How to Practice Serving
Serving is one of the two most important shots in a tennis match. Practicing your serve can be very challenging and is often overlooked and under practiced because of that.
The muscles used to serve are very different from what is used on your groundstrokes, so it is important to do a proper warm up prior to hitting any serves. Start with some upper body rotations with your arms out to the side, turning back and forth with arms in a relaxed position. Next, hold your arms parallel to the ground, raising one arm straight over your head and lowering the other arm so it is pointing at the ground. Hold your arms out to the side and form some circles going forward-then repeat going backward. Jog slowly in place for 100 steps and then do 30 medium speed jumping jacks. Try some slow (20-50 percent) shadow swings without your body moving a lot. Add your regular body movement to this and gradually increase the speed to 50-75 percent.
Finally, hit about 20 practice serves. Hit the first five at 20% (or less) of your match speed. Gradually add a little speed for the next ten. Hit the last five at or close to regular match speed using your whole body and landing inside the baseline after making contact with the ball.
Once you are warmed up, divide the service box into three different sections-wide, body and “T”. Hit five serves to each of the targets. The speed of your serve should not be 100 percent. Most of your first serves should be 75-90 percent of your fastest serve and most second serves should be close to 75 percent of your first serve speed. When practicing serves, try to limit your serving to five minutes at a time (similar to a game). If you have a practice partner, you can alternate who is serving every five minutes. This will give you enough time to establish your timing and rhythm and allow your body to take a break. Pay attention to how well you are doing hitting the targets and challenge yourself to keep your focus on repeating the same toss and swing regardless of where you are trying to hit the ball.
Serving is much more about where you hit the serve rather than how fast you hit it. Developing the ability to hit your spots will allow you to be more consistent and result in your opponent feeling like they are at a disadvantage after your serve. Hit your serves to the opponent’s weaker side more often than not, but also show them that the serve could go anywhere. If the returner is standing way back, try hitting a lot of wide serves since they will have a hard time cutting off the angles. If they are standing in close, try hitting a lot of your serves directly at them.
Keep in mind that your opponent has no idea how or where you will hit the first serve. If you can get 70 percent of your first serves in, your chances of holding serve will increase dramatically. Also, by keeping the speed of your second serve close to 75 percent of your first serve, and being able to hit your targets, you will still have a great chance of being neutral or better after your opponent’s return. Remember that the person who serves better over the course of the match will have a big advantage once the point gets past the first couple of shots. Your serve can definitely decide who wins the match.
Steve Annacone, USPTA Elite Pro, is the Director of Annacone Tennis, www.annaconetennis.com and MyHamptonsPro, www.myhamptonspro.com throughout the Hamptons, NY. Please contact Steve at sannacone@tucsonjcc.org or 865-300-7323.
