Overhead: The serve's little brother

Serena Williams' overhead begins with three almost simultaneous movements: the free hand points at the lob, the body turns with a step back, and racket and elbow rise in a quick, short loop.

Summary by The Strong Baseline. Original article: Serena Williams – Overhead 3.0 by Dr. Martin G. Baroch on cpta-tennis.org.

Unlike on the serve, the feet keep moving to adjust to the ball. In the stroke itself, however, the technique is practically identical to her serve, says Martin Baroch – the power comes from shoulder and forearm rotation, not from the arm alone.

Key point: If you have a good serve, you already have the basis for the overhead – usually it's only the footwork that's missing.