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The tennis service or tennis serve is
one of the most important shots in
tennis. So carefull attention
should be dedicated to learn it.
Nevertheless you should also keep in
mind that the serve is one of the most
natural movements in tennis that is tied
to other motions kids often use playfully,
such as:
- Throwing a stone - Throwing a
baseball - Throwing a cricket ball - Throwing an American football - Throwing a stick for your dog to
catch and so on... Kids produce all of these movements in a natural way
including one called pronation. Which in tennis looks like this:
How do I pronate?…and Why?
At
first by looking at frame 1 it seems
impossible not to hit the ball with the
edge of the racket instead of the
strings but, because the player in frame
2 starts to pronate towards impact and
the racket face has turned (rotated)
presenting a flat racket face to the
ball it becomes possible to hit the ball with the strings.
In
frame 3, if you would take away the
tennis racket, you'd see that the
player's palm faces outward and forward
— in a full pronation position.
Why pronation?
Because
pronation happens before ball contact (with
a snapp of the racket head) therefore
creating tremendous momentum which
translates in wicked spins and awsome
speed. Therefore pronation becomes a key
element to your service developement.
But
as I said previously, it is kids play
and you should not focus on it but,
rather let it happen naturally.
Serve stand position
- Stand about 2 to 3 feet right of the middle line
at the baseline. Facing the court
side ways, (right-handers) left foot
pointing roughly toward the right net
post and your right foot should be about
a foot or 2 behind and parallel to the
baseline.
The ball toss-
One of the best ways to learn a consistent ball toss is
to do it in isolation. That's by
practicing the ball toss only. Why?
Because we learn better by doing one
thing at a time. And the ball toss
is one of the key elements of a great
serve. Go to the baseline and
position yourself in the serve stand
position. Hold a tennis ball in your non
playing hand. Stretch your arm at
shoulder level and naturally pointing at
the net. Drop your arm towards your
front leg almost until your hand touches
the thigh, at this point start the
upwards motion. When your arm
reaches shoulder level it is the moment
to start releasing the ball from your
hand until you reach a full stretch of
your arm at an aproximate 160 degree
angle in relation to your torso.Two
important points:
1. The ball should reach an heigth of 1
and a half to 2 arm lengths of yours.
2. You should be able to drop your
extended arm back to shoulder level and
catch the ball there without much
adjustment. A 3 times 10 tosses with
breaks in between each series should get
you going.
The racket motion- Holding the racket as if you were going to throw a
ball or a stick for your dog to chase,
again in isolation, in the service stand
go through the same wind-up motion you
would with a stick and pretend to throw
the racket at the net (if you have an
old racket do throw it, as long as no
one is around that you could hit with
the racket!). Do this naturally
without thinking about anything but just
the joy of throwing something and having
fun doing it.
Now combine the ball toss with the racket motion
- If you are a complete beginner I
advise you to move towards the net
within 3 to 6 feet from it.
- Put both motions together "ball
toss" and "racket motion" go through
both without trying to hit the ball if
it happens it's all right. Do it about 10
times.
Tennis ball Contact
- Put both motions together "ball
toss" and "racket motion" and now
contact the ball softly so that it gets
into the service box across from you and
bounces inside of it at least twice.
Repeat this 5 times close to the net.
If you are having plenty of success,
gradually increase your distance from
the net until you reach the baseline.
(For this exercise you may need about 25
to 30 tennis balls)
The lower body (legs)- The legs play a very important role in what is
called "the co-ordination chain" but at
this point just let your legs do as they
wish.
The finish- As you increase the distance from the net your need for a
stronger swing will increase and so will
your finishes change, let them happen.
The various spins.
A flat, or spin-less, serve does
not exist! All serves have spin, no matter how fast they are and the reasons why
are simple, the need for control, accuracy and a consequence of the pronation
movement.
There are some teachers that call
certain serves "topsin serves" they do not exist either!
Topspin is (forward) roll and the ball as an
orizontal axis of rotation which makes it an impossibility to execute on a serve!
Why? Simple all serves are hit with
an angled upwards motion on vertical axis of rotation and never in an orizontal
axis of rotation.
What varies the spins then? Where you hit
the ball, take it as if the ball was a clock:
In the "Kick Serve" the ball is hit (brushed) in the upward direction fron 8
o'clock to 2 (lefties Is 4 o'clock to 10
o'clock).
In the "Slice Serve" the ball is struck right in
the middle and then brushed around 3 o'clock (lefties is center 9 o'clock).
In the "American Twist" there is a more pronounced upwards lift and the
racket head tends to end extremely to your right (lefties left), before
re-addressing to the center and finish at the bottom of the swing.
These are only guidelines, there are plenty of other variations, you can get
as creative as you wish and experiment.
VERY IMPORTANT NOTE: Do not listen to people telling you to toss the ball more to the right for a "slice serve" or more to the left for a "kick serve" or whatever!
Why? Simple, tennis players are very sharp individuals with computer type brains that detect the slightest change in your toss to immediately know where you are going to play the ball. If you have the unfortunate idea of developing a serve that has toss variations such as these below:
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The Service 
