Drive serve philosophies featuring low vs high!
Good coaches teach striking the ball low to create a good drive serve. However, overlooked in this approach could be the ball drop.
Underhand vs overhand ball drop? Personally I favor the overhand because to me it is easier to control. I do have students who swear by the underhand drop and I do not mess with it if…..and it is a big if..the drop is consistent.
A low ball drop leads to a low drive serve. That is a truism but I do not like the low ball drop. Why? It means the athlete does not have time to develop a good stride, and power into the serve. It also could mean using more upper body than lower body to hit the ball.
I favor a higher ball drop with timing so the server strikes the ball about ankle high. This imparts the force into the ball creating a “line drive” type serve rather than the “floater”. A floater is hit up to down.
Can the floater be effective? Of course, especially in long matches when the legs are fried or as a change of pace to attack a weak backhand or forehand!
So bigger drop, consistent spot and use the lower body for better drive serves!!