Finally, after more than 15 years, I can hit a powerful serve. I always wanted to hit a big serve. The problem was…my timing wasn’t great, I couldn’t generate any power and I often had an achy shoulder.
That’s all changed now. I went from a 100mph serve to consistently hitting between 110-120mph.
What’s also interesting is that I never intentionally altered my serve technique. But my mechanics got better. On top of all that, my shoulder doesn’t hurt anymore.
How did this happen? One thing is clear, I learned how to organize serve practices. When to practice for power and when to practice for targets or feel.
But beyond that - as many long-time readers would know - I have been dedicated to physical preparation since my early twenties (I’m now 36).
I can’t say for a fact that the positive changes in my game were solely a result of off-court training. But I’d argue that it’s played the largest role.
In this post, I’ll offer 3 ways off-court training can have a positive effect on your serve. Others surely exist, but these 3 top my list.
#1 - Teach Kinetic Chain Linkage + Transfer
As I mentioned in last week’s blog post, the serve is influenced by our ability to harness + transfer momentum from the ground up into the ball. Each link (body segment) plays a role in that transfer.
I have often found that players who aren’t timing this segmentation well, need a so called ‘reboot’ of their motor system.
What I mean is that they don’t initiate the movement of some body part, at the correct moment. Or, they don’t do so in the correct sequence. This becomes a very inefficient way to serve - especially if we’re applying a lot of force but losing it along the way.
For maximum energy transfer into the later links of the kinetic chain (shoulder, arm, racquet), this timing + sequencing is key.
How do we achieve this? Serve practice is one way of course. But serving can be quite technical and complex. Oftentimes, players need other inputs.
This is where off-court training can act as a tremendous tool. And a good way to tackle kinetic chain sequencing is through med ball training and olympic lifting.
The Oly Lifts
The olympic lifts teach athletes not only to use the ground to generate force, but also to transfer energy up the kinetic chain.
Contrary to what many believe, Olympic lifts are performed with a relatively relaxed upper-body (and upper-arms in general). The lower-body is what generates the force required to lift heavy loads. When athletes use too much of their arms, they end up ‘forcing’ the lift. Oftentimes, this results in failed attempts and incorrect usage of the body.
There’s also a high level of dynamic correspondence (DC) between certain tennis strokes and olympic lifts. The serve and the jerk (push or split) have relatively high DC. This is why the push jerk and split jerk are both integral exercises in my Serve Max program.
Medicine Ball (MB) Training
Med ball training is widely used in tennis; for good reason. The problem I encounter when working with players or mentoring coaches, is again, an over-reliance on arm engagement to power the throw, instead of legs, hips, trunk (in that order).
During med ball throws, the arms should act as a conduit to allow the expression of power in a certain direction. They are NOT the main facilitator of power.
The direction aspect is critical and is why learning to display power vertically, horizontally and diagonally, are all important. This is especially true for serve development because different body segments are moving through different planes of motion, and through 3 axes of rotation. This all happens in fractions of a second.
2 - Increase Force Generation Capabilities
Again, as I mentioned in a previous article, generating high forces AND generating forces at a fast rate, are essential when it comes to increasing serve speed.
The physiological adaptations that occur when we augment the ability to apply more muscular force include:
Increased muscle cross-sectional area (CSA)
Increased motor unit recruitment
Increased motor neuron firing rates
Increased tissue tensile strength
Increased muscle-tendon stiffness properties
And more…
In a nutshell, having a muscle group that is better at doing all those things ‘sets the stage’ for more force generation. This leads to a more rapid knee extension during the leg drive phase, and typically, a higher jump height.
Contact height has been correlated with an increased ability to serve faster. And since we can’t change how tall we are (or will be), we should try to influence our impact height as best as we can…without affecting timing of course.
I have yet to come across an exercise that can develop absolute strength - and force generating abilities - better than the barbell back squat.
3 - Improve Active Range of Motion
Range of motion (ROM) can be achieved in a number of ways. But we must also consider the principle of specificity when applying any type of training modality.
Allow me to elaborate. Baseball pitchers typically lose shoulder internal rotation (IR) ROM across the course of a season while gaining shoulder external rotation (ER) ROM.
This is not a result of any sort of stretching they are or are not doing. This is a direct result of throwing baseballs. A lot of them. And at high speeds.
The arm gets into a ‘laid back’ position as the trunk rotates towards the pitcher’s target. This position repeatedly pulls on the tissue structures of the anterior compartment of the shoulder. If you combine this with thousands of pitches thrown, you get an increase in passive ER ROM.
This increase in passive ER ROM isn’t necessarily a problem - unless the total shoulder ROM decreases substantially (typically, if it’s a certain percentage less than that of non-dominant throwing arm)…AND if we don’t keep active ROM at an acceptable level.
A similar mechanism is at play during the tennis serve, albeit at a less vigorous degree.
But what we’re finding is that passive flexibility won’t help to mitigate injury in the tennis shoulder. Both strength AND active flexibility - what is typically called ‘mobility’, is a better indicator of shoulder health.
Greater active ROM can also help take pressure off other structures and improve overall mechanics. If the shoulder is not capable of getting range, the body might use the spine to achieve what’s necessary. This might become problematic from both a performance and injury standpoint.
Gaining active ROM in the shoulder - or any other structure involved in serving - can be tackled in a number of ways. I actually encourage a broad approach here rather than just sticking to one modality over another:
Increasing ROM via static stretching
Increasing strength in end-ranges via isometric holds
Improving tissue tolerance via structural strength training
Improving high-end strength via full-range strength + power training
Improving specific ROM at higher speeds via max effort med ball throws
This is a holistic approach to increasing active ROM in a structure that takes a lot of abuse during the serve - the shoulder muscle-tendon complex.
And a structure that can help add significant speed to the most potent stroke in the game.
Matt’s Final Point
Odds are, you probably already use a lot of the methods described above during your training. The question is, are you using them effectively?
Are you progressing your squat in a way that leads to better force generation, without pain or excessive soreness?
How about your Olympic lifts? Do you have a handle on the correct sequencing? Or are you using your upper-body to move the load?
Are your med ball exercises appropriate for your goals?
How about your stretches? Do you have a routine you can rely on?
And finally do you know how to integrate all these factors with your serve and tennis practice? It’s as much a science as it is an art.
If you need help, I have you covered. You can:
1 - Get a ready-made program that will develop the serve to a high ability, and gain elite athleticism in the process.
2 - Receive a custom program that will take into account your unique abilities, setting and goals.
3 - Get 1-on-1 coaching with a trainer who has worked with multiple ATP / WTA pros, juniors and club players looking to step up their games, for a fraction of the cost of in-person training.
4 - Get mentored and learn how to mesh the art + science of strength & conditioning / tennis development.
Or you could do nothing at all and keep jumping from program to program, hoping things will improve eventually (they won’t).
If you want to step up your game, then step into my court.
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