Learning to serve is technically easily the single most challenging sporting technic I've ever learnt & continue to improve... & that's not even mentioning the emotional stress serving within a pressured games situation...
its very hard indeed, I've recently become a tennis coach and to relearn again just how difficult it is to start out fresh as a tennis player ive been playing with my left hand and serving is very tricky lol but its giving me a lot of insight into how to teach another as a beginner
@@scottm.3901there is a bloke at my wife's tennis club who has learnt to play with his weaker hand due to a longstanding injury on his stronger side. Super impressive he persevered with it through a year of being terrible (he was a very strong before) and got through to their club men's doubles final this year (I watched that final and thought they all looked pretty good players not realising one of them was playing with his non dominant hand)..
@@gareth2736 What the heck there's a guy like that at my tennis club where I coach as well. His right shoulder/elbow were hurt so we trained with his left and got really good with it as well
love how chrys (and coach) stayed positive and smiling throughout 😃💪🏽 very easy for students to get frustrated and give up, especially on learning the serve
Good drill to learn to serve with a chopper grip. Coach is right to say it is not complicated till one builds the muscle memory. Afterwards it's just learning to get power & spin.
I am a 50+ age woman who is finally getting around to learning to play tennis. 🤗 I have been pleased with how my skills are improving-except for the serve. 😩 I have felt like I didn’t know what to work towards. This lesson helped me answer that question. Thank you SO MUCH!!
While practicing, I have often witnessed a parent trying to teach tennis to his/her kids. It's often very embarrassing to watch and the parent is often teaching wrong or poor techniques. Parents should be watching YOUR videos on teaching examples BEFORE doing it themselves. Kudos!
You have such great patience. You are a great instructor. I think that if she watch some other players serve, it might give her a better visual as to what she is supposed to be doing.
👍 she has a really natural shoulder rotation I.e. High right shoulder over left. An exciting student to work with and so much potential! I hope there’s a lot more progression videos to come
the serve is such a complex shot the good thing is its easy to practice alone. thanks again for the video its always good to watch new people 😄 and yes had a few nice bruises on the shins.
I started teaching my son yesterday for the 1st time how to serve, and i told him to choke way up on the racket (even slightly above the highest part of the handle) to start to make it slightly easier for him to aim & get contact with the ball after the toss. He seemed to get the motion down fairly well and able to make decent contact. I'm going to have him try today with his normal grip and hopefully the transition will be a bit easier.
It’s after midnight and I went and got the racquet, went through the looping motion slowly at first, it felt awkward. After some reps it now feels smoother and I can see within a week or two of daily practice it can feel easy. Can’t wait to get out on the court and try it.
The one thing that helped me understand the natural hand motion in serve is comparing it to throwing/pitching a ball. We don't throw a ball with straight arm. There's a lot of pronation. The elbow comes out first, the arm comes from behind, pronates and then you release the ball. The same applies to the serve. Once you take the racket behind your head, it's just like throwing a ball upwards.
My kids are starting to get into tennis, and I have to say, the serve is so hard to teach them! The other strokes I've been able to make good progress, but the serve is a beast. They all revert back to the waiter/pancake swing, no matter how hard I try. And getting them to fully extend to hit the ball at the high point also seems to be difficult. I'd love to see more videos on how you teach beginners to push past those and other common issues. I know what a mature serve looks like, but I do not understand the progressions to get them there. I think I saw some improvement by feeding them overheads at the net this week, but the struggle is real.
For those who learned tennis as kids, long time ago, it is interesting to see how difficult is for adults to ingrain tennis swing moves, particularly the serve (and the smash). Quite often one can tell who learned as a kid vs an adult just looking at the flow and style of their strokes, even when they play at a similar level or even when the person who learned as a kid hasn't played for a long time and misses shots right and left.
Totally agree, you are right. it was pretty easy for me 35 yrs ago….😁😄…. And yes one look at the player and you’ll know if he trained in his early years.
I think it's all dependent on how much you put into it. The advantage that you have starting young learning proper form is that you'll have some muscle memory for fundamentals--but I don't think that adults can't learn fundamentals if you work hard at it. I think it's just that most adults aren't forced to/don't force themselves to learn properly and commit to it. So while I agree that starting young is a huge advantage--I think it can be overcome at the recreational level with some hard work.
@@Clinterus Agreed. In any walk of life it is, generally, easier to learn new ideas the younger you are. But some people are quick learners and, more importantly, regardless of your age you can still ingrain new habits with sufficient time (it just will take you longer than when you were young). I started learning Chinese at 20 years old which would lead many to assume that I was too late but I’m now more proficient and natural in my speech than some who even grew up speaking the language.
if you havent already try learning to play with your opposite hand especially the serve its feels so clunky and its crazy to imagine thats how beginners feels
This is an excellent video. The elbow moving forward and out ( upper body rotation) during racquet drop is a key enabler of the loop. How do you enable the loop on a kick serve, where the body is sideways and the elbow does not move out and forward that much?
@@IntuitiveTennis You're supposed to say: "They are all talented in their own unique way!" :) Maybe one day, Chrys will beat Anna in a game and you'll have to bite your tongue for it !
I thing would be good to teach throwing the tennis ball this way and after mastering this to implement this with racket, Most people make serve wrong, I personally made it wrong and took me 2 years to correct that, now feels to me most naturall
I feel like Nick usually does a good job breaking down things easily for beginner but i think this felt like information overload to her and a bit overwhelming lol with too many technical details for a first time server . I would have broken it up into smaller 3 more manageable progressions and then finally put it all together. Eg step 1: trophy pose, step 2, from trophy phase drop the racket, step 3: from racket drop make contact Edit: Upon watching it to the end it looks like she got the hang of it !!
I have tennis elbow in my right arm now (almost better). I've been training left handed. Forehands and backhands came quickly. Serving is a challenge. I will only learn the loop or lasso serve. I think I'm going to get it, but I feel uncoordinated 🙂
I liked the sock drill. Reallyade me understand this movement but that's not working for my kids. I liked how he was like pulling her racket with his racket.
The loop is a natural conseqence of the explosive upper body rotation and the explosive extension of the bended knees, but only if the arm is LOOSE. Probably, the most disturbing factor for a smooth loop is a low ball toss. So, work on the ball toss first, because "Toss is Boss". PS I would focuse on upper body rotation first and then on the extension of the knees.
Very good coaching, just because people can play high level, doesn't mean they can coach as good, you understand the technique well and made it understandable.
The serve must be the most difficult thing to teach in tennis as it does not come intuitively. Watching this video it occurred to me that teaching an overhead smash first may be good preparation before moving on to the serve. The overhead smash seems more intuitive. Thoughts?
It’s not only the technique. It’s the strength and flexibility in your shoulder. I’m not tall (170cm) but was an outswing bowler and have a big serve for my size and level. Every sport has its own technique but without that strength and flexibility from playing that sport or something similar when young, it will always be hard to play at a high intermediate / advanced level.
Playing cricket and volleyball in high school and uni def helped my serve. I picked up tennis in my mid-20’s and have been playing for 3-4 years now, but my serve is better than most 4.5 level players I play against now
You told Anna in her first serve lesson to use her backhand grip to serve and you’re telling this gal to use the forehand continental grip for the serve. Why the difference?
youre only 13 you got plenty of time for growth! Not only that you dont have to be 6ft+ to be a fantastic player, a very high ranking player i think hes rank 14 right now named diego schwartzman from Argentina is only 5'7!
Any you’re the best there is! Please anyone new watching . Do not play in air max shoes like this woman. That goes for ultra boost and hoka / any taller running shoe. You will roll an ankle and get severely injured. It’s not fun. Worst possible shoe to play tennis in is these air max . Better off in a vans or converse or basketball shoe! Best wishes
Between anna and this girl, its like they have absolutely no desire to play. I'm so confused. I don't understand why ppl go to a coach like nik, spend money and waste time for lessons, and seemingly have no desire to learn the game and play at their highest potential. Before everyone blasts my comments as being "mean", watch the entire video of anna's first match. Nik actually gets a little perturbed at her for not caring if she wins the match and for her unwillingness to learn how to keep score and proper tennis terminology. I mean if ppl are going to just throw money away out of boredom, can you please place some in my bank account? Just sayin'.
There's thousands of people like that on courts all over the world, at any given time, taking expensive classes, playing with top-notch pro gear, and showing no interest or motivation at all. When adults who have never played as kids show a sudden interest in the game, 90% of the time it's about them hoping to get accepted in a certain social circle where playing tennis is a habitual leisure activity. Or maybe they just started a new job, and their boss plays tennis, so they want to get on their good side. Or maybe they want to get that promotion, and the HR is a tennis freak. So most of the time it's just a way of networking. They don't really care about the way they play as long as they can be on the court with the people they want something from. That's as much motivation they can come up with :) Considerably fewer people start playing as a way to keep fit, but then again most of the time it's linked to networking -- it has to be the preferred way to stay in shape in their social circle. Otherwise they would just hit the gym or the pool or take up cycling, whatever. What they miss out on though is that to play tennis on any decent level you actually have to get in shape first :) Bottom line is - the vast majority of adults who first grab a racket as a 20-30-40-something are there for whatever reasons, but almost never for the love of the game :)
First Lesson with Chrys 👉 th-cam.com/video/hLNezzhMK7E/w-d-xo.html
I could never be a teacher..the amount of patience you need for something like this. Props to you Nik!
Teachers are basically born, not made
@@ifeanyiikpegbu6465 tennis coaches especially. Without a high degree of coordination
3.0 to 3.4 is the ceiling.
Yes, not everybody will serve afterwards like McEnroe or Ivanisevic.
@@tomtwells6082 You mean if someone is below a 3.0 it's more frustrating to coach?
I’m a coach you just have to work through it as the end result is so satisfying
Learning to serve is technically easily the single most challenging sporting technic I've ever learnt & continue to improve...
& that's not even mentioning the emotional stress serving within a pressured games situation...
its very hard indeed, I've recently become a tennis coach and to relearn again just how difficult it is to start out fresh as a tennis player ive been playing with my left hand and serving is very tricky lol but its giving me a lot of insight into how to teach another as a beginner
You never tried golf? hahaha. agree though serving techniques are counter intuitive
cricket legspin bowling! most people can "never" even do it
@@scottm.3901there is a bloke at my wife's tennis club who has learnt to play with his weaker hand due to a longstanding injury on his stronger side. Super impressive he persevered with it through a year of being terrible (he was a very strong before) and got through to their club men's doubles final this year (I watched that final and thought they all looked pretty good players not realising one of them was playing with his non dominant hand)..
@@gareth2736 What the heck there's a guy like that at my tennis club where I coach as well. His right shoulder/elbow were hurt so we trained with his left and got really good with it as well
love how chrys (and coach) stayed positive and smiling throughout 😃💪🏽 very easy for students to get frustrated and give up, especially on learning the serve
Really good to see your student trying hard. Takes a lot of bravery to put yourself online learning such a complicated motion like serving.
I have just started leaning how to play tennis, I find your lessons very useful and easy to understand.
How good have u become now, i am having trouble not hitting the net
Nik, you teach in a way that makes the beginners build muscle memory so fast!
Remember, people, we ALL had to start at one point at ZERO. An excellent video.
Good drill to learn to serve with a chopper grip. Coach is right to say it is not complicated till one builds the muscle memory. Afterwards it's just learning to get power & spin.
I am a 50+ age woman who is finally getting around to learning to play tennis. 🤗 I have been pleased with how my skills are improving-except for the serve. 😩 I have felt like I didn’t know what to work towards. This lesson helped me answer that question. Thank you SO MUCH!!
The best lesson for serve ever , thanks coach Nick for sharing your knowledge and accumulated experiences
While practicing, I have often witnessed a parent trying to teach tennis to his/her kids. It's often very embarrassing to watch and the parent is often teaching wrong or poor techniques. Parents should be watching YOUR videos on teaching examples BEFORE doing it themselves. Kudos!
Exactly what I'm doing. Taking in these lessons practicing myself and then showing my daughter who's on the High school tennis team first year.
You have such great patience. You are a great instructor. I think that if she watch some other players serve, it might give her a better visual as to what she is supposed to be doing.
I admire your patience! Very good Teacher!
That’s a good lesson. I like how you show the swing path.
👍 she has a really natural shoulder rotation I.e. High right shoulder over left. An exciting student to work with and so much potential! I hope there’s a lot more progression videos to come
the serve is such a complex shot the good thing is its easy to practice alone. thanks again for the video its always good to watch new people 😄 and yes had a few nice bruises on the shins.
@@devinedude3690 why not 😝 sounds like a plan !
This girl has a very natural flow co-ordination, with practice and ongoing thinking i see her going far leaps and bounds!
This is so useful ! I love the way you helped her with th racket travel which is what I am struggling with ( plus the rest !)
I started teaching my son yesterday for the 1st time how to serve, and i told him to choke way up on the racket (even slightly above the highest part of the handle) to start to make it slightly easier for him to aim & get contact with the ball after the toss. He seemed to get the motion down fairly well and able to make decent contact. I'm going to have him try today with his normal grip and hopefully the transition will be a bit easier.
Like it a lot. Teaching serve is one of the hardest thing to do, needs tons of patience.
It’s after midnight and I went and got the racquet, went through the looping motion slowly at first, it felt awkward. After some reps it now feels smoother and I can see within a week or two of daily practice it can feel easy. Can’t wait to get out on the court and try it.
🙏
Respect Nic, you paitience is enorm...RESPECT
The best video about the
serve! 😎👍👍
an extremely useful video and training. tnxx Nick
Watched it many times; it has been very helpful.😀
🔥
Love the beginner videos. Please make more
The one thing that helped me understand the natural hand motion in serve is comparing it to throwing/pitching a ball. We don't throw a ball with straight arm. There's a lot of pronation. The elbow comes out first, the arm comes from behind, pronates and then you release the ball. The same applies to the serve. Once you take the racket behind your head, it's just like throwing a ball upwards.
I like her honesty
My kids are starting to get into tennis, and I have to say, the serve is so hard to teach them! The other strokes I've been able to make good progress, but the serve is a beast. They all revert back to the waiter/pancake swing, no matter how hard I try. And getting them to fully extend to hit the ball at the high point also seems to be difficult. I'd love to see more videos on how you teach beginners to push past those and other common issues. I know what a mature serve looks like, but I do not understand the progressions to get them there. I think I saw some improvement by feeding them overheads at the net this week, but the struggle is real.
I’m feeling the same thing right now with my kid. Not easy at all and really trying to break through this part.
Very very high level of patience Sir.
She will master it in no time 👍
Very Helpful sir thank you so much
For those who learned tennis as kids, long time ago, it is interesting to see how difficult is for adults to ingrain tennis swing moves, particularly the serve (and the smash). Quite often one can tell who learned as a kid vs an adult just looking at the flow and style of their strokes, even when they play at a similar level or even when the person who learned as a kid hasn't played for a long time and misses shots right and left.
Totally agree, you are right. it was pretty easy for me 35 yrs ago….😁😄…. And yes one look at the player and you’ll know if he trained in his early years.
I think it's all dependent on how much you put into it. The advantage that you have starting young learning proper form is that you'll have some muscle memory for fundamentals--but I don't think that adults can't learn fundamentals if you work hard at it. I think it's just that most adults aren't forced to/don't force themselves to learn properly and commit to it.
So while I agree that starting young is a huge advantage--I think it can be overcome at the recreational level with some hard work.
@@Clinterus Agreed. In any walk of life it is, generally, easier to learn new ideas the younger you are. But some people are quick learners and, more importantly, regardless of your age you can still ingrain new habits with sufficient time (it just will take you longer than when you were young). I started learning Chinese at 20 years old which would lead many to assume that I was too late but I’m now more proficient and natural in my speech than some who even grew up speaking the language.
if you havent already try learning to play with your opposite hand especially the serve its feels so clunky and its crazy to imagine thats how beginners feels
This is an excellent video. The elbow moving forward and out ( upper body rotation) during racquet drop is a key enabler of the loop. How do you enable the loop on a kick serve, where the body is sideways and the elbow does not move out and forward that much?
Great tuition great student
Nik.. the coach that keeps on endlessly giving...
who do you think has the best potential out of all your beginner students...?
From my YT students Anna has the most talent
@@IntuitiveTennis You're supposed to say: "They are all talented in their own unique way!" :) Maybe one day, Chrys will beat Anna in a game and you'll have to bite your tongue for it !
Excellent video.great coach
Very helpful video, and i also must say how beautiful Chrys is!
I thing would be good to teach throwing the tennis ball this way and after mastering this to implement this with racket, Most people make serve wrong, I personally made it wrong and took me 2 years to correct that, now feels to me most naturall
8:00
"How easy was that?"
"It was not easy."
😂 Love it
I agree with the girl! It is kind of complicated but I m not giving up I’ll keep practicing! Lol
I feel like Nick usually does a good job breaking down things easily for beginner but i think this felt like information overload to her and a bit overwhelming lol with too many technical details for a first time server . I would have broken it up into smaller 3 more manageable progressions and then finally put it all together. Eg step 1: trophy pose, step 2, from trophy phase drop the racket, step 3: from racket drop make contact
Edit: Upon watching it to the end it looks like she got the hang of it !!
I have tennis elbow in my right arm now (almost better). I've been training left handed. Forehands and backhands came quickly. Serving is a challenge. I will only learn the loop or lasso serve. I think I'm going to get it, but I feel uncoordinated 🙂
That's a tough teach. Cudo's to Nik for maintaining a cool head.
Too wonderful
I liked the sock drill. Reallyade me understand this movement but that's not working for my kids. I liked how he was like pulling her racket with his racket.
Many many thanks ....salute
patience and practice, gj
nik, your like a chameleon, your word usage for each player, whether its beginner or advanced, is different. great stuff
The loop is a natural conseqence of the explosive upper body rotation and the explosive extension of the bended knees, but only if the arm is LOOSE. Probably, the most disturbing factor for a smooth loop is a low ball toss. So, work on the ball toss first, because "Toss is Boss".
PS I would focuse on upper body rotation first and then on the extension of the knees.
Very good coaching, just because people can play high level, doesn't mean they can coach as good, you understand the technique well and made it understandable.
great game
I wear soccer chin guards whenever I play a tennis match.
We need more matches!
Superb
Good
good
The serve must be the most difficult thing to teach in tennis as it does not come intuitively. Watching this video it occurred to me that teaching an overhead smash first may be good preparation before moving on to the serve. The overhead smash seems more intuitive. Thoughts?
It’s one of my methods 👉 th-cam.com/video/2r0-UZhC4Kg/w-d-xo.html
Is your student using the Gamma RZR Bubba 137 square inch racket? 😮
Wilson sledge hammer 🙌🙌
she is so beauty and funny... when i try to play tennis, I am only funny unfortunatly...
nice video!! very helpfull!! thank you so much!
Nice
i wonder if playing cricket and being a fast bowler helped me learn to serve its a similar action.
It’s not only the technique. It’s the strength and flexibility in your shoulder. I’m not tall (170cm) but was an outswing bowler and have a big serve for my size and level. Every sport has its own technique but without that strength and flexibility from playing that sport or something similar when young, it will always be hard to play at a high intermediate / advanced level.
Playing cricket and volleyball in high school and uni def helped my serve. I picked up tennis in my mid-20’s and have been playing for 3-4 years now, but my serve is better than most 4.5 level players I play against now
@@daddyV88 oh nice yep kool glad i wasn't dreaming, have fun out there!
@@deadratband yes makes sense muscle memory of sorts. kool and enjoy 😁
St. Patience
How can I send my video ?
Super
Possibly the most complicated shot in all of sports.
Do it again,try it again and again and again,yeah 😂 that's how you learn tennis and tomorrow you do it again 😂😂😂
Exactly 😂👍
My style is okay when I do practice but when in match
I fail to throw the ball properly :-(
A
👏👏👏👏👏
Wowww
You told Anna in her first serve lesson to use her backhand grip to serve and you’re telling this gal to use the forehand continental grip for the serve. Why the difference?
Always continental for the serve 💯
Is she playing with a squash racket??
❤️❤️
👍👍
❤️
at least it's real : D
❤
“I can’t do it first try, that means it’s too complicated”
Too much, too soon for a beginner, I think. But the coach showed good patience.
👍
Like you just heard my voice 🙈 and the video comes
Her racket....What the heck is that, an old fischer or something?
💖
How easy was that. That was not easy lol.
Im 13 and I get bullied for being 4'7 and for being skinny. It's pinoy size. But I'm still short🙄
No height requirements for tennis. Keep playing
Yeah thanks. Im never gonna give up on my tennis journey.
youre only 13 you got plenty of time for growth! Not only that you dont have to be 6ft+ to be a fantastic player, a very high ranking player i think hes rank 14 right now named diego schwartzman from Argentina is only 5'7!
Any you’re the best there is! Please anyone new watching . Do not play in air max shoes like this woman. That goes for ultra boost and hoka / any taller running shoe. You will roll an ankle and get severely injured. It’s not fun. Worst possible shoe to play tennis in is these air max . Better off in a vans or converse or basketball shoe! Best wishes
Why is her racket weird looking?
where is the comment about her racket hahhaha
Plzz tell how old anna is??🙏🏻🙏🏻
50 plus imo
I bloody hate serving more than I can ever explain. Hate it hate it hate it
Is It just me or is she using a racquetball racquet
Osm
you missed a simple technique, might have asked her to throw the ball normally with her hands, that is the loop!
New players dont stress yourself too much, tennis is a sport played by humans and you are also a human, so its easy af
The woman is so beautiful)
Between anna and this girl, its like they have absolutely no desire to play. I'm so confused. I don't understand why ppl go to a coach like nik, spend money and waste time for lessons, and seemingly have no desire to learn the game and play at their highest potential. Before everyone blasts my comments as being "mean", watch the entire video of anna's first match. Nik actually gets a little perturbed at her for not caring if she wins the match and for her unwillingness to learn how to keep score and proper tennis terminology. I mean if ppl are going to just throw money away out of boredom, can you please place some in my bank account? Just sayin'.
And another thing, why can't I find any Tang around here??
agree! noticed that in previous videos and glad to know im not the only one that was a bit annoyed
@@dalef84 yes i absolutely agree with you. Creating an intro video for these students would go along way.
There's thousands of people like that on courts all over the world, at any given time, taking expensive classes, playing with top-notch pro gear, and showing no interest or motivation at all. When adults who have never played as kids show a sudden interest in the game, 90% of the time it's about them hoping to get accepted in a certain social circle where playing tennis is a habitual leisure activity. Or maybe they just started a new job, and their boss plays tennis, so they want to get on their good side. Or maybe they want to get that promotion, and the HR is a tennis freak. So most of the time it's just a way of networking. They don't really care about the way they play as long as they can be on the court with the people they want something from. That's as much motivation they can come up with :) Considerably fewer people start playing as a way to keep fit, but then again most of the time it's linked to networking -- it has to be the preferred way to stay in shape in their social circle. Otherwise they would just hit the gym or the pool or take up cycling, whatever. What they miss out on though is that to play tennis on any decent level you actually have to get in shape first :) Bottom line is - the vast majority of adults who first grab a racket as a 20-30-40-something are there for whatever reasons, but almost never for the love of the game :)
I completely agree with you Bill!!! I get so annoyed with some of these students.
she looks shorter than 5'8"
She looks super cute also...
why no closes ups Nik..
🙄🤔🙄
Only because Nik is something like 6'39"...
the size of a grape, no less