Physics of the Serve
Serving
Esteban Mendez Asked 11 years ago
If I'm trying to give off a really fine contact on the serve for a really spinny ball, is it safe to say that slower and shorter serves will yield more power on the spin? If I attempt a spin serve on the ball and it goes fast, is it because it has a more flat contact resulting in more speed but less spin?
Alois Rosario Answered 11 years ago
Hi Esteban,
The finer the contact the more likely you are to get the ball to spin. If you contact the ball flat then the ball will go faster. Ideally you want to contact the ball fine and faster to get the ball to spin around faster.
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Variation of Speed
Varying the speed is different from varying the length. You can have a fast short serve and a slow short serve. You can also have a fast long serve and a slow long serve.
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Esteban Mendez Posted 11 years ago
So what you're saying is that an ideal serve has to be fast but spinny?
Almost. The bat needs to be moving fast when it contacts the ball. Because you are brushing the ball fine, the ball will not travel fast.
The ideal serve is actually spinny but short.