[smygelfh]

I don't think Hingis' serve is really as bad as people say. It's about confidence. She hears it sucks, and belives it, and serves even worse. Other people hear it sucks, they see their chance, and they attack.

However, if Hingis' serve didn't have the crappy reputation it has, would it be as bad as it is? Surely, she'd be more confident and hit better serves, but also, wouldn't opponents be less eager to attack it, thus making it even better?

If someone with the reputation of a killer serve, like Venus, should serve crappy for a day, would she get killed on the 2nds? Or would people still think they were good, and not attack the free points? Why aren't people attacking other top players with weak serves? After all, it's just a few players who have really good serves.

Allright, what did I mean? What I mean is that if Hingis improves her serve by say 10%. That'd make it a decent serve. Perhaps the opponents would still assume it was a weak serve, and attack it with the confidence needed to make it look weak. So, Hingis could actually just say she had worked a lot on her serve during the break, and people would be more scared to attack it, thus really making it better.

Either that, or people would assume Hingis' servers were still crappy and attack and miss, since the serves aren't as crappy any more.

Anything got anything to add to this insanity? <img src="wink.gif" border="0">

 

[Justin]

Its all in her head. She used to place the serve so well and with great spin when she played Monica... that was due to her confidence playing her. In the past year, when her confidence dwindled, her serve was an atrocious specticle, even against Monica- a player who she used to have such confidence against. And it shows in her results against the Big Babes.

 

[Volcana]

It's not all Martina's serve. The return-of-serve has improved a great deal in general. 'Big Babe Tennis' is all about a hard, flat shot. If a serve kicks above the net, but not above the shoulders, it's over. Similarly for any ball that falls short, and doesn't kick sideways.

Martina's serve isn't so much poor, as she can't get free points off it. EVERYONE is being exploited by the big returners, but some players negate that with free points off their serve. And the fast players are simply running down serves that would be service winners against other players.

 

[Flappie]

I think Hingis' serve is mentally most of the time. If she has good confidence, she dares to take more risc, and hits it faster and closer to the lines.

But I think she has to use her body and rotation more to get more speed on it.

 

[TSequoia01]

I agree also, that part of Martina's service problem is mental. She has been taught to get in a high percentage. Because it was all about point construction. Now the big babes do not allow her to construct points. Its one, two and walk away. Never was this more apparant than at the Open.<br />Martina's second serve was clocking in the high 60's and was dead on arrival. Second serves in the high 70's will also be doa. Martina has to scrap this low risk game and go for it plain and simple.

 

[xan]

In my opinion, Martina just hasn't bothered to develop her serve to anything like its proper potential.

Her serve is poor. If you look at her stats, her first serve is averaging about the 80s in Miles per Hour. That is just nothing nowadays. You only start troubling the AVERAGE modern returner, when you hit the 90mph zone. Hitting over 100 pays the big dividends in free points.

The good servers today average 95mph or more and can get individual serves up to 110mph. Colossal servers like the Williams sisters average over 100 and can get up to 120 on individual serves.

Martina CAN serve over the hundred, and does do for odd points, but she's been either too lazy or to confident in the rest of her game to build the fitness and technique to get a better serve. In that respect her problem IS mental. She's a strong girl. There's no reason she can't get her average first serve above 90mph, and improve her 2nd serve. Plenty of players her weight do just that. Look at Justine, Sandrine, Kim and Nathalie.

Elena Dementieva has improved her serve speed from the low 90s to over 100 in just one year (though not the reliability.)

A.t.m. Martina's serve is a major handicap. She needs to make it an asset if she is to get back to number 1. People know to attack her serves now, so she has to change. Venus got away with having a weak 2nd serve for a long time, because her rep as a huge server made people fearful, but now she's improving the 2nd serve too.