Tennis Serving Secrets – Our Tips
So you want to hit that smash. Fire an ace down the middle line more often but mainly want more consistency in your serve well….read on we have found some hints and tips & drills that will help improve that serve and keep up the consistency.
1. Turn The Body
This drill focuses on turning your body into the ball. Don’t try to hit the ball into the service box. It should go in that general direction, but since you haven’t added the punch part yet, it should fly long.
- Stand facing the net near the center mark at the baseline, as you would for a regular serve, but do not turn to the side.
- Pivot on your left foot to rotate your body to your regular serving start position as you toss the ball.
- Explosively turn your body back into the ball.
Repeat this drill until you feel smooth and comfortable with your body rotation.
2. Reaching Out
This drill focuses on where you make contact with the ball. You should reach as high as possible and connect with the ball when your arm is fully extended.
- Start in your regular serving position with the side of your body facing the net.
- Toss the ball, then attack! Reach up, hit the ball as high as possible and swing straight through.
- Try to hit the ball to the fence beyond the other end of the court. If the point of contact is correct, you can generate a lot of power.
- Keep your eyes on the ball the whole time—that’s a key to everything in tennis.
If you hit a floater that sort of lobs or makes an arching shape in the air, you’ve hit the ball too low. You must swing through this motion and strike the ball high.
3. The Punch
This drill focuses solely on the snap aspect of the serve. A good snap will generate a lot of power and drop serves in the box.
- Stand in your regular service position, toss the ball up, catch it at peak height and immediately snap your wrist down through your follow-through.
- Your goal is to bounce the ball on your side of the court with a lot of power. It should bounce somewhere between you and the service box closest to you, on your side of the net.
This drill is hard to master, but it has a great payoff for your serve. Your wrist must be loose and relaxed enough for the punch.
The final step is to put the three drills together and go for your complete serve. Each element should be warmed up so your serve will be smooth and easy, yet powerful.