Carlos Alcaraz Serve Analysis- Powerful And Very Efficient!
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- čas přidán 19. 03. 2024
- In this tennis serve lesson, we'll analyze the serve of superstar Carlos Alcaraz. Discover how his powerful and efficient serve can improve your own game. This comprehensive analysis will break down the mechanics of his serve and provide tips for incorporating them into your own game. Serve like a pro with this in-depth analysis of Carlos Alcaraz's serve!
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Hi John, I am not sure that these clips tell the entire story of what can be learned from the Alcaraz. The things that will help most club players are #1 he keeps his head up until after contact without looking to see where the ball lands allowing him to throw the racket upward on contact. # 2 The tossing arm stays up until contact allowing Carlos to have a consistent ball toss and to get full extension at contact.. #3 Carlos has great balance on his serve with a good knee bent exploding upward where he lands forward inside the baseline on his front foot. The things that club players should probably not copy is the stiff abbreviated backswing where the doesn't drop down by past his back foot. Most club players would benefit from the racket being more relaxed and dropping down toward the ground while the tossing arm goes up. This provides a longer lever for more easy power making it easier to create more racket speed by starting slow and gradually gaining uncontrolled momentum. It seems that Carlos has a slight hitch slowing down the racket after he starts and then regains speed for an effective deliver causing his racket drop to be a bit late.. In general, Alcaraz has too tight of a grip and too much tension in his arm at the beginning of the serve which is problematic for club players attempting to develop a smooth relaxed motion. He could probably keep his tossing arm tucked little longer delaying the backward arm thrust. Alcaraz is a terrific talent and his serve is solid, but certainly not the strength of his game compared to his movement, touch ground strokes. and even his volley. I prefer the serves of Sampras, Federer, and Ellsworth Vines as models for my students. There are too many things in the Alcaraz serve that club players should not copy.
Tossing arm stays up until contact??
Nice exaggeration!😀
@@watcher687 You are right it is a slight exaggeration. The point is that Alcarez brings his tossing up well above his head and keeps his tossing arm longer than most club players allowing him to get full extension at contact and then hit up and out rather hitting forward or even downward. Many club release the toss below their heads and the results are far less than optimal.
Hand stays up until contact is a "feel vs real" instruction and a great one at that. The number #1 reason serves get pulled down into the net is because the left arm (really shoulder) comes down early. The correction i have been using effectively for many years is to tell them to hold the left arm up extended towards the ball as long as possible. It feels as though one is holding it up until contact, but the slow motion video shows that in reality, it comes down before like these of Alcaraz. My "swing thoughts" too keep from serving into the net is "left hand up, hold it there as long as possible"
Well, you’ve certainly covered a lot of things here. I do like his modified takeback with the racket, although it may not be as relaxed as it was before. Either way, I can’t tell whether his grip is too tight or not. I think a serve isn’t working process that is only going to get better. it certainly is not a weakness as we’ve seen in recent weeks. Regarding the tossing arm, I will address that in another reply. Best, John
The idea of keeping the tossing arm up as long as possible is also a problem, so I would be careful about that. The tossing arm is the catalyst that triggers, the rotation of the shoulders and the racket drop. The tossing arm moves away from the extension before the racket enters into the drop and swing… look at all the good servers and you’ll see the same thing.
great video, and analysis
Thank you !!
Thank you, Philip! Best, John
Excellent analysis, John. I knew that Alcaraz had tweaked his serve, but I couldn't tell what was different.
Hi Cynthia, thank you! Kindly, John
You should always include an actual continuous video in a serve analysis. Alcaraz has a hitchy motion which is suboptimal and can not be seen in this post. Further, I think he falls off to the left too much which straightens out his slice serve (especially on the Ad side) making it less effective. And as far him kicking in first serves to the Ad side, have you ever seen Federer do this. No. Half the time he puts it in the net and the other half he is roughly neutral after the return. First serves are for winners at his level. I am surprised that with his talent and six coaches that these flaws haven't been worked out. Especially because his second serve is very solid which should allow for more aggressive placement on first serves.
Thanks for your astute, comments and contribution to the video. Carlos’ serve is a work in progress. It is technically better than it was two years ago. it certainly is not a weakness, but I think it will become a strength in the future. Perhaps Fed should’ve kicked some serves in the ad court to mix things up and perhaps get more first serves against Nadal, particularly on break points! Best, John
What do you consider to be the pros and cons of a pinpoint stance (Alcaraz) vs a platform stance (Rune) prior to unleashing the coil?
Yes I was wondering that as well as I have moved from pinpoint to platform-I can see it gives me better coil and hoping in time it helps my toss as well
Hi Cynthia, The pinpoint stance can create a more rhythmic movement into the load/trophy position. For some players, it’s just natural, and for others, it is not. The pinpoint does require an extra movement, and therefore I don’t typically encourage it during the developmental stages, or when working on adjustments. But I do have students try the pinpoint if they are struggling with balance or rhythm in the platform stance. I hope this helps, although there is a lot to cover on this topic! Best, John .
John thanks for the video. What do you think Carlos needs to do to improve his serve mechanically?
Thanks for your great question. At this point very little. He could add more coil/rotation. He has made some important adjustments that I think will sustain. Now it’s about hitting the targets, creating speed and spin variety.
@@PerformancePlusTennis thanks! do you not think his first serve racket face is striking the ball a little too flat? perhaps that is causing some of the lack of accuracy?
One thing is very evident ..his elbow is significantly lower with the side lag motion
Agreed, and it’s not necessarily a bad thing!
Do you think Roddick's recent criticisms of Alcaraz's serve are accurate? He said he thinks it's gotten worse - a few mph slower over the past two years and also that the slice doesn't tail away as much as it should
Thanks for your great question! His serve could’ve declined temporarily during the adjustment phase, but based on recent results, I think he’s back on track. Losing a little velocity is not that big of a deal as revealed by Craig O’Shaughnessy at brain game tennis. Hitting the spots is more important than sheer power. It will be interesting to see how his serve progresses. Thanks, John.
Should have posted serving to both sides, even and add, that makes an important difference in my humble opinion. Orlando, USA, March/2024.
Usually when they do an analysis of a pro's serve they stick to one side (generally the best they can find online). If the video is a general tutorial on the serve, then I would probably agree with you. But this is not that case. IMO
It's very difficult to have your head level when your shoulders are asymmetric. The more abridged takeback accounts for most of the change
I noticed a definite pause in Carlos' motion in his match with Sinner. Isn't that a big No-No?
Hi Brookes, thanks for your great question! Carlos takes a pause in his loading phase, which is not a problem at all. The problem with a pause occurs typically in the Racket drop stage of the swing. I hope this makes sense. Please let me know if you have questions. Kindly, John .
In your interview with Gavin MacMillan, he says, "Alcaraz goes away and in, so he loses the stretch reflex but he's strong enough that he muscles it." Do you see this as a problem with Alcaraz' serve? If so, what is the fix? (This other coach suggests Alcaraz is actually engaging the stretch-reflex: czcams.com/video/AkVrcQ_diOI/video.html. I see his point and am not sure what MacMillan is referring to.)
“His legs drive upward” - yes they do but his torso drives upwards too. In fact, the whole body drives upward, surely? Just pinpointing the legs as the upward driving force is misleading, imo.
I coach here in the Far East (way-past Montauk!) and use judo as an example: when you do a shoulder throw in judo you certainly aren’t using just the legs; the muscles around the stomach area and the back play a huge part too.
The drive starts in the legs...although that level of drive and jumping that high is very advanced and out of reach for many of us club level players. But the power surge still starts the unwind from the legs up even if it is less pronounced. You'll get more spin and power this way.
Thanks for your feedback and contribution to the video. One question: what makes the torso move upward? The legs! The body doesn’t go anywhere without the legs, so naturally, I’m going to focus on that, but of course, the torso and shoulder rotation is a critical component to the serve. Best, John
Oddly enough, Alcaraz's service preparation resembles that of Pat Rafter.
Why is the volume on your channel always so low?
Not sure...The volume is strong on my end...did you, can you turn your volume up on this video to an acceptable level? Thanks, John
I’ve turned it up, of course, since your videos are fine, John 😊
Thanks! @@roos3013
It's his radio voice :-)
Thanks! @@roos3013