Raonic serve

[GeoffWilliams]

http://www.fawcette.net/2011/02/milos-raonics-serve-close-up-in-video.html

One thing I noticed, at 0:58-59 seconds, in this video, he snaps his wrist as the racquet is rising from the drop, not at the top of contact. That is not what most servers do, they snap the wrist at contact. His forearm turns over at top, not the wrist. His frame really starts its acceleration after that little snap. It's a very counter-intuitive thing to snap your wrist at the drop, rather that at the top.

[gzhpcu]

Geoff,
I don't quite see it. What am I missing?

Also not sure what you mean by "snap". Do you mean the last minute turn of the racket from on edge to head-on at impact?

[stotty]

I can't see any wrist snap from 58 - 59 seconds...around 1.02 - 1.04 I can.

[llll]

he is hitting a kick serve it seems to me at 58-59
might explain what you see with his forearm

[GeoffWilliams]

It's hard to see. At 58-59 sec., he snaps his wrist as the frame goes up, not just at the top of the contact pt.

[bottle]

It's a good idea. So people should try it whether they see it or not. Furthermore, they should try it whether it works or not. Unless they think it will lead to their being swept away by a tsunami.

[GeoffWilliams]

A 10 meter high wall of water came down on the Japanese nuclear power plant. That's almost as high as the typical light standards on court. Plant was designed by an American, Immelt. God has a way of sending Tsumamis our way. Do nations have karma? Do families have karma? Or is it just an individual accounting?

[GeoffWilliams]

he is hitting a kick serve it seems to me at 58-59
might explain what you see with his forearm

That serve is a kick, which he hits better than most anyone. May explain it. Does no one else see his wrist/hand snap up at that point in the lower drop?

[GeoffWilliams]

Also, why is no one else commenting, on how much he moves his head during each serve? He starts 4' forward, moves back that same distance, goes 1' down, and then ends up 4' further forward than the starting position, on every serve! It's like 10-13' of movement after follow through plant step. Also, his elbow is very high, and the shoulders act like a rotating plank, forcing the elbow high, higher than anyone else, and his hand/wrist lag back a full foot below the elbow or more, and he snaps the wrist as the frame starts up, and rotates his forearm at top.

Do any of us move our heads 13' during our serves? No.

[stotty]

I think it's the "storing of elastic energy"at the critical point that makes his serve a bullet. He achieves it in a different way to Roddick but it the end result is the same.

[tennis_chiro]

Great rock, but I don't see the early wrist

Also, why is no one else commenting, on how much he moves his head during each serve? He starts 4' forward, moves back that same distance, goes 1' down, and then ends up 4' further forward than the starting position, on every serve! It's like 10-12' of movement after follow through plant step. Also, his elbow is very high, and the shoulders act like a rotating plank, forcing the elbow high, higher than anyone else, and his hand/wrist lag back a full foot below the elbow or more, and he snaps the wrist as the frame starts up, and rotates his forearm at top.

Geoff,
No question he has a big rock, but his rhythm is smooth and repeatable. To see the wrist snap you are referring to, I have to try to imagine lines through his forearm and the racket shaft creating an angle. I don't see that angle changing that much from frames 58 to 59; but you certainly see it change prior to impact. Great serve.
don

[GeoffWilliams]

Ok, but no one else can do what he does, leading the tour in aces, and evey other serve stat, as a total rookie. Why is that, is what I am really asking. 40 pro matches total.