Metal Bell Hit, done.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by d.A.

A topspin serve has a partially horizontal wrist flick going eight-o’clock to three-o’clock. You start at eight-o’clock with your palm faced toward the add side of the opposite court while flicking clockwise and ending around one-o’clock like you are throwing a ball. The flick isn’t vertical or horizontal but is leaning forward more vertical than horizontal. A proper topspin serve should solidly contact the ball but will brush the ball upward as it leaves the racket face.

The order I recommend learning them is:

1) Topspin
1a) Down the line topspin
1b) Alley topspin
2) Flat
3) Slice
4) Kick

Slightly confusing I know, but I hope it helps.

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I dont quite understand the 8 o clock 1 o clock part or 3 o clock part.

Thanks... again. Don't worry, the coach made us master the flat serve before moving on. At least I think I did... Now knowing that I am using a flat for a serve and how to improve it... I'm still confused about how the topspin serve is done.

This should make it clearer.

http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c3...lockFace-2.jpg

Start:

You start with your racket behind your head pointing in the eight o'clock direction with your palm facing forward which you then bring up and slightly forward in order to hit the ball.

Contact:

You should be hitting the ball between the nine o'clock and ten o'clock area above your head (indicated by the red line) which is where you would begin the biggest portion of your wrist flick. Keep note that your racket face will stay facing forward in the twelve o'clock direction for most of your wrist flick.

Brushing:

The racket will begin to brush the top of the ball and will continue to brush the top of the ball until your wrist reaches the ten o'clock / eleven o'clock area (indicated by the blue line) in which the ball should leave the racket head. The blue line is also the part of your wrist flick which your racket and the rest of your arm will be the straightest as well the point where your racket will reach it's highest point.The yellow area the portion of the wrist flick where the racket will brush the ball. Your racket should continue to be facing in the twelve o'clock direction through this point.

Finish:

The flick should continue through to the eleven o'clock direction (indicated by the green line) which you will finish your wrist flick. Your racket face will begin to drift off and shouldn't be facing forward anymore after this point. Most beginners only use the minimal amount of force required and will finish their wrist flick around the one o'clock direction.

Advanced:

The dotted line indicated is optional, some players, myself included finish with the wrist flick in three o'clock direction because we add a lot more force than what is required to get the serve in. One you grasp the motion and have a competitive topspin serve with a one o'clock finish and you want to improve your serve, the next step would be to speed up the wrist flick -- which is where the three o'clock finish comes in as it takes more time to slow down the racket from a faster speed.

Notes:

The easiest way to describe it is that it's the exact same wrist flick that you use to throw a ball. To prevent confusion you can just fall back to that.

Wow. Thanks for the diagram. That helps quite a bit. I have a question. What do you suggest I do if my wrist isn't all that strong? I'm not sure if I have enough strength in my wrist to flick it and still maintain control over the racket properly. I have to serve with my wrist close to locked.

What grip is used?
And, I am slightly confused about how the whole "clock" thing works...

wow, people can do the moves.

A few days ago I bought a cheap racket and tennis ball, and we wanted to learn the boomerang snake

it's pretty hard.

Haha. Good luck with that. Using snake would be difficult enough. Much less the Boomerang.