Interactive Forum April 2020: Reilly Opelka Serve

[John Yandell]

Reilly Opelka Serve

It's one of the most fearsome weapons in tennis. Reilly Opelka's serve. So here it is, both first and second, in both the deuce and the ad courts.

A few issues to ponder. His lack of or only occasional upper arm rotation. His body turn. His stance and the push off with both feet. The advantage of his height. What do you guys think?

Want to see Opelka's serve from an overhead view? Click Here!

[jimlosaltos]

To my amatuer eye, of the approximately 7 footers, Reilly's serve has more in common with Karlovic's than with Isner's. Reilly gets very little height and jumps into the court like Ivo (who rushes the net a lot, which I've never seen Reilly do) but not up to the ball like Isner. I haven't found anyone that hits the ball as far into the court as Isner, perhaps a good 4 feet into the court. Here are three photos from our earlier TPN Tour Portraits, and a frame cap of Reilly near impact, taken from this video.

filedata/fetch?id=87118&d=1585511616&type=thumbfiledata/fetch?id=87119&d=1585511616&type=thumb
. Frame cap of Reilly near impact, check out where his feet are >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>


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[stotty]

Reilly Opelka Serve

It's one of the most fearsome weapons in tennis. Reilly Opelka’s seve. So here it is, both first and second, in both the deuce and the ad courts.

A few issues to ponder. His lack of or only occasional upper arm rotation. His body turn. His stance and the push off with both feet. The advantage of his height. What do you guys think?

I can't get the video to play...

[jeffreycounts]

I can't get the video to play...

Can you get this other recent post play?

https://www.tennisplayer.net/bulletin/forum/tennisplayer/87114-a-j-chabria-shows-a-few-ways-to-pick-up-the-ball-without-hands

[J011yroger]

I don't know if what I know is wrong, or if his serve could be much better.

J

[John Yandell]

Yep it could which is scary. I have my thoughts...what are yours??

[stotty]

Can you get this other recent post play?

https://www.tennisplayer.net/bulletin/forum/tennisplayer/87114-a-j-chabria-shows-a-few-ways-to-pick-up-the-ball-without-hands

No. can't get this to play either. I click the play button and nothing happens...

[J011yroger]

Yep it could which is scary. I have my thoughts...what are yours??

Firstly, his post contact racquet path has the tendency to bind as if his grip was shifted a bit towards the forehand, especially the back half of the grip.

Secondly he uses a ton of wrist flexion when he slices the serve and that stops the internal shoulder rotation half way through, when he serves power down the T he fully rotates the arm through the ball.

Thirdly he often makes contact outside of the right shoulder, which is a contributing factor to the lack of rotation through the ball and necessitates not rotating through it fully in order to get the ball wide enough. If he used a Federer like full ISR on his slice serve with the toss outside the hitting shoulder it would resultantly pull the serve towards the T.

Fourthly, his leg drive is out of synch as he is pushing off with his legs as his racquet is still rising, so he is in effect fighting against himself. It's almost like he is using his legs just because someone told him to.

Lastly, his off hand isn't really helping the cause.

As I said, I feel foolish criticizing something so good, but it is truly frightening what it could be.

J

[postpre]

Fourthly, his leg drive is out of synch as he is pushing off with his legs as his racquet is still rising, so he is in effect fighting against himself. It's almost like he is using his legs just because someone told him to.


J

Wouldn't this be Roddick-esque, and actually help produce more racquet head speed? To actually begin your leg drive closer to 0 degrees ESR (not the 90 degree Trophy position) would seem to build more momentum into the racquet drop.


Also, how important is it to make contact at or to the left of the hitting shoulder ( and not to the right of it)?

[J011yroger]

Wouldn't this be Roddick-esque, and actually help produce more racquet head speed? To actually begin your leg drive closer to 0 degrees ESR (not the 90 degree Trophy position) would seem to build more momentum into the racquet drop.


Also, how important is it to make contact at or to the left of the hitting shoulder ( and not to the right of it)?

Maybe?!

I think that you sacrifice either power or spin when contact is made outside the slot between the head and shoulder, I can't definitively say this but it has been my experience.

J

[John Yandell]

Stotty,
Something at your end!
JY

[jeffreycounts]

No. can't get this to play either. I click the play button and nothing happens...

Stotty - what browser are you using? Try Chrome and/or Firefox. Your best bet is just to try a different browser.

[stotty]

Stotty - what browser are you using? Try Chrome and/or Firefox. Your best bet is just to try a different browser.

Okay it's working in Chrome. Thanks for that one. I have Safari and rarely had a problem before. This tech stuff is beyond my comprehension sometimes...

[jthb1021]

His mechanics compared to Isner just aren’t even close. Obviously he gets a ton of power but it seems to come through force with minimal leg drive. I’m assuming he doesn’t get anywhere near the same trajectory off the bounce that Isner does.

[klacr]

The joys of being 6'11".
Leaving lots on the table and the mechanics aren't nearly as natural as Isner but he delivers what he needs to.
He is actually the best mover of the BIG BIG three (Isner, Karlovic, Opelka) but the serve is more of a big cat swatting rather than a fluid and balanced motion.

Kyle LaCroix USPTA
Delray Beach
SETS Consulting