Novak Djokovic is relatively well known for bouncing the ball a lot before serving, and he has now explained why he does it.
Several players bounce the ball a lot before finally serving, Marin Cilic possibly being the most notorious example. Djokovic is another player who takes his time in that regard, even though it varies.
Sometimes, he bounces only a couple of times, and sometimes, it can take some time, so there isn’t any particular rule on how he does it. On average, he bounces the ball more times than some other players, which is why it’s one of the things that he’s known for.
There used to be a pretty intricate rule about how he did it. He recently shared the backstory of it with Vogue Adria during a cover shoot, admitting that he doesn’t do it anymore and that he left those superstitions behind. He’s still known as a pretty spiritual person, which he actually credits for his success.
“More than ten years ago, I used to hit the ball an even number of times on the deuce side, and an odd number on the advantage side. But I stopped doing that.”
Bouncing the ball many times can be annoying for the receiving player because sometimes they are left standing and wondering when it will happen. Djokovic further admitted that he’s aware that it’s pretty annoying for many players, and sometimes it can be annoying to him, too.
He’d like to simply get on with it, but sometimes, in some tough moments, the Serbian simply bounces it a bit longer to focus on the following point.
“I don’t decide how many times I’m going to bounce the ball. I know it’s annoying for a lot of people and sometimes it’s annoying for me – I wish I could bounce it less and just get into the rhythm but sometimes, especially if it’s a tough moment and I’m a little bit tight and under pressure, I might bounce it a bit more.”
