One cannot question the importance of a racquet drop serve shot if he has seen a humdinger racquet drop. It is something that helps you to improve acceleration, power, spin, relaxation and much more. This drill is a great package that has a lot of techniques wrapped under it. Every player has some particular drills that they are really comfortable with. Racquet drop is one technique, not all players have a great hand at this type of serve. But this article is going to help you engross the essentials of a racquet drop serve.
Racquet drop serve is more of a static position serve that means you don’t have to agitate your body too much for executing this serve. The essentials of a racquet drop serve are:
- First things first, do not grip the racquet too tightly. The whole drill is about being relaxed, so relax your grip too. You must be holding the racquet using your fingers. It must loosen up so that it falls back easily without a restraint motion.
- Now, follow the drill called ‘Triple Pat’. Baffled? Don’t be. This drill is to let you know that when your racquet drops, the strings should not be facing out. The strings must face your back, that is, they must be parallel to your back. So, an ideal set-up for a racquet drop serve will be the one where your racquet suspends (parallel to your back) from your finger-grip in an upside down position (racquet handle up and the racquet head down, nearly around your waist).
- In ‘Triple-Pat’ exercise you have to pat your back with the racquet position as mentioned in point number 2. Pat three times and then move to the next step of execution. Benefits of this drill is that it will inculcate the habit of keeping your racquet parallel to your body rather than opening it outside.
- Then proceed to hit the ball by bringing the racquet-head all the way from your waist in the back side to your over head.
Basically this drill is about facing the racquet at the right side. If your racquet drop is appropriate the whole serve shot will be perfect. There will be more power and seamlessness in the serve. It is more about your elbow’s movement rather than your complete body. Deeper drop will produce enough angular momentum and the power that will be translated in the shot will be definitely more than a shallow drop.
Mental preparation is equally important in this serve shot, you have to imagine to hit a hard ball. When you aim for a hard shot, your drop will be effective and hence the overall serve. The path of the racquet head has to be more circular than linear and this can be controlled by your mental strength and habit. How? You simply have to practice the ‘Triple-Pat’ drill with a focus on more circular swing over the head. The drill is as simple as eating a cake yet very important one to learn. For more serve techniques and tips stay connected with Crunch time Coaching.
