This year at Wimbledon, Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard came to the forefront. He delivered the tournament’s fastest ever mega-serve, registering a whiplash-inducing 153 mph! With this astounding accomplishment came renewed interest in the principle of serving speed as a measure of success within the sport of tennis. Of course John Isner has the record for the fastest recorded serve in history. He established the ATP-recognized record standard at an insane 157.2 mph in 2016. The second-fastest of all time was hit by Albano Olivetti in 2012, clocking in at 160 mph.
This increase in serving power is indicative of the widespread changes taking place in today’s game. More than ever before, players are using their serves as a strategic weapon. Mark Kovacs has emerged as one of the foremost experts in the biomechanics of tennis serves. He’s spent the last several years understanding how to help athletes channel their potential into this pivotal movement.
The Mechanics of a Powerful Serve
Kovacs explains the eight key components that are needed to make the perfect serve. Stage three, called “the loading,” is very important. It does focus on the player’s body shape immediately prior to contact with the ball. This critical, preparatory phase creates physical readiness for the server to release their full energy potential through their movement.
Taking place after the loading stage are stages five through seven, which involve accelerating, making contact, and decelerating. The timings of each phase have a big impact on how fast the serving arm moves. In turn, this has a direct impact on the speed of the serve. Kovacs stresses the importance of coordinated movement across all of these phases in order to elicit maximum performance.
“You need synchronized motion. You need all of these stages to hit optimally because you get this summation of forces. It’s really called the kinetic chain.” – Mark Kovacs
For most positions, height does not offer the edge that everyone thinks it does. Sure, taller players can contact the ball at a greater point of contact, but that’s not the only factor that determines how fast a player can serve. Rather, it is technique, efficiency of body mechanics and the use of gravity that primarily determine falling success.
The Role of Environmental Factors
Serve speed can be highly impacted by weather conditions from day to day. Kovacs further explains that hotter and drier temperatures allow balls to travel faster through the atmosphere. This year’s Wimbledon was a perfect example of this, especially in the first round when the players were hitting the fastest serves to date.
“The reason you’ve seen these faster serves at Wimbledon this year is because the temperature was much hotter and drier,” – Mark Kovacs
Just this year at Wimbledon, Albano Olivetti fired off an unreal serve that measured 140 mph. With the weather on his side, his strong technique excelled under pressure. His physical stature combined with his skills have made him one of the more intimidating, imposing servers in modern tennis.
Player Insights and Future Potential
Even Albano Olivetti admits to his neglect in courting longterm power over the course of his career. He stated, “Always, since I started playing, I was always trying to serve as big as I can.” His philosophy is all about winning matches with the serve, not waiting around on return set plays.
“I was winning on my serve and not winning for the return part,” – Albano Olivetti
Even with his own success, Olivetti is a strong proponent of every player discovering the approach that fits their unique style and voice the best. What he’s come to understand is that equipment is crucial when it comes to maximizing performance.
“I think every player is different, and you really have to find what works for you. Equipment is important for that, I would say,” – Albano Olivetti
Kovacs opines that young players such as Jannik Sinner have a lot of unoptimized potential to leverage in order to develop their serving stroke. With advancements in training and biomechanics research, there exists a vast opportunity for players to enhance their serving capabilities further.
“A lot of coaches will say, ‘That guy’s just got a live arm. That’s why he’s able to serve hard but maybe doesn’t have the best technique.’ But actually he does have pretty good technique at that position,” – Mark Kovacs
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