having problems with my tennis serve?

Question

so ive been trying to practice my serve, like the swing and stuff im doing doesnt feel very comfortable and im really confused on how to toss it...like where the ball should be when i actually hit it...any tips on just serving in general?

Answer 1

I'm a tennis serve specialist. I don't usually do this but I'll try and explain it in words but I do advice you to get some hands on training for best results. Ok here goes: First of all you've got to learn/establish a good service motion before even practacing with the ball toss because without a good service motion established you're gonna learn it wrong and not even no where to toss the ball. Your service motion should be a throwing motion and you should grip the raquet with a continental grip if you don't know what that is look it up on google;it's to tough to explain without using a picture;and you should stand side ways with your left foot slight in front of your right foot and vise versa if you're a lefty.When you wind up to do the serve you should bring the rquet back like in a throwing motion here's where it get's tricky and you have to really practice this slowly. While you're in this throwing motion look back at the raquet head and make sure that it is facing flat and at a 45 degree angle because at this point you're gonna rotate using your hips no arm ;your arm will come through naturally with the rotation of your upper body using your hips to generate raquet head speed(Note: the more raquet head speed you generate the more power you get).Ok, now as you rotate upward make sure the raquet head is ****** back because at the end of this motion your gonna use your wrist to pop through the tennis ball with the sweet spot (middle of the raquet head)of the raquet coming up under the tennis ball. I would practice this motion without the tennis ball first until it becomes automatic/subconscious because the serve is such a fast motion that if you don't have it down automatically you will screw it up. Once you get this motion down do the motion slow and see where the raquet head is about to pop the ball within the motion and that's where your ball toss should be and that's about how high it should be. Remember you're not gonna be able to just go out on the court and do this like a pro after reading this. You're gonna have to practice this technique really slow without the ball toss at first until you get the motion to be automatic (without you having to think about it)then implament the toss as I described earlier. Please forgive me if this isn't very clear instruction. It would make alot more sense if I could explain it visually that's why if you really are having problems and can't get this down to seek some hands on training so you don't learn it wrong. The worst thing you can do in tennis is develop a bad habit because then you have to go back and break the bad habit and since tennis is a game of habit it can be tougher than you think.....Also remember the best way to practice these motions is to do it very slow at first so that your mind can pick up on it .Then when it becomes automatic or easy for you you can start doing it fast.....Andre

Answer 2

the best tip I could give you is take a private lesson. You'll need just an hour. At a private club you should be able to get on court with a coach for about 25-50 bucks an hour. In that hour you'll hit a couple hundred serves and the instructor will give you the fundamentals. Then its just practice. I could tell you that you need to toss the ball out front and slightly to the right at the full extended reach of your racket and to hit the ball on its rise rather than its downfall etc etc etc but if you're not gripping the racket properly or you're not pronating it wouldn't be of much help. Without being there to see the serve its hard to diagnose the problem so if you can swing it, take an hour lesson or split it with a buddy and get a semi private lesson but it'd go a long way to helping your game and your serve.

Answer 3

I am a professional tennis instructor and am currently working with a junior with a problem with her serve. At the back of the backswing, just as she should be getting into the trophy position, instead of simply bending and/or dropping the elbow she lifts her hitting elbow up by her head and then drops the racquet down into the slot. She has had trouble with this or a while. Her regular coach (she is visiting my tennis club on vacation) has had trouble correcting this because the muscle memory is so ingrained. I have tried several things to correct this error but nothing is sticking. I will only be working with her for 2 more days but I would like her to see some kind of progress on this issue. Any suggestions for keeping the hitting elbow lower?

Answer 4

"Toss" is right - having a consistent toss that delivers the ball to the same spot repeatedly is the main key in serving.

The height of the toss depends on the maximum reach you have when serving with your racket arm fully extended and also your service action - if you have a quick action you might hit the ball when it is rising or once it has reached the apex of the toss, if your action isn't so quick toss the ball higher than the apex and hit the ball when it is descending.

The general rule is to toss in front of you - after letting the ball bounce after a toss the ball should land about a foot or 2 in front of the baseline (might vary depending if you are a baseliner or a serve and volleyer) and about a foot to the right (this might vary depending on what kind of serve you are hitting - slice, topspin or flat) of your front foot position of the service stance.

Answer 5

Give the ball height advantage: hit very hard, and spin, if you can!