FREE, and we promise we WON'T misuse your info in any way!
Join the coolest tennis social network on the web!
