In the run up to the US Open this week, the official twitter account of the tournament posted a video of Naomi Osaka warming up on one of the practice courts with a football. Throwing a football is a seriously legitimate functional training technique for tennis.
The motion of the serve is mechanically similar to throwing a spiral pass. A player that masters the correct technique with a football develops muscle memory for what the service motion should feel like. An alternative way to experience the same effect is to actually throw a racquet across the court. Using a football is much easier on both the frame and the court surface.
A football is also great for warming up the major muscles involved in the service motion. I believe that is what Osaka was doing in this instance. The great thing about using a football is that a practice court is not required. Tossing a ball back and forth in the parking lot is a great warmup for those times when courts are unavailable for that purpose.
Finally, throwing a football develops shoulder strength which should translate into a more powerful serve. In fact, you can see Osaka in the video using an exaggerated upward “shot put” motion which is a critical component for an explosive serve.
The leather ball that Osaka is using in the video looks to be youth sized which is slightly smaller than the ball used in the NFL. It’s a good size for women because the smaller size makes it easier to grip the ball and focus on the throwing form rather than gripping the ball.
My preferred football takes that concept one step further. I use a Nerf brand “Pro Grip” model for my training. In addition to the smaller size, the foam construction is less likely to cause jammed fingers or bruises than the regulation leather ball. Another benefit is that the nerf ball doesn’t require inflation, so I don’t have to bother with an air pump and needle.
If you are looking to supercharge your tennis serve training, throwing a football into the mix might be exactly the thing you need.
 | Nerf Pro Grip Football |
