Improve Your Tennis Serve

Flat Serve / Canon Ball Serve: Used mainly to serveproper shifting of weight from back foot to forward,
an ace or a good first serve to induce a fault in thewhile rotating the hips and shoulders at the time of
opponent's return. Aim is to use maximum power andimpact in one action is also critical to impart spin to the
skill to force the opponent in to a defensive position.ball and for maintaining the looped trajectory, on the
Maximum Speed reached 200 Kmph/ 120 MPh. Use afollow through the non hitting arm should not be
continental grip for this serve. Hitting the ace down thedropped suddenly and kept pointed up as far as
center line is most favourable option which providespossible to avoid hitting the ball to the net.
good percentage points when practiced and mastered.Twist Serve: One of the complex serves to master
You need to stand very near to center line for thiswherein the ball changes direction from the original
serve and bit farther from the center line for the widetrajectory and moves away with a high bounce wrong
serve.footing the opponent if he is not careful. That is when
Key is to keep the arm fully extended while serving.a right hander opponent is returning a serve the serve
To have effective clearance over the net the timing offirst lands on his right and then moves to his left after
the jump should not be too early or too high, just righthitting the turf. Initial position of the racquet should be
which comes through regular practice. Its easier for 6from behind the back with elbows pointed up, then to
footers to serve aces effectively but for not so giftedget the necessary swerve in the air, the rotation of the
tall people it is better to just clear the net with the aceshoulders and arms should be much greater than the
otherwise the ball will be long and land outside thenormal flat serve followed by brushing the back of the
service box. Key is to meet the ball at a high point oftennis ball imparting spin with arm movement across
contact and keep the head balanced following theand should be followed by a follow through with
serve.sufficient gap between the other arm and the body
Topspin Serve: Typically used as a second serve withwhen compared to a flat serve.
high looped and with high trajectory spinning awaySlice Serve: It is not served alone but served with top
after hitting the service box turf with a high kickingspin as it makes it easier for opponent to return a
bounce forcing errors on the return. Typically served tonormal slice serve. As with the other top spin serve
make it difficult for the opponent to return whilethe speed is much less when compared to flat serve.
ensuring avoidance of double fault. Instead of hitting thePoint of contact is across the outer face of the ball
ball at the central point of contact, the back of the ballmaking the ball swerve in the direction of the original
is brushed with the racquet imparting forward spin totrajectory after pitching on the service box. Top spin
the ball and making it swerve away after hitting theserve kicks high after pitching above the shoulder of
ground. Speed of this serve is much lower than thethe opponent making it difficult to return whereas slice
basic flat serve.serve make the ball swerve more and move away at
Key is to make the ball move out of the opponent'slower heights.
returnable comfort zone and induce errors. It helps to- Passionate about Tennis. Guide for Tennis Players to
keep the grip positioning slightly counter clockwise thanImprove their Tennis Skills.
normal flat serve grip, and the stance maintained and