All the cunts trying to educate this guy on how to hit a kick serve, shut the fuck up and go work on your own, then post a video about it. Then we'll see who knows how to do a kick serve.
@Kalipathekid accelerate through your motion. Because of the way you hit a kick serve, it's not going to have the pace that a flat serve does, so don't worry about speed too much. Never try to force the ball/push it forward when your toss is behind your head though, that will put unnecessary strain on your shoulder and can lead to tendonitis, which happened to me.
@crowley1878 There's too much sidespin on the ball. The twist serve that bounces to the right has a ratio of 75% topspin/25% sidespin. What you're doing is most likely 50% topspin/50% sidespin.
@wgmfan10 try moving your body through the serve as you brush up behined the ball. It might mean you have to toss the ball a bit further forward but the key is to move your body forward so that you are in the same position as if you had tossed the ball up without moving forward. Oh and try more body rotation so body rotation + forward movement = more power to your kicker.
When I made this video I thought it was a coaching video (silly me). If I had know that I would be getting judged on the quality of my serve I might have warmed up first and tried to hit it hard. I might have even bought some new balls and took my top off. For those who just wanted some information on how to hit a kick serve- I hope my advice helped you.
@tommyenglish1 Hey I have a question for you Tommy do you still play with your radical micro gel I just bought one and I really like it what do you think of yours?
I like how everyone acts like they are experts... this is a informative video that teaches people how to hit kick serves... if you are an expert already you shouldn't click this
@Pink279 No, the difference is you put spin the opposite way by making it go sorta out to the right more if your a righty if you put spin on opposite of a slice, and a kick you put top spin on making it kick
@Pink279 No, the difference is you put spin the opposite way by making it go sorta out to the right more if your a righty if you put spin on opposite of a slice, and a kick you put top spin on making it kick
A slice serve hits the court and slides away low, a flat serve hits the court and penetrates through, his serve hits the court and bounces no matter how high you believe it should be or whatever his serve is still bouncing which means it is a topspin serve
Well I think the you have the concept right, but for a kick serve to really be a problem for the returner you must strike it with a lot more power so that the kick will be higher. Thanks for the tips though!
Tommy, when I am trying to throw the ball parallel with baseline over my head I use to hit the ball with the frame of my racket. What is wrong? Thanks!
@covman7100 His motion is rushed because his toss is low. So your critique is not including the whole picture, therefore it is an invalide opinion. If he tossed his ball higher, than his motion wouldn't be rushed. THIS IS A KICK SERVE, contrary to what you said. If anything you should have said that he might be able to perfect his kick even more if he had a higher toss, giving him more preparation during his motion.
everybody knows u have to jump but ur kick serve sucks my kick serve is higher then yours dude! if i was u jump a little higher and hit the ball harder and i bet ur kick serve will increase!
@tommyenglish1 it's really hard to tell from the camera angle if they're kicking or not. A good kick serve would hit the back blue curtain on one bounce I think. I would toss the ball up higher so that you're hitting the ball just as its about to come down instead of while it's on the way up like you are in this vid.
@tommyenglish1@tommyenglish1 it's really hard to tell from the camera angle if they're kicking or not. A good kick serve would hit the back blue curtain on one bounce I think. I would toss the ball up higher so that you're hitting the ball just as its about to come down instead of while it's on the way up like you are in this vid.
@covman7100 Don't comment if your going to talk nonsense. This.... "I would toss the ball up higher so that you're hitting the ball just as its about to come down instead of while it's on the way up like you are in this vid." makes no sense... I explain in the video to let the ball drop.
@tommyenglish1 my apologies tommy for coming off too harsh in my 1st comment and not providing constructive criticism. You do need to toss the ball higher though if you want actual top spin. You're ball has slight spin to the right but it doesn't really kick up. Need to use your legs a lot more as well. This link explains physics of the kick serve.
@covman7100 You are 100% wrong... it doesn't matter how high you throw the ball it just has to be on the way down as you hit it.... like it was. You can't give constructive criticism when you don't know anything.
@tommyenglish1 don't quite understand covman7100 very first comment about the kick serves being terrible .... that thing kicked like hell from what i can tell ... well done tommy
@covman7100 he's right if you hit the ball as its dropping, you're able to apply topspin on the serve. if you hit it high, it's very hard to swipe the ball from around 7 or 8 o clock to 1 or 2 o clock on the ball, unless you've found a position to toss the ball where you can hit any type of serve like sampras or federer
@RG32hockey covman got some right points spotted on even though some were wrong as tommy pointed out. The kick serves demonstrated here are of moderate quality at best because the high quality ones should bounce up 6 feet or more (about or above an average player head) and hit the fence at one bounce. To do that, the impact point should be higher and the spin direction is 6 to 12 (kick) or 7 to 1 (twist).
@goeetfuk i wouldn't say hard. more like weak and easy to return. Google physics of the tennis kick serve and you'll see I am right about needing to toss the ball higher.
@covman7100 true in a sense that there wasn't really any bounce...I guess he could say that it was successfull in swerving away but other than that im not really impressed..i mean yeah it's one thing to make it swerve away to the opponent's backhhand but it's the high bounce that most rec players are looking for..=.= i want that shoulder height bounce
having problems with my lower back cos of my kick serve - do you ever have these probs and if so what's the best way of avoiding them. are there any good exercises which you can use to strengthen your back? cheers
@rhuntingdon Use your legs. If you notice, my back isn't really bent its almost straight. Also if you throw the ball too far in front it might cause you to twist rather than just lean back like a football throw-in. Work on your abs to support your back. Thanks
Might be good to mention that it's easier to hit a kick if you use a backhand grip. I know you can hit kick with a standard continental grip, but it's more difficult, particularly for a rec player. Also, you can hit kick serves without leaning back, which can be bad for one's back. Agassi hit his kick serve this way.
@tommyenglish1 You should tell that to all of pros who have won majors with backhand grip kick serves. Jim Courier is the easiest to see has a bh grip on his kick serve, but there are many others.
@greg8125 i wouldn't encourage people to hit their forehands like Connors or backhand like Courier either. This is a coaching video, make your own video with a backhand grip, I wont tell anyone to use it.
@tommyenglish1 You're comment implies that there is something unorthodox about hitting a kick serve with a backhand grip. Do you realize that until very recently the backhand grip was the standard and taught way to hit a kick serve? Trying to kick it with a continental grip would have been seen as a crazy idea.
Kick serve is the most important serve in the game. Esp for anyone under 6-foot. But it's the hardest serve to learn. It's easier to learn with a bh grip, a big adv when learning it.
@tommyenglish1 why don't you reccomened the backhand? isn't it the over pronation which is more easily achieved with the bh grip that helps to create the kick?
@OrangeSlice100 I think using a backhand grip to serve might be an easy way to hit spin for a small number of people but I think you limit yourself to just hitting spin and most people will struggle to hit it flat and hard with the backhand grip. With the continental grip you can hit just as much spin but you can hit all the other serves giving you more disguise and continuity by always using the same grip. To me, its a cheap and ugly way of hitting spin.
@greg8125 I think using a backhand grip to serve might be an easy way to hit spin for a small number of people but I think you limit yourself to just hitting spin and most people will struggle to hit it flat and hard with the backhand grip. With the continental grip you can hit just as much spin but you can hit all the other serves giving you more disguise and continuity by always using the same grip. To me, its a cheap and ugly way of hitting spin.
@tommyenglish1 Interesting...I never thought of it this way. I've relied mostly on backhand grip for serve. I will try and shift more towards continental.
@tommyenglish1 I'm afraid I have to disagree. I've had 2 coaches now that recommended using an eastern backhand grip for serves. You can still hit flat serves with minimal effort, and the increase in spin is quite significant when compared to the continental. Disguise is important, but when have you ever been able to tell such a small difference between the service grips that your opponent is using? Cheap and ugly, really?
@blackchrisp Well yes disguise is massive... If I see most people changing their grip to hit a second serve I know its coming slow and they can't hit it hard so I can move forwards and cut down the angles. Nadal saw the light and changed to get more pace.
heys! i tired it out but i cant seem to get the speed on the ball. it just goes really high and drops down on the service box, how do i make it lower and faster but still get the kick? thank you (: great vid btw!
Hey tommy! Should i use the chopper grip or try the eastern backhand? Also, the toss shud be just above the head right? Not towards the back? I heard if the toss is behind the head, might risk a back injury?!
Hi Tommy you are an excellent coach. Your tips are straight to the point and easy to follow.
However I got a question. From your video, it seems you are striking the ball pretty hard for your kick serve. Is this crucial to hit a kick serve? Can one hit an effective kick serve with a slow swing at the ball? Thanks.
Something my highschool coach always tells me is that you can still hit a very high kicking serve if you just manage to get good elevation on the ball as well as getting good spin. You don't have to hit hard at all if you hit it right. (this works extremely well against varsity tennis players)
@garytotti when you hit a kick, the harder you swing the more spin the ball gets, so if you want to get it to dip a lot, you gotta swing hard at it, once you get a feel for the spin and develop a good knee bend (the knee bend will allow you to extend your legs during the swing, which will also give you more spin) youll have a good consistent 2nd serve. also, make sure you use a decent string, a lot of stringers will just put in 5$ string, and youll never produce good spin with it
Tommy you are hands down the best tennis coach I've seen online! Now I can confidently hit a kick serve and your the reason why. I love how you explain all the little details like looking up at the ball, letting it drop, not throwing it out too far in front. Now I can get in about 80% of my kick serves with a lot of bite whereas before I was spraying it all over the place and was so frustrated I almost lost interest in tennis. If you ever do a flat/slice serve video, plz let me know.
@bhallic24 Thanks, happy I helped... People are going to think I wrote this comment myself haha I will do my best to post some more video's. I just did one on the volley, did you see that?
For a kick serve, you are not pronating enough. For a right-hander, the best kick serves end with the arm hanging to the right (forearm completely turned out) and the body falling off to the left. It is what you would expect to happen if you emphasize the movement of the racquet from the inside edge of the ball and brushing diagonally up, across, and down over the ball. (I don't see you emphasizing this movement at all.)
@LDVTennis there is a massive difference between coaching and just saying things that happen throughout a serve. Adding this to my video would confuse people more than it would help. as long as you hit up on the serve the forearm will pronate naturally. i'm not emphasizing anything, i'm going at about 70%
No. This is not right. Your arm should not be hanging out to the right. You should still follow through with the racquet to the left side of your body. At contact, yes, the server should be at full pronation so that the racquet head is facing away to the right side. And if you pause the video at 1:59 or at any of his serves at contact point, you can see that he has a lot of pronation. This coach is hitting the kick serve very well.
@tommyenglish1 but like jetz0r1 said, i hit the ball from 7 to 1 but yet it looks like it has a good amount of topspin but it bounces with a slice, idk what im doing wrong....
dude ur kick serve is beast... im going to try what you said, i've been having a lot of trouble with my kick lately... im not really sure what im doing wrong... maybe i could video myself doing it and u could give me some tips?
fantastic serve...really fantastic
79alexmartin 17 hours ago
very nice sound when the racket hit the ball. good video
Dimaggio88 3 days ago
Good points about hitting a kick serve---well done!!!!
TennisFit1 3 days ago
man youre too god
Thanks For the tip i had a really hard time trying to figure out that serve
apurv247 6 days ago
it s a very good serve that you have , good security, good effect when it bounce
jefflebnon 1 week ago
great video mate, don't get upset by fools ridiculing your speed. Keep up the good work.!
mpgrewal00 2 weeks ago
I think you did a great job!
ironoarsman 2 weeks ago
i hit mada mada dane suckrz :)
MysteryKid88 3 weeks ago
Good god that's a great serve
Ultisymo 3 weeks ago
awesome video! lots of great points, thanks. i'm going to try this
joejohn1423 4 weeks ago
that's a one heck of a kick serve there, but would u still use the continental grip? or go eastern backhand?
Valdi1080 1 month ago 3
british crickets...
TheJackalhyde 1 month ago
excellent commands ,appreciated
MrFeritsa 1 month ago
awesome vid thanks
nybombs 1 month ago
this is a great video ! thanks !!!
weavery2k 1 month ago in playlist More videos from tommyenglish1
ur great
mrSnakeeye20 1 month ago
What grip do you use tommy?
MaxSk8rr 1 month ago 3
IT HELPED! THANKS!!! Don't listen to the haters:-D!
conradcrtz 2 months ago in playlist killerSERVE
Ive got the best kick serve in the whole wide back yard. Firt i get the ball and then
I Kick it!. haha but good vid Thanks!
Shauno19882010baby 2 months ago
Very informative, thankyou.
splishysplashy 2 months ago
All the cunts trying to educate this guy on how to hit a kick serve, shut the fuck up and go work on your own, then post a video about it. Then we'll see who knows how to do a kick serve.
imavaughanstar 2 months ago
@Kalipathekid accelerate through your motion. Because of the way you hit a kick serve, it's not going to have the pace that a flat serve does, so don't worry about speed too much. Never try to force the ball/push it forward when your toss is behind your head though, that will put unnecessary strain on your shoulder and can lead to tendonitis, which happened to me.
rebelian7 3 months ago
@rebelian7 why would u watch a video about it if u already know?
Valdi1080 1 month ago
Thanks for this. It's helped me see better where to toss the ball so that I can actually hit upwards on it.
winstonlim8 3 months ago
how do i get it to not go so slow while it's traveling across the court?
Kalipathekid 3 months ago
@Kalipathekid Don't Hit A Kick Serve?
lfclover2314 3 months ago
@Kalipathekid Push the ball stronger.
You'll risk a bit more.
AkMachx 3 months ago
insanity compared to mine lol
neepathius7 3 months ago
This has been flagged as spam show
Is it Radical MG OS or MP?
wncheeta 4 months ago
Comment removed
wncheeta 4 months ago
your advice was good but the execution seemed a bit lacking - I get more height on my flat serve.
vohshkab 4 months ago
Great video. Thanks for the advice. I look forward to practicing this on the court.
cazavideos2008 4 months ago
thanks man. it really helped!
diegoroberto29 4 months ago
I took the tips in this video and used them on the court and they helped me out quite a bit. Particularly the 'hips forward' idea. Good stuff :)
lystellion 5 months ago
my kick serves go to the left after the bounce, not the right. do you know what i'm doing wrong?
crowley1878 5 months ago
@crowley1878 There's too much sidespin on the ball. The twist serve that bounces to the right has a ratio of 75% topspin/25% sidespin. What you're doing is most likely 50% topspin/50% sidespin.
XizelSF 4 months ago
good
nourddinejaguar94 5 months ago
this video was very helpful for me who had trouble with 2nd serve.
Especially, I was impressed by 2 points.
- the move of leaning back instead of sinking after toss-up.
- targeting double the height of the net when passing the net. I had no idea of height-target until seeing this video.
My 2nd serve improved and became stabler.
Thank you from Japan.
charaparty 5 months ago
i can do a kick serve my problem is i need to put more power into it can you help me??
wgmfan10 5 months ago
@wgmfan10 try moving your body through the serve as you brush up behined the ball. It might mean you have to toss the ball a bit further forward but the key is to move your body forward so that you are in the same position as if you had tossed the ball up without moving forward. Oh and try more body rotation so body rotation + forward movement = more power to your kicker.
vohshkab 4 months ago
the coachinh was very cleay even for a french man, very true and very helpful.
thanks you for the video and keep going
denish73 5 months ago
This is great video tommy dont bother your self from these nerds that tell u shit..:D
SaudRF16 5 months ago
When I made this video I thought it was a coaching video (silly me). If I had know that I would be getting judged on the quality of my serve I might have warmed up first and tried to hit it hard. I might have even bought some new balls and took my top off. For those who just wanted some information on how to hit a kick serve- I hope my advice helped you.
tommyenglish1 5 months ago 69
@tommyenglish1 thumbs up! ;-D
tommyenglish1 5 months ago 10
@tommyenglish1 Hey I have a question for you Tommy do you still play with your radical micro gel I just bought one and I really like it what do you think of yours?
triplex4286 3 months ago
I like how everyone acts like they are experts... this is a informative video that teaches people how to hit kick serves... if you are an expert already you shouldn't click this
TennisXCountry 5 months ago
The serves definitely had some kick! Very good points about hitting up by letting the ball drop ! Thanks!
fayskelley 5 months ago
Man, that last one kicked about 15-20 degrees. Excellent.
Chipinjack 5 months ago 2
This has been flagged as spam show
Hey guys can you check out my serve on my channel and let me know how I can improve it?
bigtomfrost 5 months ago
Regarding the height of the serve, anyone who practice serves with fresh balls with maximum bounce is one rich bastard.
XizelSF 6 months ago
arent those american twists?
GnrAndFallout 6 months ago
@GnrAndFallout American Twist and Kick are the same thing.
Pink279 6 months ago
@Pink279 No, the difference is you put spin the opposite way by making it go sorta out to the right more if your a righty if you put spin on opposite of a slice, and a kick you put top spin on making it kick
GnrAndFallout 5 months ago
@Pink279 No, the difference is you put spin the opposite way by making it go sorta out to the right more if your a righty if you put spin on opposite of a slice, and a kick you put top spin on making it kick
GnrAndFallout 5 months ago
A slice serve hits the court and slides away low, a flat serve hits the court and penetrates through, his serve hits the court and bounces no matter how high you believe it should be or whatever his serve is still bouncing which means it is a topspin serve
9tails23 6 months ago in playlist 9tails23's Favorited Videos
Well I think the you have the concept right, but for a kick serve to really be a problem for the returner you must strike it with a lot more power so that the kick will be higher. Thanks for the tips though!
TomTrix99 6 months ago
I see kicked bounces. I confirm they were kick serves.
underdogjo 6 months ago
I think this is a great video. He demonstrates the Kick Serve well with a concise, yet clear explanation.
TopspinAnn 6 months ago
Damn, nice twist serve at the end.
OhhShaadoow 7 months ago
@tommyenglish1 pwned
supertrex2 7 months ago
Do you just toss it over your head??
lasredchris 7 months ago
Great video thanks!!!
beavertown2006 7 months ago
man what racquet are you using?
i want it!
prisonplaneter 7 months ago
Comment removed
hrd212tele 7 months ago
what if ur using 90"
supertrex2 7 months ago
oh damnnn, prince of tennis is real, kick sever(twist serve) is real!!! that is truly amazing man,
62996n 7 months ago
@covman7100 are you serious? do you not see the arced trajectory of that ball hes hitting? it is without a doubt a kick serve and a good one too.
cheezheadZZ 7 months ago
you sound like you have spent some time in the USA, your English accent is weakening my friend. Good instruction by the way.
surfjabroni 8 months ago
serve didnt seem to have a great deal of height with the bounce but it has a nasty kick out wide, how do you get so much sidespin on that serve?
scottkane000 8 months ago
@covman101 this is obviously a kick serve... it has height over the net and bounces to the right.
ashokdheenan 8 months ago
Tommy, when I am trying to throw the ball parallel with baseline over my head I use to hit the ball with the frame of my racket. What is wrong? Thanks!
lopezovic 9 months ago
1 in 4 of your serves kicked. 25 % is not bad I guess.
covman7100 9 months ago
great video. you touched on some important steps that most tutorials don't point out. COVNAM7100 is definitely blind. The ball clearly kicks
Chosenby1 9 months ago
@covman7100 His motion is rushed because his toss is low. So your critique is not including the whole picture, therefore it is an invalide opinion. If he tossed his ball higher, than his motion wouldn't be rushed. THIS IS A KICK SERVE, contrary to what you said. If anything you should have said that he might be able to perfect his kick even more if he had a higher toss, giving him more preparation during his motion.
Chosenby1 9 months ago
@covman7100 Not sure what video you were watching mate, but those were definitely kick serves.
atom57 9 months ago
Nasty kick serve! Great technique and perfect ball toss
somsak15 9 months ago
@covman7100 lol, nah, it's a kick serve. It's just not jumping up as high as say Federer's but it is jumping in the right direction.
GreatestCreation909 9 months ago
@covman7100 are you stupid? "this is not a kick serve." you must be blind
F1shguy 9 months ago
really nice serves, i just cant seem to get enough topspin on mine
optrex1 9 months ago
warm up first.
tatsf226 9 months ago
I NEED THIS SERVE
Denoheatwave 9 months ago
How can I make the toss go over (or behind) my head?
My toss drifts too much to the right.
ravi48819 10 months ago
everybody knows u have to jump but ur kick serve sucks my kick serve is higher then yours dude! if i was u jump a little higher and hit the ball harder and i bet ur kick serve will increase!
lmonto 10 months ago
@lmonto - Do you have a video of your kicker? if not, please post one. Thanks.
squaborn 9 months ago
None of those serves kicked....terrible.
covman7100 10 months ago
@covman7100 haha what are they then?
tommyenglish1 10 months ago
@tommyenglish1 it's really hard to tell from the camera angle if they're kicking or not. A good kick serve would hit the back blue curtain on one bounce I think. I would toss the ball up higher so that you're hitting the ball just as its about to come down instead of while it's on the way up like you are in this vid.
covman7100 10 months ago
@tommyenglish1 @tommyenglish1 it's really hard to tell from the camera angle if they're kicking or not. A good kick serve would hit the back blue curtain on one bounce I think. I would toss the ball up higher so that you're hitting the ball just as its about to come down instead of while it's on the way up like you are in this vid.
covman7100 10 months ago
@covman7100 Don't comment if your going to talk nonsense. This.... "I would toss the ball up higher so that you're hitting the ball just as its about to come down instead of while it's on the way up like you are in this vid." makes no sense... I explain in the video to let the ball drop.
tommyenglish1 10 months ago 3
@tommyenglish1 my apologies tommy for coming off too harsh in my 1st comment and not providing constructive criticism. You do need to toss the ball higher though if you want actual top spin. You're ball has slight spin to the right but it doesn't really kick up. Need to use your legs a lot more as well. This link explains physics of the kick serve.
covman7100 10 months ago
@covman7100 You are 100% wrong... it doesn't matter how high you throw the ball it just has to be on the way down as you hit it.... like it was. You can't give constructive criticism when you don't know anything.
tommyenglish1 10 months ago 5
@tommyenglish1 don't quite understand covman7100 very first comment about the kick serves being terrible .... that thing kicked like hell from what i can tell ... well done tommy
Willenskraftz 6 months ago
@covman7100 he's right if you hit the ball as its dropping, you're able to apply topspin on the serve. if you hit it high, it's very hard to swipe the ball from around 7 or 8 o clock to 1 or 2 o clock on the ball, unless you've found a position to toss the ball where you can hit any type of serve like sampras or federer
glarencez 6 months ago
@covman7100 gotta go with tommy on that one lol you dont no anything lmfao
RG32hockey 6 months ago
@RG32hockey yeah i only played division 1 college tennis. How about you?
covman7100 6 months ago
@covman7100 then you must really suck man cuz you are 100% wrong...
RG32hockey 6 months ago
@RG32hockey I'll post my own kick serve soon, you will see.
covman7100 6 months ago
@covman7100 ok pm me when you do!
RG32hockey 6 months ago
@RG32hockey covman got some right points spotted on even though some were wrong as tommy pointed out. The kick serves demonstrated here are of moderate quality at best because the high quality ones should bounce up 6 feet or more (about or above an average player head) and hit the fence at one bounce. To do that, the impact point should be higher and the spin direction is 6 to 12 (kick) or 7 to 1 (twist).
aonutube 6 months ago
@covman7100 Lol are you joking? they kick hard to the right.
goeetfuk 10 months ago
@goeetfuk i wouldn't say hard. more like weak and easy to return. Google physics of the tennis kick serve and you'll see I am right about needing to toss the ball higher.
covman7100 10 months ago
@covman7100 what are you talking about they definitely kicked.
ElectricRay 6 months ago
@covman7100 true in a sense that there wasn't really any bounce...I guess he could say that it was successfull in swerving away but other than that im not really impressed..i mean yeah it's one thing to make it swerve away to the opponent's backhhand but it's the high bounce that most rec players are looking for..=.= i want that shoulder height bounce
zeirasat 6 months ago
Is kick serve and American twist the same thing?
Kiasko 10 months ago
@Kiasko yeah they're the same American Twist just sounds better than Kick serve
ishinoe 10 months ago
having problems with my lower back cos of my kick serve - do you ever have these probs and if so what's the best way of avoiding them. are there any good exercises which you can use to strengthen your back? cheers
rhuntingdon 11 months ago
@rhuntingdon Use your legs. If you notice, my back isn't really bent its almost straight. Also if you throw the ball too far in front it might cause you to twist rather than just lean back like a football throw-in. Work on your abs to support your back. Thanks
tommyenglish1 10 months ago
Im naked
(also just railed 11 extenze)
splendid1000 11 months ago
is that the Head Microgel radical mp or pro?
GRANTx39 11 months ago
This video is great, can't wait to try it. You sure put a lot of spin in those balls !!
Thanks
cdn19940804 1 year ago
Might be good to mention that it's easier to hit a kick if you use a backhand grip. I know you can hit kick with a standard continental grip, but it's more difficult, particularly for a rec player. Also, you can hit kick serves without leaning back, which can be bad for one's back. Agassi hit his kick serve this way.
greg8125 1 year ago
@greg8125 No I disagree with everything you said, and serving with a backhand grip is not something I suggest anyone tries.
tommyenglish1 1 year ago
@tommyenglish1 You should tell that to all of pros who have won majors with backhand grip kick serves. Jim Courier is the easiest to see has a bh grip on his kick serve, but there are many others.
greg8125 1 year ago
@greg8125 i wouldn't encourage people to hit their forehands like Connors or backhand like Courier either. This is a coaching video, make your own video with a backhand grip, I wont tell anyone to use it.
tommyenglish1 1 year ago
@tommyenglish1 You're comment implies that there is something unorthodox about hitting a kick serve with a backhand grip. Do you realize that until very recently the backhand grip was the standard and taught way to hit a kick serve? Trying to kick it with a continental grip would have been seen as a crazy idea.
Kick serve is the most important serve in the game. Esp for anyone under 6-foot. But it's the hardest serve to learn. It's easier to learn with a bh grip, a big adv when learning it.
greg8125 1 year ago
@greg8125 that is nonsense. all of it. but feel free to use it and coach it all you want.
tommyenglish1 1 year ago
@tommyenglish1 why don't you reccomened the backhand? isn't it the over pronation which is more easily achieved with the bh grip that helps to create the kick?
OrangeSlice100 1 year ago
@OrangeSlice100 I think using a backhand grip to serve might be an easy way to hit spin for a small number of people but I think you limit yourself to just hitting spin and most people will struggle to hit it flat and hard with the backhand grip. With the continental grip you can hit just as much spin but you can hit all the other serves giving you more disguise and continuity by always using the same grip. To me, its a cheap and ugly way of hitting spin.
tommyenglish1 1 year ago
@greg8125 I think using a backhand grip to serve might be an easy way to hit spin for a small number of people but I think you limit yourself to just hitting spin and most people will struggle to hit it flat and hard with the backhand grip. With the continental grip you can hit just as much spin but you can hit all the other serves giving you more disguise and continuity by always using the same grip. To me, its a cheap and ugly way of hitting spin.
tommyenglish1 1 year ago 4
@tommyenglish1 Interesting...I never thought of it this way. I've relied mostly on backhand grip for serve. I will try and shift more towards continental.
kawola17 1 year ago
@tommyenglish1 I'm afraid I have to disagree. I've had 2 coaches now that recommended using an eastern backhand grip for serves. You can still hit flat serves with minimal effort, and the increase in spin is quite significant when compared to the continental. Disguise is important, but when have you ever been able to tell such a small difference between the service grips that your opponent is using? Cheap and ugly, really?
blackchrisp 1 year ago
@blackchrisp Well yes disguise is massive... If I see most people changing their grip to hit a second serve I know its coming slow and they can't hit it hard so I can move forwards and cut down the angles. Nadal saw the light and changed to get more pace.
tommyenglish1 10 months ago
@greg8125 what type of back hand grip would u use to hit the serve? because i use a continental and hit double handed backhands
TheFatKid128 1 year ago
also tell your players watching this that you must hit the ball from about 7-8 o clock to 1-2 o clock on the ball.
A normal TOPSIN serve is hit from 6oclock to 12oclock on the ball.
cj397 1 year ago
Hey Tommy, do you change your grip at all between first and second serve?
vincentmtmusic 1 year ago
Man those balls looked pretty flat. So much spin but not much bounce
Abbasi123456789 1 year ago
Nice motion and spin on your serves.
sarasmilepiano 1 year ago
great video, thanks!
troyj347 1 year ago
AWESOME TOMMY.... THANK YOU.
pride2Beme 1 year ago
heys! i tired it out but i cant seem to get the speed on the ball. it just goes really high and drops down on the service box, how do i make it lower and faster but still get the kick? thank you (: great vid btw!
falzar712 1 year ago
It's not rocket science, it's racquet science.
hrd212tele 1 year ago
@hrd212tele
stfu
sjin4ever 7 months ago
This has been flagged as spam show
@sjin4ever You mad bro?
hrd212tele 7 months ago
what is the grip you're using? is it the eastern backhand? Great video :D
ThePrinceOfTennis25 1 year ago
Dats exactlt wat they call it...Long enough to cover the subject n short enough to arouse the interest..Thanks Tommy u solved most of my puzzles
ashoksuhag4129 1 year ago
Hey tommy! Should i use the chopper grip or try the eastern backhand? Also, the toss shud be just above the head right? Not towards the back? I heard if the toss is behind the head, might risk a back injury?!
patrickstar2241 1 year ago
Hi Tommy you are an excellent coach. Your tips are straight to the point and easy to follow.
However I got a question. From your video, it seems you are striking the ball pretty hard for your kick serve. Is this crucial to hit a kick serve? Can one hit an effective kick serve with a slow swing at the ball? Thanks.
garytotti 1 year ago
@garytotti the harder you hit it the more it will kick. i would say these serves are about 85-90mph.
tommyenglish1 1 year ago
@tommyenglish1
Something my highschool coach always tells me is that you can still hit a very high kicking serve if you just manage to get good elevation on the ball as well as getting good spin. You don't have to hit hard at all if you hit it right. (this works extremely well against varsity tennis players)
sfxslyx 1 year ago
@sfxslyx But don't try that against a JV tennis player, then :)
181erob 1 year ago
@garytotti when you hit a kick, the harder you swing the more spin the ball gets, so if you want to get it to dip a lot, you gotta swing hard at it, once you get a feel for the spin and develop a good knee bend (the knee bend will allow you to extend your legs during the swing, which will also give you more spin) youll have a good consistent 2nd serve. also, make sure you use a decent string, a lot of stringers will just put in 5$ string, and youll never produce good spin with it
shawnharris43 1 year ago
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garytotti 1 year ago
simple but yet highly effective tips. Thanks Tommy and I will work on it tomorrow!!!!
ckn711 1 year ago
Tommy you are hands down the best tennis coach I've seen online! Now I can confidently hit a kick serve and your the reason why. I love how you explain all the little details like looking up at the ball, letting it drop, not throwing it out too far in front. Now I can get in about 80% of my kick serves with a lot of bite whereas before I was spraying it all over the place and was so frustrated I almost lost interest in tennis. If you ever do a flat/slice serve video, plz let me know.
bhallic24 1 year ago
@bhallic24 Thanks, happy I helped... People are going to think I wrote this comment myself haha I will do my best to post some more video's. I just did one on the volley, did you see that?
tommyenglish1 1 year ago
@tommyenglish1 Ah, no. But I will now. Thanks mate.
bhallic24 1 year ago
For a kick serve, you are not pronating enough. For a right-hander, the best kick serves end with the arm hanging to the right (forearm completely turned out) and the body falling off to the left. It is what you would expect to happen if you emphasize the movement of the racquet from the inside edge of the ball and brushing diagonally up, across, and down over the ball. (I don't see you emphasizing this movement at all.)
LDVTennis 1 year ago
@LDVTennis there is a massive difference between coaching and just saying things that happen throughout a serve. Adding this to my video would confuse people more than it would help. as long as you hit up on the serve the forearm will pronate naturally. i'm not emphasizing anything, i'm going at about 70%
tommyenglish1 1 year ago
@LDVTennis
No. This is not right. Your arm should not be hanging out to the right. You should still follow through with the racquet to the left side of your body. At contact, yes, the server should be at full pronation so that the racquet head is facing away to the right side. And if you pause the video at 1:59 or at any of his serves at contact point, you can see that he has a lot of pronation. This coach is hitting the kick serve very well.
tenishotshot 1 year ago
Thanks for the vid bro. Can you explain where to hit the ball? Is it 7 o clock to 1 o clock?
jetz0r1 1 year ago
@jetz0r1 yes
tommyenglish1 1 year ago
y does my serve jick to the opposite direction?
TheFatKid128 1 year ago
@TheFatKid128 ur probably slicing it
FeDXeGX 1 year ago
@TheFatKid128 sounds like you are hitting slice
tommyenglish1 1 year ago
@tommyenglish1 but like jetz0r1 said, i hit the ball from 7 to 1 but yet it looks like it has a good amount of topspin but it bounces with a slice, idk what im doing wrong....
TheFatKid128 1 year ago
wwwwwwwwooooooooowwwwwww
MonsterEnergie6 1 year ago
Could you make a video about hitting a topspin forehand?
ougoah 1 year ago 6
@ougoah How do you not know how to do a topspin forehand?? That's like, one of the easiest things to do in tennis.
MerryGo528491 6 months ago
good shit tom x]
AzNSammanX26 1 year ago
dude ur kick serve is beast... im going to try what you said, i've been having a lot of trouble with my kick lately... im not really sure what im doing wrong... maybe i could video myself doing it and u could give me some tips?
Harmonikz 1 year ago
nice vid
plz make more!
thanks
dewijones92 1 year ago
Comment removed
MsBiscuit73 1 year ago
NICE, good demonstration, best lesson I've seen yet on the kick serve.
hoku51 1 year ago
which grip do you use for a kick serve?
JasonLIKESturtles 1 year ago
@JasonLIKESturtles
lol
adi1096 1 year ago
nice
wuwei
weavery2k 1 year ago
What ur doing is a nerfed version of it ur ball hits the fence's bottom in 2 bounces my hits about 1.5m on the fence in one bounce
kyywii 1 year ago
@kyywii
you're probably playing on normal courts with the fence fairly close, his fence is way farther away
ichirofan7 1 year ago
woww that's a nice kick! good job
doRYEmon 1 year ago
It helps if you kinda toss it more left (if you're a righty), sorta like straight above your head instead of out front
But damn you had an ass of spin on the second one you hit. It fuckin traveled like an upside down "u" lol
jrrtt25 1 year ago
hella good vid now imma start doing that at my summer league thank you
demonsasukeboi 1 year ago
Kick serve is different to a top spin serve...always treated the serve as 4 different variations..kick, topspin, flat..slice..
gos2488 1 year ago