How to use YouTube videos to improve your serve
Watching YouTube highlights from tennis matches isn't all fun. Our tennis insider explains how they can also help you take your tennis to the next level.
by Marco Kühn
last edit: Sep 18, 2020, 07:16 am
They are fun. However, the entertaining three-minute highlight videos on YouTube neither give you a true picture of the match, nor can you gain anything from these highlights for your game. Your ability to concentrate over a longer period of time will also be more disturbed than promoted by these short videos.
Well, enough serious words. In this article, we want to find out how you can use YouTube to improve your tennis. We'll say goodbye to the highlight videos just mentioned and instead look at how you can effectively bring your fore-backhand or serve to the next level technically.
First of all: Yes, you can choose one of the many tutorial channels. If you do that, stick with a channel or an online coach. Otherwise it can happen to you that the different online coaches tell you something completely different about your topic. This would speed up the thought carousel for you rapidly and you know best yourself that you should think as little as possible on the court.
I would now like to introduce you to a method that can quickly bring you small successes on the pitch. Tennis is a complicated sport. You have to get a lot of small details right with every shot. Therefore, it is advisable for you that you always take care of one small detail that you want to improve. On the other hand, you will find it difficult to improve if you want to improve as much as possible in a short period of time. In most cases this will not work, it will only increase your frustration.
Step # 1: Determine the shot that you want to improve
You need a plan. A haphazard surfing and let's see what's there for you on YouTube will in the best case only confuse you. So in the first step, determine which stroke you want to improve. In our example we take the premium. You can of course also use your forehand, backhand or volley. The timetable remains the same.
You noticed when you serve up that you simply won't get any oomph in your first service. No matter what you do on the court, there is hardly any speed in your serve. You have already increased the weights while training biceps in the gym, but still only a small worm crawled into the opponent's T-field.
The serve as a whole stroke is too complex to be completely improved within 15 minutes via YouTube. So what can you do Right, you pick a detail from your entire serve movement that is conducive to the pace of your service. If you are unsure about this detail or simply have no idea, ask your coach at the club. If they have no idea either, ask Google.
Step # 2: Identify the detail that you want to take to the next level
If you want to chase your first service with a few km / h more over the edge of the net, then you have to work on your stabilization in the upper body and on your bow tension. In tennis, you don't play a punch with power, but with momentum. You don't get this momentum from biceps training, but from your bow tension.
There is no secret trick that will make your serve shoot through the middle at 220 km / h tomorrow. You have to improve the right details. You are welcome to choose the detail as precisely as you can. For example, if you have problems with the throw-up, the crucial detail may be how you hold the ball in your hand. Throughout this whole story, try to act like a tennis professor who has left his ego at home and is purely analytical.
In our case, the decisive detail today is the stabilization in the upper body and the associated arch tension.
Step # 3: Use YouTube Search to find the right videos for you
Now determine who you want to learn from. We'll keep the matter brief at this point. We choose Roger Federer for our serve. Its serve movement is simple. This has the advantage that you can see the details well. Please keep in mind that you will learn in a visual way. It is important that you give yourself a time window of 15-20 minutes. During this time, all you will do is observe the tension of the bow and the upper body of Roger. No distraction is allowed. No WhatsApp, no Instagram and no Facebook. Just Roger, his serve and the upper body.
Now type the following into the YouTube search: "roger federer service slow motion". In the next step you choose three videos from three different angles. I recommend you to choose videos that show Roger from the front, side and back when serving.
You now devote almost five minutes of your unrestricted attention to every corner (i.e. every video). Use the stop button to pause the slow motion video at points that are important to you. With an analytical look, you only pay attention to Roger's upper body and bow tension. You're not paying attention to how he's holding the racket or where he's throwing the ball. You only pay attention to the detail that you want to improve on the court in the future.
Out of my head I can tell you that Roger holds his left arm close to his head for a long time, kneels early and brings his front hip forward in an exemplary manner. I am sure that if you study carefully you will find many more important details for your serve.
Final ideas and pointers
Have a film while you serve or stand in front of a mirror and watch yourself serve with a wooden spoon or a water bottle. You can find out exactly how to improve your detail. It will be easier for you to see which movements can lead you to a faster serve.
Always be fair to yourself. Don't expect to be serving 50 km / h faster in a few days. In tennis, sometimes you have to take a step back before jumping two forward. Patience can become one of your greatest strengths.
The crucial point is constancy. Your athletic development, be it technical, tactical or mental, is always a sprint. Tennis is not a drinks machine where you throw something in and then immediately receive a reward.
We briefly mentioned in this article that the visual learning method begins. You can also use the technique of visualization on the court if you go through your individual stroke movement in detail in your mind before your service. This can give you a better rhythm in your serve movement.
I wish you every success on the pitch!