Venus and Serena Williams
No
surprise to see Venus and Serena Williams contesting another Wimbledon final.
Below is a comparison of the two Williams sisters' serve technique, particularly
how they get their service actions up into the knee bend.
Venus Williams Serve: The Parallel Step Up
Concentrate first on Venus' serve first. As Venus places the ball
up in te,
her knees bend and her weight shifts forward with the placement hand.
In n Venus releases her foot from the court and in the next two frames we can see
her bring her back (right) leg up parallel with the baseline.
The theory behind the parallel step-up is that by first turning with the lower
half of the body, you can then rotate the upper body into the throw of the
racket head, both more easily and more effectively.
But, in tennis technique, theory is only as good as the player putting it into
practice, and not all serve step-ups work as well as Venus'.
Serena Williams Serve The Sideways Step-Up
Run the full animation again but this time keep your eyes on Serena Williams'
serve. As little sister's placement hand rises, her knees similarly bend and
her weight shifts forward. We also see a step-up of the back foot, but unlike
Venus', Serena slides her back foot closer to her front foot, but she stops
short of a full, parallel step-up and stays sideways-on to the intended target.
By bringing her back foot closer to her front foot, Serena gives herself a
narrower base from which to launch her serve, effectively launching off two
feet together, rather than predominantly off her left foot if she's stayed
with her feet at shoulder width apart.
.
the
tennisforall
Tennis book: Part 1, The Forehand
THE
FOREHAND
3 Sample Chapters (of the full 12)
THE
FOREHAND Chapter
One
THE
FOREHAND Chapter
Two
THE
FOREHAND Chapter
Three
THE SERVE
Two sample Chapters (of the full 12)
THE SERVE Chapter
One
THE SERVE Chapter
Two
Juan Carlos
Ferrero
Tennis for
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Gabriela Sabatini
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Jimmy Connors
Venus and Serena Williams
Serena Forehand
Mary Joe Fernandez
How to hit a tennis backhand: Part
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How to hit a tennis backhand: Part 2
How to hit a tennis backhand: Part 3
How to hit a backhand: Part 4
How to hit a backhand: Part 5
