How can i make my over hand serve stronger?

Question

I have worked on it for yrs!!!!! and for some reason i still cant get it. its not that im not strong enough or tall enough. im 5'6 and i DEFF have the power! in tennis my first time playing i was so used to vball that i hit all the balls over the big back fence thing. and what i dont get is that when i spike i beat the **** outa the ball and when i serve i cant get it! i am doing the steps right but idk! so does anyone have any ideas how to make it better and actually get lots of balls over? thx

Answer 1

1) smack your hand over the wall, twice, makes you hand tense = hard power

2) widen your fingers and follow through with your shot.

3) hit more with your palm.. dont use to much fingers.

4) through the ball higher this gives you more time to follow through and gain power

5) i bounce the ball and hit it on the ground. Get used to the ball..

6) practice practice practice.. play the wall, serve more in practice, practice spikes.. you hit in spiking.

7) Try to step into the ball more. But HARDER, dont lightly take the step take it with bounce and a boom!

8) tape two fingers together, not your thumb or pinky. Its earier to hit.

9) Take off anything on your wrist unless its supporting it. You dont want interference with the ball!

10) try not to run up right after you hit, follower through and then step when its almost over.

11) lift weights. But dont tense up your muscles. Once or twice a week.

12) Jump serve it. This gives you more bounce, follow through AND power. But make sure you practice it.

13) Try to control your power cause... you dont want it out OR to hit the wall.. well both out but..

14) Drink more water. You get more energy. and eat less before a game or after. You will get cramps, or nausea..

15) try to not knock someone out with your new POWER!!

Hope this helped..

Answer 2

I think you should try to swing the ball at the time of hitting. the ball will take a dip after crossing the net.

Answer 3

i used to be the same way,but now that i jump serve,it's a lot easier for me to hit a lot harder with better accuracy because it's basically a a spike.but anyways,i only take one step.and keep your arm and wrist locked straight.watch the volleyball as you make contact with the ball.some people say serving is easier and you hit harder when you stand sideways,but either way,i make sure to hit it really hard.but if your right handed,step out with your left foot to balance you,or if your left handed step out with your right foot.hope this helps!

Answer 4

Rotate your hips, too. That way you can use the power from your whole body and not just your arms. Plus, only arms can cause serious problems

Answer 5

well its prolly where ur hand is hittin the ball. like u dont want it to hit the middle. cause it makes the loudest smack and stuff but thats just show. wat u wanna do it hit it with the heel of ur hand cuz thats the hardest part of ur hand. it wont make a sound, and its very easy to make it go over the net, put if ur as strong as u say u cant hit it that hard with ur heel...u have to lighten up. just try it and adjust to where its comfortable

Answer 6

I don't know how good you were at tennis, and I don't know much about volleyball, but you could try a topspin tennis style serve for volleyball.  Just toss, crouch down, and take a strong bottom to top brush of the ball while maintaining enough forward force.  If you do it right, the volleyball should barely pass over the net and drive straight down.

Answer 7

it's not how hard you hit it, it's about how much of your body you put into it. serving is most similar to throwing. you have to shift your weight like youre about to throw a baseball to homeplate from center field (really far). then from there practice aim and control, but if you do this you should get a way stronger and more intimidating serve!

Answer 8

Make sure your palm is cupped like the ball, but not over curved. The fact that your contact makes the huge sound is not "right", it won't make the ball go far enough... I know that as I did that serve on purposely to train my players regarding how to tell whether the ball goes deep or short.

Answer 9

practice your toss, because the toss is key.  keep it consistant so you have timing.  next work on the timing - this is key just like hitting.  try to keep hitting the ball with the middle area of your hand, not the fingers.  

just practice, practice, practice.  you'll get it.

Answer 10

I'm glad you realized that it's not the power that you lack.

Basically, you should learn how to transfer the kinetic engergy or momentum from your body to the ball.  It's all about learning good technique.  See if you can make use of the article below:

Learning Proper Arm Swing when Serving

From Steve Stout

Even if you follow my simplified serve technique, which the whole body moving forward into the serve, some players still have a difficult time getting the ball over the net. In fact, I was watching a Division I college player recently who consistently drove her serves into the net.

A diagnosis of her serving form indicated her arm swing was counterproductive - and easily correctable.

Avoid "Up, Stop & Forward" - This incorrect arm swing is a common problem which plagues even experienced players who failed to learn proper serving techniques. "Up, stop and forward,” is what the arm does. This swing is terribly counterproductive to a good serve, because the arm is moves up and back (away from the net), then it must stop, and start forward. Consequently, contact with the ball is weak, and it often flutters like a wounded duck and falls helplessly short of the net.

The reason why "up, stop, & forward" is wrong for serving is easily demonstrated:

Hold your hitting arm straight out, with palm down.

Raise your arm straight up and back.

Not much beyond 90 degrees, the arm stops. It simply will not go any further unless the shoulder is rotated: God designed it that way.

The Right Way to Swing

Hold your hitting arm straight out with palm down.

Swing your arm downward, and around, like a windmill.

The arm very naturally makes a nice big arch. The elbow can be pulled up and back, and the swing accelerates as the open palm makes solid contact with the ball. Practice this and you will be pleasantly amazed watching the ball travel over the net, as long as you make good contact with the ball.

Like any habit, this method will take repetition to become second nature, especially if you have taught yourself to struggle with an “up, stop, and forward” motion.

To help, try these phrases when you set up to serve, “swing down,” or “under and over.” I’ve seen the change improve the serve of several of my players this season, who’ve gone from less than 40% efficiency to more than 80%, with little more than changing the arm swing.- and with rally scoring giving a point for every missed serve, your team must have high serving effectiveness!

Answer 11

Here are the simple steps of the fundamentals of a serve.

Right handed

Toss with your left hand

The ball should be tossed right in front of your right shoulder

Start with your right foot forward

Take one step with your left foot and DRAG your RIGHT foot

With the step work make sure that you are tossing the ball as you step forward

Your left arm is going to lead your right arm forward so just like you were spiking the ball. Your left arm is your target arm.

Make sure that when making contact with the ball you are following through.

Do more push ups make your arms stronger.

Answer 12

You just need to open your hand up, hit it hard, and one of the main things is that you need to follow thru. Another thing to make the ball hard and spin (which is good if it spins) is that you should hit the top of the volleyball.

Answer 13

If you're jsut doing overhand serve and not jump serve, there's a difference between that and a spike.  

1. When you spike, the ball tossed has already gained downward momentum and you spike downwards.  In a serve, the ball is hit slightly upwards.  If you toss the ball high, the ball is on its way down yet you're hitting the ball slightly upward hence part of the force from your hand is used to counter the downward motion of the ball.  If you toss low such that you hit the ball at its peak height just before it goes down, you minimize the counteracting forces.

2. toss the ball slightly in front of you.  This should give your arm  enough take off space to hit the ball hard.  Tossing the ball directly above you makes it difficult to put enough force in the ball.

3.  Full arm swing.  If you swing your arm using your elbow, you're not maximizing your swing.  Swing with your full arm and take off with your arm at its resting state on your side.  Try to keep your arm straight but your elbow relaxed.

4.  Practice first your swing without the ball.  Try to picture the swing as if the ball is not there.  And when you start practicing the serve, try to do it as if your arm is swinging and the ball is not disrupting the swing.  Part of our momentum is broken by our thoughts being disrupted because we made contact with the ball thus making our arm try to cushion the impact.  It takes some practice to do this but once you get it, it would feel as if the ball is very light since it didn't stop the flow of your arm.

Answer 14

There are several factors that could be your problem.  

Your toss could be too low.  You could be hitting it solidly like you say.  If you can not extend your arm high enough, you will not get enough power.  

You say you have the steps right.  Are you talking about the serving steps as in toss, swing etc?  Or are you talking about moving your feet steps?  

Try standing and serving without steps. Plant your right foot hard and push with it.  (If you are right handed.)  If you lift your right foot, you lose your power.  If you take steps, it is hard to time it well and serve it well.

Answer 15

I play tennis, so the way that i picture it is throw the ball high like a tennis ball, and then hit it just how you would hit a tennis ball.

You first want to get it over first, to try and make it over, then gradually keep putting more and more power into using most of your upper body.

I have a volleyball conditioning class at school and we always play 3 on 3 so when you play look at the person you want to serve it at (not always in front of you) and serve it.  After a while your serve will become a floaty (where your balls floats while in the air, confusing the opponent haha)