All Tennis Games Get Started With a Serve Articles | Tennis

By: Darren Williger

The one shot that can make or break a tennis game or set its tempo is the service. The serve executed properly and accurately dictates a tennis’ match tempo right at the very start of the game. Some players who have accurate and speedy serves have won matches with their serves because their service game is unbreakable or because they can hit aces – serves that are so fast the receiver has no chance to make a return!

For the service to be effective, it must be accurate, speedy, and consistent and have a variety of spin. In making the serve, it is essential that the ball must have some twist in order to successfully make it land into the playing court and pack pace and speed so that the receiver does not get the chance to put it in play. However, if the receiver is successful in making a return of the ball, the server must make sure to place the ball as accurately as possible so that he gets the advantage of being able to anticipate exactly where the receiver’s return of serve will land.

The server has one goal when making the serve – to cause the receiver to committing an error of return. Always use your service as a weapon to disturb the receiver’s arsenal of return strokes and as much as possible, serve into your opponent’s backhand. Better yet, if you can accurately place your serve into the corner nearest to the net of the service court or straight to the receiver’s body, you would definitely gain the upper hand as the receiver has to either run or evade the ball in order to make a successful return of serve.

Always hit the serve from as high a point as possible without performing unnecessary acrobatic stretches; vary the pace and speed of your service to avoid being anticipated by the receiver.

A common variation of the flat serve is the slice serve which imparts a spin on the ball. Hit the slice serve at a point above the right shoulder as high as possible. Stand at an angle of forty-five degrees to the baseline, feet firmly planted on the ground with your body weight on the right foot. Toss the ball high enough making sure it passes your imaginary hitting plane; at the same time begin a slow shift of your weight forward to the left foot while bringing the racquet forward in a slicing motion.

When the ball meets the racquet face, your full body weight must already have shifted forward to give the required pace to the ball. Make sure that when you serve, the racquet should be traveling directly towards the court at an angle in order to impart the necessary twist to bring the ball in play at your opponent’s side of the court.

Remember, two of the most important ingredients of an effective serve are the flexibility of the wrist and the twisting of the upper body from right to left as the ball is hit towards the receiver’s service court. These two movements alone can ensure that your serve will land within the boundaries of your opponent’s service court.

A common error of beginners is to foot-fault during the serve. This happens when the server’s foot touches any part of the baseline before the ball is hit. To avoid this, always keep your feet planted on the ground before the service motion. Do not anticipate your service movement by stepping forward on the line before the ball is in play, otherwise, you are liable to lose your serve due to foot faults and not because of a good return!