The Serve and Overhead

Preparing || Tossing || Finishing

The serve is often the most frustrating shot to learn because it requires a great deal of coordination. However, it is an essential component of the game since each point begins with a serve. Furthermore, many players rely heavily on their serve to “set up” points. For example, Andy Roddick can hit serves in excess of 150 mph. Imagine trying to return that effectively! This chapter will focus on the proper techniques for hitting a solid and consistent serve.

Let’s start with a quick review. When playing the first point of any game you serve or return from the deuce angle of the court. All serves are aimed at the diagonal service box on your opponent’s side of the court. Also remember that you start serving from the baseline, not the service line. For each point, the server gets 2 chances to hit the serve into the appropriate service box. If they miss both service attempts, they lose the point. In other words, you could lose an entire service game without your opponent every having to hit a single shot! Developing a consistent serve is therefore a key component of any dedicated tennis player’s game.

Just like the other strokes, we’re going to begin by discussing the proper grip choice for the serve. Interestingly, almost every beginner I’ve encountered prefers to serve with a forehand grip (semi-western in most cases). It is generally a comfortable grip to start with because it is familiar and most players can at the very least, “dink” the ball consistently into the appropriate service box. Unfortunately, this is not the most effective grip to hit a serve in the long run, and even more unfortunately, many teaching professionals do not correct this grip error until well into training.

What grip should you use? The most effective serving grip is the continental. The reasons for this are many. It will feel very very awkward at first, but hang in there because it will pay huge dividends in the end. A forehand grip may be convenient because it is comfortable, but eventually you will have to switch if you want to take your game to the next level.

The serve is a unique stroke in tennis because you don’t have to move your feet to hit it. However, where it lacks in footwork it makes up for in complex mechanics. Let’s divide the serve into 3 stages. The 1st stage is the preparatory stage, or everything that happens just prior to your ball toss. The 2nd stage is the tossing stage, which includes the ball toss to the point at where you start your swing up towards the ball. And the 3rd stage is the finish. Each stage of the serve has its own important attributes that we’ll discuss in detail.

The preparatory stage is perhaps the most important stage. It is the last chance you have to decide how you are going to play the upcoming point. I tell my students to visually pick a specific spot in the service box before they begin their motion. This forces them to focus on hitting to a specific location, which will improve their consistency, confidence, and accuracy. At this stage also decide how you are going to play the point if your serve goes in. Are you going to serve and volley? Are you going to stay back and hit ground strokes?

Preparatory Stage - Use this stage to visualize not only where specifically you are going to serve, but also how you are going to play the upcoming point. Notice how the player’s legs are slightly off set to one another.

Positioning during the preparatory stage is also important. Most players begin with their back foot behind, and off set to their front foot. You should feel like you have your back slightly facing your opponent. This positioning keeps your hips and body in a position to rotate through the serve as you explode up to the toss with your legs.

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The next stage is the tossing stage. This is where the magic happens! The tossing stage begins with - you guessed it - the ball toss. A poorly placed toss can turn you into a human pretzel! To avoid this, start by tossing the ball out in front of your body. This forces you to lean into the court, which subsequently allows your body weight to come forward. This adds a tremendous amount of velocity to your serve because your swing now has the full weight of your body behind it. Ball tosses that are too far behind you result in serves with less speed.

The tossing phase is not only about getting the ball into the air. As your tossing arm goes up, your racket arm should be going back simultaneously so that you can get into the Nike swoosh, or check-mark position. There are many “proper” ways to take your racket back. Some people make a long looping motion; others take the racket straight back. The key is that you get to the mark position, how you get there is more personal preference and feel. You’ll also want to load up your body weight on the front leg so that you can explode up to your toss. In the image below the player has his body weight well loaded, and also is at the check mark position. From this point you are in the perfect spot to start the finishing stage.

Tossing Stage (image to right) - Notice how the player has loaded his weight onto his front foot. He has also reached the "check-mark" position. From here he is in the ideal spot to explode up to his toss.

The finishing stage of the serve is where all the potential energy gets converted to kinetic energy. Once you get to the check mark position the ball toss should be at its pinnacle. In essence you are converting all the potential energy stored in your legs and trunk muscles into kinetic energy that gets converted to the ball.

The Finish (image to left) - Compared with the previous photo notice how the players back hip and core have rotated around, and into the court.

One final note... A smooth, controlled, and continuous swing will allow you to develop confidence and keep you from developing hitches in your motion.

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