The following is an excerpt from Kelly Gunterman’s book TENNIS MADE EASY ($19.95, New Chapter Press, http://www.amazon.com/Tennis-
The serve has been called the most important shot in the game. Every point does in fact start with someone serving. With that said, I do believe the serve is the most important shot but it is also the most difficult to master. With both hands moving in opposite directions, we need to coordinate a lot of different movements to orchestrate a successful serve. With a few tricks and a lot of practice you can develop a very effective serve.
There are as many styles of serves as there are tennis players. As a matter of fact, no two players serve exactly alike. That being said, all good servers do have a lot in common. As we look at the service motion I will break down its important elements, remembering there will be a lot of ways to get the job done.
Important to Remember
The serve is the only shot in the game that you get to hit when you want to hit it! All of the other shots you have to hit when the ball is in the right place, or in other words, when it gets to you.
When learning to serve, start slowly, break the stroke down to its parts. Allowing your body to move forward as you toss will make it easier to control the height and placement of the toss. Try not to just throw the ball up and chase it by changing your swing. This will result in an ineffective service motion. Simply said, keep the swing the same and place your toss in the path of the racquet.
Serving is a lot of fun and if done well can create some free points. Experiment with some new things and develop different types of serves, slice, flat even a topspin serve.
Let’s break it down:
First and foremost, relax. You won’t be able to do much with your serve if you are holding your breath and if you have a death grip on the handle of your racquet.
❍ Start with a comfortable stance. Your front foot should ideally be about a 45-degree angle to the baseline and with the back foot shoulder width from the front foot and parallel to the baseline. Line your feet up to your target, once your feet are set, draw an imaginary line from one toe to the other. It should point directly at the service box you are trying to hit.
❍ Start with your weight on the back foot and shift your weight forward with the lift of your toss hand.
❍ When beginning the placement of the ball (the toss), start by holding the ball in the fingertips of your non-dominate hand. Also, only hold one ball at a time. It is easier to control the toss. I have always thought holding two balls is a bit pessimistic. Slowly lift, placing the ball in position while you keep your finger-tips pointing to the net. If your fingertips point to the sky when making the toss, the ball may go back over your head.
❍ As you make the toss, your weight moves forward with the left hip pushing forward as the toss hand comes up for right-handed players. You will have the nice top of a trophy pose when you release the ball. If you are moving backward, the ball is certain to be too far behind you.
❍ Conventional wisdom says that we need to throw the ball as high as possible to have more time to hit the serve. In reality, we do not need more time to hit the serve, just the right amount of time. Toss only as high as you can reach with your racquet, making the swing without any hitch or hesitation in the motion. A lower toss promotes a smooth swing; without stopping or slowing to wait for the ball to fall into your strike zone.
❍ In the backswing portion of the motion, the butt cap of the racquet points to the sky. This allows plenty of racquet head acceleration up and through the contact point. Keep your grip very loose. If you are tight with the grip you definitely will be slow with the swing.
❍ Feel the wrist snap or break at the point of contact, similar to throwing a ball. This will help increase racquet head speed allowing you to hit the ball with more speed/pace.
❍ After full extension to the contact point and plenty of acceleration through the ball, follow through to the opposite side of your body. Allow your back foot to move into the court completing the swing. Some players will jump off their front foot landing on the same foot, the similarity here is both are movements forward into the court.
Flat Serve
The flat serve is usually used as a first serve. This serve is hit with the least amount of spin giving the ball more speed or pace but also greatly reducing your margin of error. The grip of choice is the continental grip. Toss the ball further in front of your body, more into the court, to allow the racquet head to move forward through the ball. Keep your arm and wrist very relaxed, much like throwing a baseball, giving you the most racquet head speed for more power. When you finish this swing, you are well inside the baseline. Don’t be reluctant to really move through and into this serve. At first, this serve may feel a bit out of control but keep moving in, use your legs and swing fast. Have fun!
Slice or Spin Serve
Adjust your grip slightly to the backhand position and toss the ball slightly more to the right for a slice/spin serve. This will allow you to automatically hit the ball with a lot of spin. The toss on the spin/slice serve will be closer to you, not as far into the court as the flat serve. Your first few attempts may send the ball from right to left and probably into the net (for right-handed players). While learning, forget about where the ball is going and get used to the grip and the spin. Make adjustments to your target area as you become more accustomed to the grip change. Pick a target much higher over the net and much more to the right. Let the ball spin itself back into the court. Avoid trying to steer or baby the spin serve into the court. Always swing through the contact point. Swing through the ball with plenty of racquet head speed and snap or release the wrist. The angle of the racquet will add the spin you need and keep the ball in the court
Topspin
For topspin, adjust your grip toward the backhand position like the slice serve. Toss the ball more over your head, slightly over your front shoulder to allow the upward movement of the swing. You may need to arch your back and relax your wrist. Aim higher over the net and keep practicing. To develop the desired spin, use a lot of wrist hitting up and snapping the wrist up and out. Try standing very still with your feet and body and hitting up and through with just your wrist as you get some feel on the arc of the swing. Then slowly start to incorporate your legs into the motion of the serve as you practice. This is the most difficult serve to master and the hardest on your body. Be careful and practice smart. Remember you always sacrifice speed for spin and spin for speed!
Checking yourself: If your serves go consistently long, your toss is probably too far behind your head. On the other hand, if you miss into the net, you may be dropping your toss hand too quickly. This will make you drop your head and you will hit a lot of balls into the net. This will also help your extension up and through the contact point of the serve. As you practice the various serves, hit a few flat serves, then hit some spin serves and hit some flat serves again. Don’t just practice one type of serve. Mix it up; make it similar to playing in a match. It becomes similar to a pitcher in baseball who only throws fastballs. Eventually the hitters will figure out how to hit the pitch. The most effective pitchers have a lot of variety; curve balls, fast balls and change ups. We should approach our service games the same way. Keep’em guessing and mix it up.