Interactive Forum February 2018: Jared Donaldson Serve

[don_budge]

Interesting forum. While I can really get into the politics of the day, I think Jared Donaldson’s serve is interesting in relation to his forehand from last months’ forum.-and more perplexing.
Here is a young player who has made gains in the rankings and yet there is something missing. But according to this article from the Los Angles Times, Donaldson’s serve has or is being worked on big time.

Jared Donaldson's visit to the 'serve doctor' still paying off at the U.S. Open
By LISA DILLMAN
SEP 02, 2016 | 7:05 PM

Father and son met father and son on a tennis court one day in Orange County.
The question: How much "surgery" was required for the youngster's serve? Jared Donaldson had recently turned 17 and his father, Courtney Donaldson, brought him to see Phil Dent and his son Taylor Dent.

"We walked out on the court," Courtney said. "[Taylor] introduced me to his father. They watched Jared serve twice and Phil goes, 'Hmm.' I go, 'What does 'hmm' mean?' I'm thinking Jared needs to add more spin to his serve. He said, 'We've got to change everything.'"

"We had to do it. He had just turned 17 and better to do it at 17 than 21, or never," Courtney said.
Following that, Jared moved to Irvine and started working with the Dents at their tennis academy in Fountain Valley. Taylor Dent, who is with the Donaldsons in New York, admired Jared's ability to recognize long-term benefits versus short-term results.
"Dad really spent a ton of time, and Jared, for being a teenage boy, it's tough to make big changes like that and, wow, he did a really, really good job. He was very patient and smart. He knew it had to happen."

The bold is mine.

My first question is, when is this video from, pre-Dents or post-Dents? And the second is, if it’s post, what did they work on and how to bring it to where it is now?
As with his ground-stokes, it seems to me there is not enough body and too much hand in a rather artificial start to his serve, and not much release at the end of it. Also, I think there is something missing in the hip to shoulder rotation-so not much leg gets transferred through not much upper body.

Post Dent...but no idea what Phil and Taylor did...agreed there is a lot there that isn't being utilized.

It's post-Dent and one look below will tell you what they did...or should I say what they attempted to do.

https://www.tennisplayer.net/members...DeuceSide1.mov

Yeah...take a look at this video above of the Taylor Dent serve. Look at the position where he commences his backswing. His set-up position. Look familiar? It's identical to the Donaldson set-up. Not good. Taylor manages to make a good swing out of it. Donaldson is not so good at it.

At the 45 second mark in the bottom video we see a side view of the serve. This beginning position is obviously home made. Where was the coach when this kid needed to be told...this is not alright. As a consequence there are going to be some real back swing issues that are going to require a number of compensatory moves to get the damn thing back on track. But so what if you can get it back on track. How long can you possibly maintain any sense of rhythm or consistency with a motion like this.

Look...it's all ok if all you are trying to do is bash the ball into the service court but if you are trying to combine the elements of control (spin, speed and placement)...good luck. But the worst thing about a motion that looks so bad from the start is the uneven wear and tear on the body it will create over time. In order to keep that shoulder well oiled and healthy you probably cannot have such a terribly engineered motion. Too much friction!!!

Pretty funny isn't it? I'm asking where was the coach and it was the Dent's all along. I don't like the set-up position all. The reason being is each position influences the next position. After the set-up it is the backswing. This set-up sets up the player in a manner where it impossible to rhythmically initiate the backswing. Somehow Taylor Dent manages in his delivery.

My initial comment above was before I knew about the "Dent" influence. Phil Dent was a very good Australian tennis player back towards the end of the Classic Era.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NYLw7yLT8w4

Take a look at this classic video footage of Phil Dent playing Jimmy Connors at Wimbledon. A very nice classic set-up position by Dent and a lovely free flowing backswing. This serve in 1974 was engineered to propel the player to the net and that is exactly what Phil Dent did. He went to the net. He was really good at it too. Look at his doubles record here in Wikipedia. Look at all those doubles finals contested with John Alexander. Back in those days all of the good players also played in the doubles.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phil_Dent

Phil Dent on the toss:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zDTVau_AY1U

Phil Dent "Building a World-Class Serve: Loading"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NdvfuG2n4u4

I think that the Dent's need to go back and change everything about their approach to coaching the serve. The set-up may have worked for Taylor...he was also hell bent on getting to the net. He was pretty shaky from the backcourt...comparitively. But poor Donaldson has imitated the Taylor Dent set-up and it doesn't look as if the imitation will ever reach the level of the original. So it is with the attempt to copy. The clone is never as good as the original.