Bernard Tomic – Service 3.0 – look back

The German-born Australian player of Croatian origin Bernard Tomic (*92 / AUS) is surely kind of a controversial tennis figure because of his sometimes quite moody approach with rather limited respect for the game. It can be assumed that the years of pressure from the side of his father took their toll. Should he focus more on the game, he might surely belong to the top players as his game would possess a lot of qualities. One of the biggest could be his service. At 196cm (6’5”), Bernard has quite excellent bodily parameters for a powerful service and also his service technique is, despite certain weakness in his legs and core, since years very solid. The below-presented photos are from the 2011 Cincinnati Masters. Bernard finished the year 2011 at the ATP # 42 and was the youngest players in the ATP top 100 back then. Big things have been expected from him then…

The big quality of his mainly 1st service is in the fact that Bernard can almost seamlessly integrate his body energy into the stroke and channel this energy against the target. This is possible because of his well-pronounced targeted pronation leading to the efficient so-called long-axis pronation. The rather weaker push-off and with that correlating rather lower toss, as well as weaker core, are then certain negatives, which could be probably improved with focused work on them. Bernard’s service statistics are then still quite impressive and beat in some parameters the service statistics of the former #1 Andy Murray (GBR). The comparison of their career service statistics on the ATP Tour (as about October 16, 2017) looks as follows – Murray in (): 1st service – 66% (58%), 1st service points won – 71% (75%), 2nd service points won – 50% (52%), ace probability per game – 59% (54%), double fault probability per game 13% (20%), all service points won 64% (65%), all service games won 81% (82%). These numbers show in my opinion that Bernard’s service is rather slightly better than Andy’s, who is than better in the game itself.

Bernard Tomic (*92 / AUS) – 1st Service 3.0 in a match – 1 of 3 – end of push-off – the racket is still not in line with the intended stroke as the timing of the cocking position and of the push-off depends also on the hight of the toss – 2011 Cincinnati Masters – Mason, OH / USA

Bernard Tomic (*92 / AUS) – 1st Service 3.0 in a match – 2 of 3 – end of follow through 1 = targeted pronation in a true form of the long-axis pronation – this is leading to an optimal body energy integration into the stroke as shown here, certain leg and core weakness then limit its entire effect as does also the position of the left arm too much on the side instead under the body – 2011 Cincinnati Masters – Mason, OH / USA

Bernard Tomic (*92 / AUS) – 1st Service 3.0 in a match – 3 of 3 – follow through 2 = relaxation – Bernard brought his body into the stroke quite well, just the weaker core limits the efficiency a bit – 2011 Cincinnati Masters, Mason, OH / USA

Bernard Tomic (*92 / AUS) – 1st Service 3.0 in a match – 1 of 2 – start of the explosive racket motion from the cocking position towards the ball, perfect eye control, tossing/left arm is going a bit too much to the side, this will limit the action-reaction effect (stopping the 3rd link) around the impact – 2011 Cincinnati Masters – Mason, OH / USA

Bernard Tomic (*92 / AUS) – 1st Service 3.0 in a match – 2 of 2 – follow through 1 with perfect targeted pronation – better core stability than above, just the position of the left arm and left shoulder is rather suboptimal – 2011 Cincinnati Masters – Mason, OH / USA

Bernard Tomic (*92 / AUS) – Service 3.0 in a match – follow through 1 = targeted pronation of a service hit with certain topspin component, the left arm actionis slightly better here – 2011 Cincinnati Masters – Mason, OH / USA

Bernard Tomic (*92 / AUS) – Service 3.0 in a match – follow through 1 = targeted pronation of a service with even bigger topspin component than the service shown above – excellent body energy integration again – 2011 Cincinnati Masters – Mason, OH / USA

This article covers certain aspects of the Bernard Tomic’s service and this stroke in general only. Further photos and more details about his service and the services of other players are available upon request at drmgb11(at)gmail.com. Some significant details of this kind necessary for top tennis performance are being discussed also in the seminar “TENNIS 3.0 – Future of the Game”, which is available worldwide upon request.

Photos (August 2011) & text (October 2017) copyright by Dr. Martin G. Baroch. Any further publication of either photos and/or texts with the written permission of the author/copyright owner only!!