It’s obvious to say it, but a good ball toss is one of the most crucial parts of any serve – without an accurate, good toss your serve is set up to fail.

Try to throw the ball to the exact same spot every time, and make sure to toss it high enough so that you have plenty of time to prepare for your shot – but not so high that you’re unable to control it.

Actually, it’s worth mentioning that the height of the toss is a really important factor – if you think about it, it’s logical that the further away from you the ball gets, the harder it is to control its position. So the optimum toss distance is a) high enough to allow you time to prepare for the swing, but also b) low enough not to lose control over placement and speed. It’s a balancing act, and one that takes thousands of throws to perfect.

Also, pay attention to the direction of your toss in relation to you and your opponent, and make sure it is consistent with the direction you want the ball to go in (this also makes sense really). This will help you to achieve consistency in your serve and make it easier to control the precise placement of the ball on the court.

Tip 2: Harness the natural power of your legs

Your legs contain the biggest muscle in your body (the gluteus maximus), and true service power is derived from your legs, so it’s important to use them in the correct manner to generate maximum serving force. When serving, try to deliberately and consciously push off the ground with your legs (aka jump!) to transfer all of that kinetic energy into your racket and the ball. This will help you hit the ball with controlled power and speed, and will also help maintain good balance and control.

Tip 3: Remember your elbow

In a good serve, your elbow should be pointing at an upward angle when you hit the ball – as this will help generate topspin and ensure that the ball clears the net and lands firmly in the court.

Take time to study pictures and videos of pro players serving and you’ll see the elbow angle that I’m talking about. Our Tennis Serve Analysis section is a good place to start.

Keeping your elbow up will also help generate power and will allow you to control the direction of your serve. To do this, try to keep your elbow as close to your body as possible when you swing, and make sure to extend it upward as you make good contact with the ball.

Tip 4: Always, always follow through

This goes for pretty much every swing or strike in tennis. After striking the ball, be sure to follow through with your swing. This will help you put more power and spin on the ball, and will again also help maintain your balance and control. In fact, all of these technique tips will help with balance and control. To do this, try to extend your arm and finish with your palm facing upward.

Practice makes perfect (especially true for serving in tennis)

As with anything, practice is key to improving your serve.

Try to incorporate serve practice into your regular routine and focus on refining your technique. Consciously think about each of the four tips above – your toss, your legs, your elbow and the follow-through. Practice hitting serves with a focus on each of these four elements individually. Also try different amounts of power and spin, and aim to hit specific targets on the court to improve your accuracy.

As you improve, you’ll be able to think more about the placement of your serve, so that you can hit different parts of the court and keep your opponent guessing.

By practicing regularly and focusing on the details of your serve, you can gradually improve your technique and become a more accomplished server. Good luck, and keep it up!

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The tennis twist serve originates from the type of spin used on the tennis serve. Once the serve bounces in the opposite service box, the spin causes the ball to take a “twisting effect” hence the name “tennis twist serve.”

This requires learning to properly place the ball, followed by putting power into the shot, and, finally, putting spin on the ball. There are various types of spin that can be used.

The Different Spins for the Tennis Twist Serve

The main ones are topspin and underspin. All spin serves have either one or the other. The third kind of spin is side spin and this is applied along with either topspin or underspin. In actuality, there is no such thing as a serve that has only pure underspin.

All slice serves also have sidespin. There are, however, topspin serves that have only a small degree of sidespin, and these are usually what are referred to as the kick serve.

The tennis twist serve is a variation of the kick serve that combines topspin with a more significant amount of sidespin. Applying any specific type spin onto a serve may be one of the more complicated things that some players need to learn. But the rewards for learning to do so are great.

Using The Tennis Twist Serve At the Pro Level

There are players who have a natural tendency to slice their serves, while others find it a lot easier to put topspin on theirs. Even at the professional level, there are players who know how to hit one kind of serve but are not as good at hitting the other.

This is more evident on the women’s tour. Venus Williams and Lindsay Davenport are two of the strongest servers in the history of women’s tennis, having great speed and accuracy with their flat serves. When hitting second serves or spin serves, they both prefer to hit slice serves. It’s not that they cannot or do not know how to hit topspin serves but they are just not as proficient doing so.

On the other hand, Australia’s Samantha Stosur serves almost exclusively with topspin. She can produce a very heavy and high kicking serve but her lack of variety probably cost herat the 2009 French Open where she lost in the final to the cunning Francesca Schiavone.

One of the reasons why Serena Williams is widely considered to be the best server ever in women’s tennis is her ability to hit all kinds of serves with almost equal aptitude.

Tennis Twist Serve for the Serve and Volley Game

The tennis twist serve used to be a commonly used shot for serve and volley players especially on fast hard courts. This is because the ball doesn’t travel as fast through the air so the server had more time to rush forward and get closer to the net.

When the ball bounces, it kicks up high and to the left side, which is the backhand side for a right handed receiver. This was usually the weaker side or the side less adept at handling high balls. It then became that much tougher for the receiver to hit a quality return that could put the server in trouble. As the game evolved, more players started returning with greater aggression.

Today’s players are also bigger and stronger so they have fewer problems handling high bouncing serves. Hard courts are also a little slower than before making it even more difficult for the net rusher to put the baseliner under pressure.

Tennis Twist Serve: Advantages

Nevertheless, the tennis twist serve is a shot that any player should desire to learn, if only to add variety. The basic principles of hitting the serve remain applicable for the twist serve as they are all the same for any kind of serve. The following is a review of these principles. At the beginning, you have to have the proper stance.

This is followed by the backswing when you toss the ball up to the right place, take your racket back while turning and tilting your shoulders, coil your torso, bend your knees and look straight up to the ball.

Tennis Twist Serve: Backswing

After this backswing, you get ready to hit by taking the racket behind the back, bending the elbow and cocking the wrist. The legs push down off the ground and help launch you up to the ball. The head remains fixed on the ball. The forward swing then commences. The body uncoils from the legs and hips to the torso and shoulders.

The elbow quickly extends and leads the forearm and wrist which at first remains cocked but then snaps mightily as it extends and makes contact with the ball. The forearm continues to pronate fully and the arm extends out forward into the direction of the ball before coming around to finish the follow through.

Meanwhile, during this whole time, the body has continued to uncoil until you are now facing forward again. The leading foot comes to land (this is the left foot for right handed players) followed by the other. Then finally, you recover by a split step and get immediately into the proper ready stance for the next shot.

Tennis Twist Serve: The Basics & The Grip

To learn the tennis twist serve, you must pay attention to certain details. There are some fine adjustments that enable one to hit this kind of serve. Every shot in tennis starts with a proper grip. Most players prefer to hit this serve using the eastern backhand grip.

Even players who would otherwise use a continental grip for their flat and sliced serves frequently switch to this grip. But it is still possible to hit it with a continental grip if your arm is loose and flexible.

Tennis Twist Serve: Toss

The next and most important thing you must know is where to toss the ball. On a flat serve, you toss the ball forward and a little to the right if you are right handed. A slice serve is hit off a toss that is similar but slightly further to the right, though it is possible to hit both serves off the same toss.

The kick and twist serves usually cannot be hit off a toss in front of the body. Rather, the toss should be above the head. If you do not hit the ball and let it bounce, you will see that it will do so behind you and to your left if you are right handed.

Because you are tossing to a different location, your body and your stroke will adjust accordingly. On all kinds of serves, you have to look at the ball directly and keep your head up. Since you are tossing above your head on a tennis twist serve, you will need to arch your back in addition to coiling your trunk. This facilitates your ability to look up and hit up onto the ball.

You then proceed to hit the ball. The toss has made it possible for you to brush up the back of the ball and across it from left to right. For less sidespin, you brush up more over the ball. For a true tennis twist serve, you brush more exaggeratedly across the back of the ball from left to right. Imagine that the ball is the face of a clock.

You will be brushing it from 8 o’clock to 2 o’clock, whereas for less sidespin, you brush more from 7 to 1. This all happens very quickly. Remember that at this point in the service motion, the racket head is moving at maximum speed.

Tennis Twist Serve: Follow through

The tennis twist serve also has a different follow through as a result of the toss and the wrist action at contact. The racket continues and finishes with the head pointing downward as the wrist completes its pronation. But the arm does not come around the body anymore. It stays on the same side, whereas on the flat and slice serve, the finish is on the opposite side of the hitting arm.

The tennis twist serve is quite useful as a second serve and also as a first serve to keep the returner guessing. If you keep hitting only a slice second serve, you will be too predictable. You can’t use a soft flat serve because many returners at the club level have the ability to aggressively return these serves. They do not have to deal with any disconcerting spin and unfamiliar bounces. The kick and twist serves can be used to throw them off. Anyone who owns a complete set of serveshas an advantage against any opponent.

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Steps to on how to execute the tennis topspin serve perfectly

Topspin Serve Stance

The player has to stand with his or her right foot (left foot for left-handed player) in the baseline making sure it is positioned parallel to the baseline. The left foot (right foot for left-handed player) of the player points towards the right net post if the player is right handed or left net post if the player is left-handed.

Grip

The continental grip is normally used when the player wants to execute a topspin serve. The continental grip, chopper grip or hammer grip designates similar tennis grip types. The Continental grip is a type of tennis grip that is frequently called chopper or hammer grip because the manner the player grips or holds the racket handle is the same as when you hold a an axe to chop a wood or hammer a nail. The continental grip is used in a tennis volley but in modern tennis, it is commonly used to execute the tennis topspin serve.

Wind-Up

The wind up for a topspin serve must be perfected in order to generate the proper rotation on the tennis ball. The player can choose to slide his right foot forward (left foot for left- handed player) to place it close to his left foot (right foot for left- handed player) or keep the feet back in a platform stance. A topspin serve requires a good knee bend in order to generate energy with a leg drive upwards with a strong force. The racket should be up high in a wind-up position. With the left hand (right hand for left-handed player) still up high after tossing the ball, the player should turn his left shoulder slightly so that his shoulder faces the back fence.

Upwards Swing

The swing to execute the topspin serve starts with the upward strike with the right elbow (left elbow for left-handed player) of the player in an upwards position but the racket is still down. Then the player’s legs straightened up exerting strong force so that the legs are lifted from the ground. Then the upper part of the player’s body uncoils and face the net. At this instance, the upper arm should be almost vertical and the elbow should be bent at 90 degrees. The wrist of the hand holding the racket is loosely laid making sure that the racket is angled at 90 degrees with the forearm. Then from this position, the racket has to drop down in straight manner to create racket head speed when the racket face hits the ball upwards.

Roger Federer is a good example of a professional player that utilizes the kick serve. Notice how in Roger Federer’s second serve, his racket brushes behind the back of the ball with the racket frame leading rather than the strings leading. The angle of attack is sharply in an upwards direction. It is as if Federer was going to hit the tennis ball with the frame, but the result is the racket actually brushes behind the ball violently producing the heavy topspin serve.

The next stage in the upward swing consists of a loose wrist holding the racket that should be angled at 90 degrees with the forearm. At this time, the body should begin to adjust by slightly bending forwards.

The last stage is when the racket head is about to hit the ball. In this instance, the player straightens his right elbow (left elbow for left-handed players) resulting in a vertical forearm position.

Point of contact

Once the right forearm is about to hit the ball, the player should hit the ball with the racket face slightly below the player’s full arm reach. This technique will create brushing effect to the ball. The player should also hit the ball when the ball is positioned directly overhead.

Ball Strike

To produce the topspin serve, the player should brush the ball perfectly to produce enough spin. One way to do this is to imagine you are hitting the ball from a 6:00 o’clock position and turning the ball into a 12:00 o’clock position. More topspin is also produced as you hit the ball at a lower height.

Elbow follow-through

The follow through for the tennis topspin serve consists of the player continuing to move after he hits the ball using a follow-through with a movement to the left side of his body (right for left-handed). In the end, the racket finishes on the left side of the player. Then he has to lean forward and land in the court with his right leg inside the court.

Additional things to consider in making your topspin tennis serve more effective.

Put power on your topspin serve

There is no particular strategy as to how to increase power in serving, but the basic information to remember is that serve power and racket speed on the topspin tennis serve are directly proportional. In order to increase your racket speed, you have to rotate you right shoulder (right handed), so as to position it just slightly on the inner side of the ball toss. Once you strengthened up from this position, you generate power thus increasing your racket speed. When you are hitting a tennis topspin serve, do not bend forwards with your waist as you swing.

Toss height

One question in the tennis topspin serve is how high should the ball toss be to generate the perfect topspin? The answer is the higher the better as long as the height is comfortable for you. Your body should be at full reach when you reach the contact point. The higher the contact (contact between the ball and the racket head) the higher is the impact.

Another consideration is your shoulders level, you should tilt your right shoulder (right handed) so that it is positioned at a lower angle than the left shoulder. This position will allow you to be able to generate the correct rotation by your two shoulders that originate from the trunk. This, in combination with a jump and leg drive will enable you to hit the ball at a higher distance providing you with a solid topspin serve.

Toss motion for the Topspin Tennis Serve

In the tennis topspin serve, the ball toss matters a lot. To execute the perfect ball toss, you have to avoid snapping the ball. You can simply toss the ball by releasing it from your open fingers after you have fully extended your left arm (right handed) above your head. You have to guide the ball toss rather than throw it. Make sure that you toss the ball at the perfect height that you are able to reach it with your racket comfortably.

Pronation

What is pronation in relation to the topspin tennis serve? Pronation is a special kind of arm movement used by professional tennis players that enables them to increase their racket speed hence generating very powerful topspin in the ball.

In the topspin serve, the player simply uses his wrist to generate racket acceleration. Pronation will naturally come out once you grip your racket with any of the recommended grip such as continental grip and of course with the perfect ball placement.

Do not be conscious in trying to execute the pronation by rotating your forearm and wrist because it be make it harder for you and cause stress on your muscles. Again, do it as naturally as you can.

Topspin Serve Accuracy

To be able to hit and execute a topspin tennis serve is not enough. You have to execute it perfectly and accurately. This mean you have to be able to hit the exact mark you want to hit. This will allow you to place the topspin serve accurately and gives your opponent hard time to return your serve (if he can!). But you have the option to aim for the ace if you can. Winning a match with all aces can be impossible but winning points with less work and hassles with aces is very good.

Make sure to practice your second serve with the correct topspin serve technique. This will boost your confidence in case you miss the first serve. A more accurate and safe second serve is ideal but the ability to put more speed on it will keep your opponent from taking advantage of your second serve.

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Because it is the first shot in every point, the serve determines how the point will be played and whether you can start it out with the upper hand immediately. The serve is supposed to provide an advantage in winning points so you should make the most out of your service games. If you get broken too easily, you will be under constant pressure from your opponent, especially if he or she is serving well on that day.

Learning the Tennis Spin Serve

If you are getting broken easily, you should assess why this is happening. A lot of times, it is because you simply hit the ball too softly to threaten the returner. However, many times, even if you do have good serve speed, you still can get broken because you are being too predictable with where you place your serve.

Additionally, you might not be hitting it with enough variety to keep your opponent guessing on the return. Even if you don’t have very good disguise, you can keep the receiver from establishing a rhythm with his or her return by varying the spin of your serve.

Benefits of using a Tennis Spin Serve

Learning the different tennis spin serves will help to add more variety to your game. Spin also enhances control so these make for better second serves. Aside from that, hitting your first serve with spin can help increase your first serve percentage in order to take pressure off your second serve.

This is crucial if your opponent is being aggressive on his or her return. Spin serves also travel more slowly through the air but can still be difficult to return because of the way the bounce. Therefore, these shots are excellent for times when you want to come in and volley immediately, like when you are playing doubles.

Understanding the Different Tennis Spin Serves

The main types of spin are topspin, slice and sidespin. Topspin is when the ball is spinning forward as it travels along its trajectory. Slice is also the same as back spin or under spin. The ball is spinning backward along its path. Side spin is when the ball is rotating along a vertical axis relative to its direction through the air.

All tennis spin serves have a degree of sidespin. The three major tennis spin serves are the kick serve, which is characterized by having more topspin than sidespin; the twist serve, which has roughly equal amounts of topspin and sidespin; and the slice serve, which has backspin and sidespin.

Tennis Spin Serve Technique

The techniques of the various tennis spin serves are dependent on the type of ball toss appropriate for each. The basic principles of hitting the serve all apply.

Learning the Tennis Kick Serve

For the Tennis Kick Serve, it if often necessary to toss the ball slightly to the left of the head and directly above the head for the most effective production of spin needed for this serve

For the kick serve, the acceptable grips are the continental and eastern backhand grips. The toss is up over the head. If you let the ball drop to the ground, it should drop behind your left shoulder if you are right handed. Because of this, the back will be arched slightly at the trophy pose phase of the stroke.

As you launch up to hit the ball, keep looking up at it and concentrate on hitting the ball from the 7 o’clock to 1 o’clock position. For left handed players, this would be the 5 o’clock to 11 o’clock position. Brush the ball upward and pronate your forearm through contact. Your resulting follow through will be on the same side of your body as your hitting arm.

The follow through for the tennis serve: Marked by a pronounced pronation of the hitting arm allowing the racket to decelerate – a key to achieving a world class serve

Tennis Twist Serve Technique

The twist serve is basically the same as the kick serve, except that contact is made from the 8 o’clock to 2 o’clock position for right handers (4 o’clock to 10 o’clock for lefties). This exaggerates the side spin.

The slice serve uses a more similar toss as the flat serve. The more similar the toss, the better it will be because of the disguise that can be provided. This toss goes out in front and to the right. It is usually a little lower than the kick or twist serve toss. The preferred grip is continental.

The technique is basically the same as the flat serve except that at contact, you use your wrist to brush the racket head around the right side of the ball (or left side for lefties) and downward to produce sidespin and backspin. You should also hit through the ball in order to give it penetration. Simply hitting it with spin will make the ball sit up.

Each tennis spin serve has a unique trajectory and bounce that can be disconcerting for the returner. For right handed servers, kick serves cross the net high and curve downward into the service box before bouncing high and a little to the left side of the receiver. Because of the spin, this is a good option for those who want to serve and volley.

The height with which the ball crosses over the net and the way it curves into the box make it usually the first choice as a second serve. On a hard court or clay court, this serve is very effective for setting up the point because these surfaces accentuate the height of the bounce.

Advantages of Using the Various Spin Serves in Tennis

Many players struggle to return very high bouncing kick serves. They can move way back and let the ball drop a little but that would give too much ground to the server. If they move in to take the ball on the rise, their timing has to be perfect to hit the return well.

A high bouncing serve is also valuable against a player with a one-handed backhand. Aiming this to the hip of the returner also makes it uncomfortable for him or her because the ball will be jamming into the body.

The Effect of a Tennis Twist Serve

For right handed twist serves, the ball crosses the net similarly as the kick serve. But instead of just simply curving downward into the service box, it curves to the right of the returner before bouncing out to the left. This seemingly twisting motion gives this serve its name.

This can be very confusing for the returner and really disrupt his or her rhythm. Its leftward bounce means that it will play to a right handed receiver’s backhand, which is usually the side less adroit at hitting awkwardly bouncing balls.

This is good for stretching out a player with a double handed backhand. It is also awkward for players with one-handers especially if they aren’t good at handling the bounce.

When aimed at the right side of a right handed receiver, it can present a tough challenge because he or she will tend to prepare with a forehand but find that the ball will instead bounce sharply toward the backhand side.

Effect of the Tennis Slice Serve

The slice serve has the opposite effect of the twist serve. It bounces low and to the right side of the receiver. It crosses the net lower than the kicker or twister but still makes a good alternative for a second serve because it is still less risky than a flat serve.

Making the ball bounce low and wide to the forehand side of a right handed receiver keeps him or her from getting grooved on the return. If he or she has been running around the backhand to return, this type of serve will catch him or her off guard.

It is also valuable against players who use western grips and are not too comfortable with low balls curving away from them.

This serve is effective on all surfaces, especially grass because the ball bounces even lower. Serve and volley players love to open up the court with this shot. To use it as a jammer, it should be aimed at the left hip of the returner. He or she will be looking at a ball coming over to the left but then bouncing sharply over to the right.

Examples of Using a Tennis Spin Serve

Tennis spin serves are major weapons of left handed players. There have been left handers who don’t really have great serving mechanics, but are tough to break simply by virtue of the reversed spins they produce.

The best example is Rafael Nadal. The slice serve is a lefty’s most useful serve because it bounces wide and low to the backhand side of a right handed returner. This allows them to exploit the backhand side which is usually the weaker side.

It also exposes the limited reach of the double handed backhand. John McEnroe and Martina Navratilova used this shot to set up countless winning volleys. The slice also presents a tough ball to return when it is aimed at the right hip.

How to Hit an Effective Tennis Spin Serve

The low and inward bounce makes the returner have to get out of the way and lift the ball up – something very unusual to do on the return. The kick serve and twist serve are also disconcerting when hit by a lefty. Even though these serves play more to the forehand side of a right handed returner, it can be tough due to the high bounce or the way it can curve away.

Simply put, anyone who is able to use the flat serve and the different tennis spin serves in all kinds of ways will always be tough to break. When you keep holding serve, you’ve already won half the battle.

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The tennis slice serve is hit with sidespin. The sidespin is accomplished by the brushing effect of the racket face into the ball. For right-handed servers, the racket face should strike the center part of the ball and brush the ball to the imaginary 3:00 o’clock position. For a left-handed server, the direction of the brushing motion is leftward.

The lack of topspin in this type of tennis serve gives a disadvantage to the server since the net clearance is very limited. This type of tennis serve is also a bit tricky and has a lower margin of error. The tennis slice serve must be perfectly executed to do it right. Because of these limitations, this tennis serve is only ideal for the first serve.

In addition, the tennis slice serve is best to use if your opponent has a weak forehand or when your opponent is standing far towards his backhand side. In both situations, you can use the slice serve to either hit an ace or force a weak return.

Adding Power on the Slice Serve

To add power on the slice serve in tennis, a full sidespin effect must be done. Technically, this type of serve is called the “sidespin serve” or the “slider serve”. A powerful slice serve normally curves to the left side of the court (right side for left-handed server) when the ball is in the air and skids off to the left after it bounces on the ground. This article explains how you can hit a slice serve accurately.

Use the Continental Tennis Serve Grip

To be able to hit an accurate slice serve, you need to use the right grip. Some players prefer to use the Continental grip for an easy and natural slice serve. Other tennis players prefer to employ the Eastern backhand. If you use Eastern backhand grip, you should hit the ball with the forehand side of the racket face.

Tennis Serve Stance

The proper stance is vital for a perfect slice serve. To be able to perform it properly, you can make use of the net posts as your point of reference. A proper stance is achieved when your body faces to the right hand net post if you are a right-handed player. If you are a left-handed player, your body should be facing the left side post. Once you are in the right position, coil your upper body in such a way that your shoulders are directly facing the net.

Toss the Ball Properly

The location of the toss for a tennis slice serve is different from other types of serves particularly with the flat serve or with the topspin serve, but the mechanics are similar. You have to hold the ball near the tips of your fingers. This is to ensure that there is no obstruction when you release the ball at the start of the ball toss.

In the other types of tennis serves, the ball toss is in done in a vertical manner (12:00 to 1:00 o’clock for right handed players, and 12:00 to 1:00 o’clock point for left-handed players). Whilst in a tennis slice serve, the ball is tossed slightly further to your right side (if you are right handed player). But remember not to overdo it. If you successfully toss the ball, it will allow you to swing across the ball in the later stage of the serve execution. For beginners, practice more and do some experiments in tossing the ball until you find the right way to toss the ball without losing your balance during the swing.

Bend your Knees and Coil your Body

Since a slice serve is normally used for first serve, it is therefore necessary to add power to it. To do this, proper knee bending and body coiling during the wind-up movement should be accomplished.

To do this, turn your shoulders at around 45 degrees towards your back or towards the back fence while your hips remain with their original position. A perfectly coiled body is when your shoulders and your hips are not aligned. At the same time, you also have to bend your knees.

Then slide your right foot (for right-handed players) to the right to facilitate your body alignment. As a result, you should hit a wide serve or your serve should hit the sideline of the service box.

The Elbow Up and the Racket Down Position

This position of the tennis slice serve is also typical with the other forms of tennis serves especially with the topspin serve. But both serves differ in some executions in the later part.

At this part of the serve, your legs are already up from the ground. Your upper body has also uncoiled. Your racket drops, with its racket head end point pointing to the ground. This racket drop position allows you to maximize your swing length and create a fast racket speed.

The position of your upper arm differs from the topspin serve. When you do a topspin serve, your upper arm should be in a vertical position.

However when you execute a tennis slice serve, your upper arm should be slightly slanted towards your front. That’s because your racket swing should be more to the side than going straight upward to produce the slice effect.

As a result, your elbow should also be bent at an angle of more than 90 degrees. Your wrist should be relaxed and angled at 90 degrees with your forearm.

The Slice Serve Swing

The most important aspect to look into in executing a tennis slice serve is the racket edge-first position during the swing.

From the drop down position (above) of the racket, the racket should be on its edge-first position as you start the swing. Edge-first positron means that side of the racket head is the one facing the ball instead of the racket face or the stringbed. The racket edge-first position is maintained from the time your arm starts to drive upward, to your forward swing, until you swing to the right.

Contact Point

Seconds before contact, the hitting arm elbow should start to straighten but the racket should still maintain the edge- first position as it approaches the ball. Then the edge-first position starts to change and the racket angle starts to slightly face the ball. This is due to the increased inertia lag in your racket, increasing the angle between the racket and your forearm to 90 degrees. The racket face should strike the ball at the center part of the ball, brushing it towards the 3.00 o’clock position.

After contact, your racket should continue its movement to right as the effect of the left to right (center to 3.00 o’clock brushing) motion.

Tennis Slice Serve Follow through

The tennis slice serve ends on the left side of your body, just like the other tennis serves. A slice serve is also evident with your right foot landing a bit more forward than the other serves like the topspin-slice serve.

Slice Serve Location

The point where the ball lands on the court is also an indication if the tennis slice serve was executed perfectly. The target point of the tennis slice serve is the service box sideline. Thus, if the execution is not done perfectly, the ball can land two feet towards the center. This means that the curving effect of the slice was not achieved.

A successful slice serve can be very difficult to return. In case the receiver does return the serve, the return is normally weak. The tennis slice serve is definitely a serve that every tennis player should consciously work on to perfect their overall serving game.

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Tennis Serving Drill #1: Topspin tennis serving drill

The objective of this tennis serving drill is to help players add topspin to their serve. This drill needs loads of tennis balls and a racket of course. This is just one of the tennis serving drills that every player should practice. The drill starts with the player standing behind the baseline and beside him is a bucket of balls. To execute this drill, the player does not need to perform the proper leg postures in executing the proper serve.

The aim is to develop more spin on the ball during the serve. Thus the player should practice to hit the ball in an arch manner when serving. The player should also remember to use his arm and wrist to produce the topspin. He can also hit the ball anywhere in the service box or outside. Accuracy tennis serve drills can be done later after the player has master the topspin effect.

Tennis Serving Drill #2: Target serving drill

This is one of the tennis serving drills that help players develop their serve accuracy. This drill can be accomplished even without a partner. All you need is to bring a bucket of balls and your racket. To start the drill, put several pyramid of tennis balls in several points on the other side of the court. Do not forget to put the pyramid of balls on the corners and down the center of the service box. The corners target will help the players to practice deep serve. The down the line target also helps the players to aim for aces on the center. Players should target deeper serve for better results.

The player should try to execute both the first serve and second serve. In this tennis serving drill, players will be able to develop the accuracy of both serves. Because of the speed a player has to put into the first serve, chances are higher that the first serve goes out of the service box. Thus, accurate second serve is a must. The tennis serving drill should also be done both on the deuce and the ad sides of the court.

Tennis Serving Drill #3: Back fence tennis drill

This is one of the tennis serving drills that help players improve the power of their serve. Powerful serve especially in professional tennis often produces a very strong ball bounces that that some may even bounce off the back fence. To start this drill, the players should practice first the proper internal rotation and pronation. These two techniques play a vital role in adding power to their serve. Thus, the objective of this drill is to bounce the ball as far as the back fence.

Tennis Serving Drill #4: Kneel down

This is an additional tennis serve drill to the other tennis serving drills that aim to develop the topspin serve. In addition, this tennis serving drill also aims to improve the players serve follow- through. To start with this tennis serving drill, the player must kneel down on the baseline or on the area where players stand to serve. Players must be careful to put some cloth under their knees in case the court is rough enough or the court is too hot. The kneeling posture forces the player to add more lift to his serve. This posture also forces or encourages the player to maintain his head up position.

Since the server is more or less three feet tall when kneeling, the “across the body” follow- through is achieved instead of the “straight down” follow-through. The kneeling position forces the player to execute the right follow-through or else he will hit the ground with his racket. By doing this drill, the server will remember to do the appropriate follow even if he is not kneeling anymore by imagining that his racket will hit the ground if the “straight down” follow-through is followed.

Tennis Serving Drill #5: Cones

Serving to cones drill is one of the tennis serving drill that help tennis players develop their serve accuracy. This drill needs 6 cans (empty cans, tennis balls cans, etc) and a racket for the server. Three cans will be placed on each service box on the other side of the court. Specifically, one can is placed in the middle line on the deuce side of the court, one at the corner of the service line. The third can is placed in the middle of the service box. The same arrangement will be followed on the ad side of the court.

The server must have a bucket of tennis balls near him for easy access as the tennis serving drill progresses. The server must hit each target fifteen times. Miss hits should not be included in the counting. The server can also change the position of the cans or the targets. If he wants to serve wide, the ball can be placed at the corner of the sideline and the service line. The same can be done on the ad side of the court.

Tennis Serving Drill #6: Make your serve unreadable

This tennis serving drill helps to develop the player’s serving technique so that his opponent finds it hard to anticipate or read the type of serve he is going to hit. In this tennis serving drill, the server needs a partner. The partner acts as the opponent who makes a guess every time the server tosses the ball. Before the server makes contact with the ball, the partner tries to read the serve and shouts the type of serve. The server on one hand should not cheat and execute the type of serve in his mind even if the partner is able to read it. The ultimate goal of this drill is for the player to execute similar ball toss regardless on the type of serve he executes.

Tennis Serving Drill #7: Ball quashing

This is one of the tennis serving drill that every tennis player, especially beginners and intermediate players should do to improve the power of their serve. The strength of the player’s wrist plays an important factor on the power produced during serve.

The more power you produce on your wrist when you whip your racket during the point of contact, the more powerful is your serve. Thus, it is vital that you should have a strong wrist and this can be achieved by regular execution of the ball quashing tennis serving drill.

This tennis serving drill, together with the other tennis serving drills will surely make your tennis serve as one of your most powerful tools in tennis.

In this tennis serve drill, you don’t need a racket, a tennis court or other equipments. All you need is a handful of tennis balls. You just simply get hold of one tennis ball in your right hand (if you are right-handed) and try to squash the ball with force then release it and then repeat the process many times.

Do this tennis serving drill regularly to develop the strength of your wrist.

Tennis Serving Drill #8: The Hula Hoops

The goal of this tennis drill is to improve your tennis serve accuracy and consistency. To complete this drill, you need several hula hoops, a bucket of balls and a racket. Place as many hula hoops as you can in the two service boxes at the opposite side of the court. Then start serving from the deuce side of the court and make sure that you always hit your serve inside the hula hoop. Before you start your serve, you have to decide first which hula hoop to hit and execute 5 consecutive good serves.

A good serve is when you hit the area inside the hula hoop. If you miss one serve before you reach the five points, you have to repeat the process for that particular hula hoop. Hit all the hula hoops on one service box then do the drill on the ad side of the court. So if you want to improve the accuracy and consistency of you tennis serve, perform this drill regularly. You can also perform this drill together with the other tennis serving drills.

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What many players don’t realize is that the tennis serve toss is supremely important to making your serve a weapon and not a liability.

Is Your Tennis Serve Toss to Blame?

Most of the time, players that struggle with the consistency of their serve often have issues with their tennis serve toss. If they cannot get the ball toss for the serve in the right spot on a consistent basis, the contact point will be altered, and thus an inconsistent serve will be the result.

I have seen players nearly come to tears as they grow in frustration with their serve. One double fault leads to another; a first serve hit out leads to 10 more first serves hit out or into the net; the affected player can sometimes be reduced to contemplating an underhanded serve simply to get the ball in.

The serve is a fairly complicated stroke that requires excellent hand-eye coordination and an outstanding sense of timing. Tennis is a technique sport, and the serve continues to be one of the most difficult strokes to master for players of all ages and skill levels.

Refining Your Tennis Serve Toss

The first step to improving your serve, however, is refining your toss. The tennis serve toss becomes the foundation for a serve that will terrorize your opponents or, at least, enables you to avoid all double faults and actually get your first serve in on a consistent basis.

Do we need to discuss the importance of getting that first serve in?

We know that pounding first serves into the box, even if they are not at rocket speed, helps you to establish a winning rhythm and forces your opponent to be on the defensive throughout the match.

You can cull any database that you’d like as you analyze match results—you will find that percentage of first serves in proves to be an absolutely crucial statistic in correlation to winning percentage.

Take note of that first serve percentage the next time that you watch a match on television. You will quickly see that the player who consistently puts the first serve into play wins most or all of his/her service games.

Developing a Better Serve Through a Better Tennis Serve Toss

Thus, we are aiming for two simple and primary goals as we work to improve your serve:

a) we want you to succeed in smacking a fairly hard serve that lands consistently in on the first attempt;

b) we want you to forget what a double fault feels like because they will become so rare.

With that said, let’s consider some advice from an assortment of pros as to improving your tennis serve toss:

Tennis Serve Toss Tip #1: Relaxation of the Tossing Arm-

Relaxation of the Tossing Arm- Many players and pros confess that problems with their tennis serve toss actually begin between the ears. That is, if they are not totally concentrating on their serve, their toss will be wayward and their problems will compound from there. As you toss to begin the service motion, be sure that you are relaxed and focused on the serve, not the score, not the wind, not your opponent’s loud father in the stands.

Tennis Serve Toss Tip #2: Ball Positioning in Hand-

Take a look at how you are holding the ball. The ball should rest between the end of your thumb and the ends of two or three of your fingers. You should hold it lightly in this pincer-like grip. The ball should be well removed from your palm. The old adage about thinking of tossing an egg works pretty well here. Make sure the ball is on the ends of your fingertips as you go to toss it.

As you practice your toss, try to release the ball in a way that all of your fingers lose contact with the ball at the exact same time. This is not as hard as it might sound, but it is important. The ball should leave your thumb and 2-3 fingertips simultaneously. Practice to make this part of the toss perfect.

Tennis Serve Toss Tip #3: Avoid Bending the Tennis Serve Tossing Arm-

Most players and pros who instruct on this matter advise players to keep their arms straight with their elbow locked. Think of your arm as the catapult that will power the ball up into the air as you raise it and open your fingers somewhat like a flower. The motion of your arm upwards should be enough to give you a toss of decent height.

Tennis Serve Toss Tip #4: Ensure the Correct Tennis Serve Toss Height-

If your tennis serve toss is too low, then increase the speed of your arm being lifted into position. You should release the ball at eye level as your arm is held straight out. This will also help you to get a reasonable height on your tennis serve toss.

It will also keep you from releasing the ball too late or too early, which will cause the ball to be tossed too far in front of you or too far behind you, both of which will result in unnatural body positions for the striking of the serve. Remember: arm straight + ball released at eye level=toss at correct height and position.

Tennis Serve Toss Tip #5: Do Not Drop Your Head as You Toss-

As you are now thinking of your straight arm and soft release at eye level, it is important to remind you that you should be watching the ball at all times.

You might not see it when it is at your waist or wherever you begin your service motion, but once it is tossed, you should know exactly where it is. You should never take a peek at your opponent or at the court or at the sparrow in the alley.

Your eye should be on the ball until contact occurs. By the way, many times when you take your eye off the ball at this point, it is because you have excessive nerves or are planning too much with your serve. Stay relaxed and watch the ball. Don’t tense up and make a huge plan in the millisecond that it takes for you to toss the ball.

Tennis Serve Toss Tip #6: Tossing Arm Position

Many pros recommend that your toss be up a shaft slightly to the right of your tossing arm, that is to say that the toss might not be entirely vertical in a straight line. This will leave the ball at the height of your toss more towards your right shoulder, a good position for it as your right arm swings through and strikes the ball.

To practice this type of placement, place your racquet or a used CD on the court about one racquet face to the right of your left foot in the service motion. You should be able to toss the ball onto the racquet face or CD again and again. Once you have mastered this placement, you can know with confidence that you are tossing the ball into a spot where your right arm can strike it with maximum effectiveness.

How High Should Your Tennis Serve Toss Be?

Now that we have established where the tennis serve toss should be made vis-à-vis your shoulders, now we need to decide how high your toss should be. As you have watched tennis and played against a wide variety of opponents, you have discovered that players toss the ball at an amazing array of heights. Some like a super high toss (which can be adversely affected by the wind) and some like a very low toss (requires even better hand-eye coordination than normal).

Both the very high and the very low toss have advantages in terms of the receiver’s timing. Nothing can throw the receiver off more than waiting, waiting, waiting for the ball to descend to the server’s outstretched racquet. Similarly, a quick toss and smash serve can catch the receiver off guard. If you are more concerned with getting the serve in rather than disrupting your foe’s timing, find a height that feels good to you.

Experimenting With Your Tennis Serve Toss

Most pros would recommend hitting the ball when it is at its highest point or shortly afterward. Toss the ball at different heights and see what feels best for you.

You might be one of those skyscraper tossers, or perhaps you will go with the hurry-up tennis serve toss. Most players toss the ball somewhere in between, a couple of feet into the air and then strike it soon after it begins to descend.

Whatever toss you decide to utilize, one final point bears noting: this toss should be completely automatic for you if you want to have a consistent serve.

That means that you are going to have to practice it for hours. You don’t have to rehearse the toss separate from the service motion for hours, but you do need to hit thousands of serves to make the toss automatic and your service motion a smooth one.

What a Perfect Tennis Serve Toss Feels Like

A great serve begins with a toss that is right for the server, gently launched upward slightly to the right in most cases. As that ball sits for instant on that invisible ledge caused by gravity—whoosh!—comes the racquet through to strike it with terrifying force. The toss rose to a comfortable height and now the ball is landing squarely in the box, again and again and again. You have now mastered the tennis serve toss.

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What elements of tennis serve technique make the top professional tennis players able to blast 100 MPH serves at will? Why are the key areas for a tennis player to focus on in order to achieve the proper tennis serve technique?

The tennis serve is largely made up of the tennis technique. Players who are able to consistently generate powerful serves with heavy spin have a large advantage over their weaker counterparts. On the tennis serve technique, the service motion is made up of very distinct elements which account for why players with great tennis serve’s are able to deliver the big explosive bomb at contact time and time again.

The serve technique involves mainly the kinetic chain synching all of the individual body parts together like the crack of a whip. Proper tennis serve technique involves utilizing the entire body on the serve and timing the tennis serve with equisite accuracy. The power on the tennis serve is created mainly from the core, to the upper body all the way to the tennis racket handle and wrist (the final part of the kinetic chain) and all of this energy is transferred up to the point of contact. It is this exact timing of the energy transfer that results in the powerful tennis serves we see at the pro levels.

Tennis Serve Technique Comparison

Tennis players with poor tennis serve technique often lack the same timing on the serve. They often fail to utilize the entire body, and most of the time the tennis serve becomes an all arm tennis stroke. The end result is a stiff and weak serve. The players themselves may feel as if they are trying to hit the tennis serve as hard as they can, but they are still unable to crank up the power on their serve. This is mainly a result of tennis technique.

The pro tennis serve on the other hand, is often executed with perfect precision, accuracy and explosiveness. At times it may appear as if they are hitting the tennis serve with only half of their strength, but the velocity is still massive. Andy Roddick, for example has the most powerful tennis serve in the world thus far, and various accounts of his tennis serve practices are eye opening. Players have seen him virtually cut his tennis serve motion in half and start his racket in the trophy position and still blast powerful serves every time.

Pete Sampras, another great tennis serve model has one of the most fluid windups in the history of tennis. His tennis serve began with a very gradual and circular windup – where the power is stored until the very last moment at contact where Sampras was able to tee off on his tennis serve. This small delay, or lag as he took time to build the momentum was key in his ability to generate the power and spin at contact.

Pete Sampras Tennis Serve Technique

Tennis serve technique – The Power Sources

The tennis serve technique is not about brute force or strength, but about fluid and effortless timing. The tennis ball is not a heavy brick, so applying pure muscular force will do little to increase power on the tennis serve. On the other hand, maximizing the amount of levers in the tennis serve technique as well as timing the body and utilizing the entire body to create clean contact on the tennis serve is the proper way to achieve the tennis serve technique of the pros.

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Tennis Serve Grip

The best tennis grip to use to speed up your serve is the continental grip. This is the tennis grip most professional players use in their first serve. Although some players are using other grips continental grip is normally used by players who are well known to have powerful tennis serve.

Each variation of spins on the tennis serve are used by players in every tennis match, although some are used at a lesser frequency like the slice serve. The most commonly used serve especially in professional tennis matches is the topspin serve.

Toss preparation

To be effective in your tennis serve speed improvement you should have the proper toss preparation. The best way to hold the ball when you are about to toss the ball is to place it on the tips of your tossing fingers (fingers of your left hand if you are a right handed players). If you place the ball near the center of your palm, there is a possibility that the ball won’t be properly tossed.

To improve the serve accuracy with high speed, you have to toss the ball in a straight vertical line. If you don’t bend your arm slightly, it can happen that the ball toss will be in a curve pattern instead of a straight line which can make the timing of the ball release difficult and the toss will not be done accurately.

Wind up movement

Another technique to increase tennis serve speed is to add explosiveness to your serve. Players can choose variations to the wind-up to create a faster serve. Some players prefer to bring the racket up and back eliminating the classic wind up (which is to bring the racket down and back.) If you do the full or classic wind up, your serve will be smoother but if you do the shorter version, you will have an explosive serve (Roddick style)

Toss release

The toss release is also important because it can affect the power of your tennis serve. To increase the speed of your tennis serve, release the ball as high as possible or up to the farthest point your tossing hand can reach. Then naturally open up all your fingers all together and have your eyes glued to the ball.

Knee bend and body arch posture

An important aspect to increase your tennis serve speed is to bend your knees more than what other players do, and at the same time accentuate this by aligning your body correctly for the serve. These movements allow your legs muscles and torso to accumulate energy. The speed of your tennis serve comes from the high racket speed caused by the power you have stored while doing those movements.

Elbow up and racket drop posture

The next important racket and hand posture is when the elbow is bent upward with your racket hanging down. In this case, the racket speed is attained when the elbow starts to strengthen from the bent position. With the elbow fully bent up and the racket hanging down at your back gives you an assurance that a high point of contact (when the ball comes in contact with the racket face) is attained. As your elbow is straightened at the same time your legs lift and bring your body upwards. These movements (elbow straightening and legs lifting from ground) create force to make your wrist whip the ball at a very high force.

Legs thrust and lift from the ground

As mentioned above, the upward movement of the legs or the lifting motion of the legs adds force that creates powerful force in the wrist. The more force you exert on your legs the more powerful your tennis serve will be.

Start of racket upward swing

The way you swing your racket upward can also affect your tennis serve speed. To increase tennis serve speed, the upward swing must occur on it’s own accord once the rest of the body is beginning to uncoil. The result is that the mass of the racket resisting against the upward movement (a downward pull) is created in your wrist, and your forearm (which is originally was facing sideways) is then stretched in a forward direction. The stretching movement of your forearm will add power to your racket head speed.

Racket-edge approach before ball contact

Another technique for tennis serve speed is to approach the ball with your racket edge first. This means that instead of the racket face (strings) facing the ball; it’s the edge or side of the racket head that is facing the ball. And then seconds before the actual contact of the ball and the racket face, you have to execute pronation with your forearm changing the direction of your racket face from edge position to the position wherein the racket face is facing the ball. One thing to remember here is that you should loosen up and relax your wrist and forearm at this stage of the serve. If you do this you will be able to execute the pronation naturally without exerting any effort. The pronation is produced due to the forces exerted largely by you lower limbs (legs), the torso and of course with you upper arm.

Full stretch point of contact

Another feature to consider in tennis serve speed is the point of contact between the ball and the racket face. To get the most power in the tennis serve a player must reach to the point of contact at full extension or the highest possible point. Different players vary on how they execute their tennis serve in terms of how they do the wind up, how they thrust their legs and even how they grip the racket. But the most basic thing in adding tennis serve speed is the point of contact between the ball and the racket face.

To create more tennis serve speed and at the same time create a mixture of sidespin and topspin in your serve; try to brush your racket head upwards and across the ball at a certain angle. By doing this you’re not only producing a very powerful tennis serve but also the ball can kick or bounce very high which can be very difficult for your opponent to return.

Furthermore, to add more power in moving forward to hit the ball, it is also ideal to lean slightly with your body in a forward direction. You need to practice this technique often because if you lean your body too much, it can be very difficult to hit the ball correctly.

Follow through for the Tennis Serve

The follow through will not contribute much tennis serve speed but rather, the pronation process still continues and this results to the change of direction of your racket face from your left side to your right side. The follow through completes with the downward movement once you hit the ball, eventually the racket face will complete near the left side of the body.

Body posture up high

Last, but not least, the way a player will hit a powerful serve is dependent upon how you carry your body on the follow through. You will know if you used the proper technique to execute a powerful tennis serve if the upward and forward momentum of your legs brings your body into the court.

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1) an effort to simply make solid contact with the ball;

2) a frequent slice as a player barely reaches the serve;

3) an effective counterpunch to even the hardest of serves. Taking a look at the technique of a good tennis serve return can help you stay consistently in category 3.

The Tennis Serve Return Becomes More Important As You Improve

It should be noted that as you progress as a player, you will find that your opponent is more easily able to hold serve, as are you. When you watch a professional match between top players, it is fairly rare that a player breaks the other’s serve. So, if you are playing at a very high level, you need to figure out how to break your adversary’s serve once or twice a set.

For most recreational players, though, your foe’s tennis serve can be more easily broken. Thus, even more attention should be paid to the tennis serve return so that you can win many easy points and games when you are not serving.

Incorporating a “Killer” Mentality for the Tennis Serve Return

The first issue to address when discussing the tennis serve return is the mental aspect. I think that this is where many players have problems.

When you are serving, it is easier to focus because you know that you have to execute the serve. When you are receiving serve, however, it is very easy for your mind to wander as you stand in an extremely passive position.

Take mental notes the next time you play and analyze all of the strokes where your mind wandered and you mis-hit the ball. I am willing to wager that a majority of those strokes were executed as you returned serve.

Blocking Out Distractions to Improve Your Return of Serve in Tennis

Thus, you have to commit to being 100% focused as your opponent tosses the ball into the air to begin his service motion. If your mind has been on the previous point, your sore toenail or the leaf that just blew onto the court, block it out as the ball is in the air. The player who is ready to pounce on the serve is the player who will win a healthy share of points through the tennis serve return.

That brings up another mental point: do you view the service return as simply an effort to get the ball back or as an opportunity to impose your will? That will make a tremendous difference in how you approach this shot. If you are in a passive, defensive mode, your shots will show that. If you are in a focused, offensive mode, your returns will fire like lasers into the opponent’s court, shocking and surprising him and leading to many easy winners for you.

Now that we have the right mental outlook regarding the tennis serve return: focused and ready to hit the ball hard in an offensive manner, let’s discuss the technique needed to produce return winners:

Adopting the Proper Tennis Serve Return Positioning

Depending on the strength of your opponent’s serve, stand either just outside the baseline or several steps behind it. Players at an advanced level are often three steps behind the baseline.

Now, try to guess where your opponent will serve the ball. If he or she serves it in the corners, stand in a position near there.

If he or she prefers serving down the “T”, stand more towards the center of the court. You should be taking mental notes throughout the match to calculate the percentage of serves that land in the corners, near the “T”, right at your body, etc.

That will enable you to position yourself properly. With some people who either have great control and mix up their placement or no control at all, standing at a point that could be drawn out from the center of the service box is advisable.

Preparing for a Tennis Serve Return – Footwork and Racket-Work

As you are stationed in the proper place, hold your racquet in front of you with your free hand lightly holding the throat and bend your knees, resting on the balls of your feet. Some players like to bounce up and down as they await the serve. This helps them with their concentration. If you need that to focus on the tennis serve return, then you can bounce, too, but you will need to move quickly in just a moment.

The Importance of the Split Step on the Return of Serve

As the serve is made, take a step forward and do a split step to ready yourself for the return. In a split second after the ball hits strings, you should know if the ball will be coming to your backhand or forehand side. If you are half asleep at this point, as some players are occasionally, you will not even notice to which side the ball is coming. Anticipation can really help you with your tennis serve return.

Taking the Tennis Serve Return on the Rise Vs. Letting it Drop

As you are on the balls of your feet now, you will need to make a crucial decision, namely: will you hit the ball soon after it bounces (on the rise) or will you wait until it bounces and hit it as it re-descends? Perhaps the greatest service returner of all time, Andre Agassi, consistently chose the first option. That was a key to his greatness. If you have very quick reflexes, try to do this and see how it goes.

Try to hit the ball soon after it bounces and flick a return well before your opponent expects it. Take a few risks and determine if they were worth it. With this tactic, you will often be inside of the baseline and able to use the ball’s full speed in your return. You will not take a full backswing but will quickly punch the ball back at a high rate of speed.

Most players, however, wait until the ball lands and bounces and is on its way back down, using a normal complete backswing and full stroke. The choice is yours.

Dealing With a First Serve in Tennis

Points 1-4 apply to the first serve. If a second serve is coming, you can be even more prone to take a risk and attack the ball while it is still on the rise. If you still choose to be a bit cautious and take a full backswing and stroke towards the second serve, be sure to not over-hit. With less power being supplied on the second serve, you will not be able to return it with as much speed as the first serve.

Tennis Serve Return for a Second Serve

Don’t get overly excited about crushing your foe’s second serve. You will hit it out most of the time. However, do take the approach that any second serve will be weaker and you will have much more time to make a well placed shot, greatly increasing your chances of winning the point.

As you return either the first or second serve, make an intentional effort to hit the ball to your opponent’s weakest side. If your adversary has a Roddick-like serve, you might be lucky just to get a racquet on it, but most players do not possess such firepower. Again, think of the tennis serve return as a weapon and plan beforehand to which side of the court you will direct your return.

Avoid Over-hitting on the Tennis Serve Return

Your return of serve does not have to be powerful. A well-directed shot that takes a difficult angle can do even more than a blast right into your opponent’s forehand alley. If you are ahead in the game and have a little wiggle room, aim for a line and a quick winner, especially on the second serve. For the umpteenth time, this is related to your mental approach. If you understand that the tennis serve return can be an offensive weapon for you, you will seek to hit winners off it, particularly on your opponent’s second serve.

The tennis serve return is one of the most important strokes in the game because so many points are lost unnecessarily on it. Your opponent does not have to hit a bushel-full of aces to dominate during his service games; he only has to hit solid serves to a player whose mind is wandering in order to pile up service winners, which also earn one point, the same as an ace.

You need to turn the tables on your foe as he or she serves. You need to be ready, approaching the ball, deciding when to hit it and where to hit it even before it arrives. In this way it will be you winning points in heaps as your opponent gets more frustrated and discouraged, his best serves used only as weapons against him.

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