Pat Dougherty Building the Pinpoint Serve: 4 Power Sources

[John Yandell]

Let's discuss Pat's article, "Building the Pinpoint Serve: 4 Power Sources"

[stroke]

I really like these 4 concepts and how Pat presents them. This is from his "Serve MPH" video. Nichole Vaidisova is a great example of Pats prefered serve method. A lot of WTA players seem to bend their knees too much in more of the "basketball jump" position and are not able then to create the limbo position with the front hip flexor stretched over the baseline. Kyrgios really created this limbo position well forward of the baseline, and of course used the pinpoint.

[jeffreycounts]

This video is so good. Love the physical props Pat uses to explain the concepts - the see saw, the pole vaulter, and the spring.

One interesting thing I noticed is when he has the student "pull the towel" you can see the internal shoulder rotation occur. This is mentioned in John's article "What is ISR? Part 1 the Serve" and in Brian Gordon's "Rotations in the Upward Swing Article". I had never heard of it until it was first mentioned here on Tennisplayer.

"Pull the towel" is also used in the Killer Forehand Bollettieri video, which I think Pat also produced. Fascinating to me that both the serve and the forehand use this same pulling motion combined with internal rotation from the shoulder. I'm not sure how Pat figured this out all the way back in the 80's, but that's pretty spectacular.

[stroke]

This video is so good. Love the physical props Pat uses to explain the concepts - the see saw, the pole vaulter, and the spring.

One interesting thing I noticed is when he has the student "pull the towel" you can see the internal shoulder rotation occur. This is mentioned in John's article "What is ISR? Part 1 the Serve" and in Brian Gordon's "Rotations in the Upward Swing Article". I had never heard of it until it was first mentioned here on Tennisplayer.

"Pull the towel" is also used in the Killer Forehand Bollettieri video, which I think Pat also produced. Fascinating to me that both the serve and the forehand use this same pulling motion combined with internal rotation from the shoulder. I'm not sure how Pat figured this out all the way back in the 80's, but that's pretty spectacular.

Jeff, If you ever get a chance, watch his "Serve MPH" video. Is is about 1.5 hours long, and is chocked full of great stuff. Pat does not teach his "preferred serve technique" using any professional ATP player as the model/template. He has so many practical understandable tips in this video.

[jeffreycounts]

Jeff, If you ever get a chance, watch his "Serve MPH" video. Is is about 1.5 hours long, and is chocked full of great stuff. Pat does not teach his "preferred serve technique" using any professional ATP player as the model/template. He has so many practical understandable tips in this video.

I will! I was wondering how I could find it, but it's right off the link in his bio. Only $14.

[jeffreycounts]

I really like these 4 concepts and how Pat presents them. This is from his "Serve MPH" video. Nichole Vaidisova is a great example of Pats prefered serve method. A lot of WTA players seem to bend their knees too much in more of the "basketball jump" position and are not able then to create the limbo position with the front hip flexor stretched over the baseline. Kyrgios really created this limbo position well forward of the baseline, and of course used the pinpoint.

Totally agree about a lot of WTA players. The extreme knee bend seems almost completely disconnected from the rest of the motion. Probably just makes their legs tired.

[stroke]

https://youtu.be/GgdXawklcZk?si=NYLGJ_YBd2wN79Wa

In Pats own words...

[stotty]

I believe there is a correlation between the height of players and service stances. Virtually every player in history over 6'5'' in height has used a pinpoint stance. The taller the player the more likely they will gravitate towards a pinpoint stance.