My second serve is ..... horrible

[chapufo1]

Hi, I get very frustrated at my second serve all the time because I just mishit it or scrape it too much. I'm especially horrible on the ad side because there is this mental wall where I think it's 10x harder to get my serve in or maybe im just incapable. I use a eastern backhand grip and hit mostly slice serve which is wierd because I throw the ball behind my head. I think I must have double faulted about 15 times, literally and had trouble keeping my head straight after every one. PLEASE HELP I HATE LOSING ON DOUBLE FAULTS!

[MegacedU]

Attempt a slice serve for your second serve. You'll have a greater chance of getting it in and many times your opponent wont expect it.

[Phil Daddario]

Is there any serve that you can normally rely on? Just use it. Tone it down a little if you have to.

And on the ad side, it's not that much harder, really. It is by a bit, but it's minor. Just think of it as hitting to a different box rather than the disadvantages for you on it.

If you're mishitting or scraping, it's extremely likely that you believe for spin you have to brush up the edge of the ball. [b]Meet the ball dead on.[b] Don't focus really on brushing up or brushing around. Topspin comes on serves from meeting the ball on the bottom and pushing up. Slice serves come from meeting the ball on the side and pronating through from there.

Just aim for clean contact. The results will come. When you at least have a sort of reliable second serve, move up to topspin. The clean contact still applies.

[x Southpaw x]

Attempt a slice serve for your second serve. You'll have a greater chance of getting it in and many times your opponent wont expect it.
Slice or topspin serve, both are good second serves that your opponent can't return easily :D Of course there's always the choice of underhand serve if you're in a tournament. Your understand should be your forehand groundstroke. Definitely advisable to work on a slice or topspin second serve though.

[Phil Daddario]

I would not recommend an underhand serve, ESPECIALLY if you're in a tournament. Anybody playing tournaments (including the small junior Satellite ones), unless they're in the 10 and Unders, is bound to kill that ball, no matter how much sidespin it has.

And when you're meeting the ball that low for contact, the other person knows exactly what the ball is going to do.

[enk]

I use a eastern backhand grip and hit mostly slice serve which is wierd because I throw the ball behind my head. I think I must have double faulted about 15 times

You said it yourself.

You double fault because you are trying to hit a slice from a ball thrown behind your head. For a slice serve, toss it along the line of your hitting shoulder (or slightly outside if you want more spin).

Practice hitting reliable serves.

Get 5 serves in a row where whenever you miss, you have to start all over again. Move on to 10, 15...

[chapufo1]

but dont the pros all hit slice serves with the ball thrown behind the head?

[nyyank7]

No, complete opposite actually. The overhead tosses are used for topspin/kick serves. As enk said, toss it up in line with your hitting shoulder. The farther away the ball is tossed, the more spin it should have-just as long as it's not too far away.

[equinox]

Also, ditch the eastern bh grip and change to continentel grip.

[RiosTheGenius]

heavy topspin is the most secure way to go. plus it bounces with a little kick. and mix it up with sliced serves so your oponent doesn't get the hang of your game. mixing it up is the name of the game.

[SunFlash]

Kick Serve is the way to go