Learning Serving Basics-Tennis

Serving could easily be the most important stroke in tennis. Not to belay the other aspects of the game – they all come together to make a complete player. However, the serve is such an important component of a players game. Confidence rises and falls with the accuracy,spin, and speed of your serve.  You don’t get the opportunity to win a point in a game if you can not get your serve in the correct area. With it you get the opportunity to control the point from the outset depending on the accuracy,spin, and power of  your serve. Men love the power aspect of the serve. Ladies love to have a good looking technique in the execution of their serve. The higher the level of play and the better the technique, the better chance you have of winning the point.

Beginner Level

1. Racket in the back scratching position:  serving is similar to throwing a ball. This is the most important aspect of the throwing action. If the racket is not in a downward (back scratching) position maximum momentum and spin will never be achieved. In comparing  throwing and serving, there is a difference in the position of the elbow, as your arm moves forward, beginning the throwing action. In throwing a ball the elbow moves forward, whereas in the serving motion the elbow stays back and extends upward with the culmination of the forearm and wrist making the final thrust to the ball.
2.  Standing sideways to the back drop(fence) on the tennis court, from a back scratching position(the racket touching the lower middle back), extend the arm and racket in a throwing action up as high as you can reach and stop the head of the racket at the apex. That will be the contact point once you toss the ball in the act of serving. Now, putting the racket down into the ‘back’ position, place a ball in your ball tossing hand. With an underhand toss, gently(keeping your tossing arm straight) release the ball(the release point is just above eye level) to that contact position you just measured, and with an upward throwing motion(controlled) of the racket arm catch the ball against the fence. This is as close to serving as you can get and still practice the correct toss and contact point with the racket.
3. The grip: this is probably the hardest aspect of the serve to learn. A continental grip is non-negotiable if you want to play the ‘A’ game. Without it you won’t be able to generate the power and spin that comes with the pronation of the forearm prior to contact. The biggest problem with starting with this grip is pronation is not achieved. The arm stiffens and does not want to pronate. It has to be learned. It does not come naturally. Without pronation, the elbow precedes the extension of the upper arm and full leverage cannot be achieved. Take a slower approach and gradually moving the grip to the continental over time is advised.

   The foregoing would be the beginning of teaching the serve to a first time student.

Self Taught Beginner

Assuming this player wants to just learn how to have fun in playing the game of tennis, I would take a different approach. Learning to serve with the correct technique takes much patience and a lot of time. By the time the technique has been learned, the frustration with just wanting to play tennis and have fun has worn off and the player has moved on to ‘golf’?

With this kind of player I would take a much easier approach and have them toss the ball in front of them and ‘bunt’ the ball into play.  If they are athletic and good at throwing I would have them use a modified western grip, or even allow a western grip, with a throwing motion. The importance of this type of teaching would be to encourage participation in the sport of tennis. If the player is ‘of a mind’ to improve and wants to put more time into the serve, that would be where the points made in the first part of this blog would be introduced.

I love the game of tennis and all it offers, especially to the beginner and the club players. Beyond that, without the ‘love of tennis’ it gets too serious and other things come into play – parents, winning?? Play hard, play smart, and have fun.