Serve To Win

A big key to winning more matches is to serve more effectively. Many players hurt themselves by double faulting points away. The serve is the one shot in tennis you have total control over.  Why not hit your serves more effectively?

The first thing to remember when working on your serve is that power is not everything. A good example of this is power pitchers in baseball. Sure, they can strike you out with their fastball, but, the really successful pitchers can throw pitches with different velocities, locations, and breaking pitches (spin). By throwing a variety of pitches, they keep the hitters guessing about what is coming next.

Serving in tennis is the same way. Serving to the same spot with the same speed only works until your opponent makes a few adjustments. By moving your serves around the service box, your opponent plays a guessing game, wondering where the next serve will go. Taking some pace off your serves will give you more control, allowing you to better aim your serves. With this added control, you can move your opponent around, forcing them to hit weaker returns while on the run. Another benefit to mixing up your serves is that when you do decide to hit the big, powerful serve, your opponent will be less ready for it. A good place to hit harder serves is to the middle of the court. Serving to the middle works because the net is lowest in the middle, and gives your opponent less time to react to the serve.

 Another key to moving the ball around the service box is learning to hit serves with spin. By hitting more spin on your serves, you can hit balls to different parts of the service box with more control. Also, serves with spin take bigger kicks, making it that much tougher to get to them. Serves hit with spin are also more effective when hit out wide. With spin, you can make the ball kick even wider, forcing an opponent to make a longer run to get the serve. Serves hit with spin make great second serves. The added control the spin gives reduces the chance of a double fault while not allowing them to tee off on a weak, flat second serve. With your added control, you will be more able to hit serves to your opponent's weaknesses. If they have a weak backhand, you will be able to hit more consistently to that shot, giving you weaker returns to hit back.

When practicing, work less on power, and more on hitting to targets. Place an item like an old hat on the spot you are aiming at, and work on hitting
there over and over. Try this to all parts of the service box.

If you need help with your serve, or want to learn to hit with more spin, contact your local tennis professional. They will be glad to help.

By: Patrick Delaney and Mike Pratt

Tennis Pros

MP Tennis Store