My first serve probably tops out at 90mph ...
Ok, that's a bit faster than my current best, and probably faster than most of the 3.5s I play.
... but many times it is probably in the 80s.
Ok, that's the norm in my experience at my level in my local league. It can be very effective depending on placement, spin, etc.
Nevertheless it can still ace people 4.0 or lower occasionally (even a 4.5 on a rare occasion).
Yes, I would suppose so. Depends on placement.
For example, in the recent Cincinnati match with Federer, Djokovic served some effective sub 80 mph (second) serves.
Even though it is the weakest part of my game, I usually have a high first serve percentage and I place it well, so it does the job mostly, it is just not dominating.
First serve for me is just a shot to get me into the net. It doesn't have to be extremely fast. Just well placed. Witness, for example, the success of Ken Rosewall ... a world top ten dominant player for more than 20 years ... with a comparatively slow first, and second, serve.
90mph is still a fast serve ...
I agree. It's fast enough to give almost all 3.0 and most 3.5 players problems. But that's just in my limited experience in the Tennis League Network.
I think most people grossly overestimate the speed of their serves/hits if they don't have an accurate and properly used radar gun.
Agree. I would have thought that my practice serves were going about 80 + mph, until I actually calculated the speed via time stamps in videos and estimated distances and discovered that they were probably only about 75 mph or maybe less. Fairly large margin of error when doing it that way.
A 110 mph serve that you get in 20% of the time is effectively useless, it will lose matches for you, and will hinder your progress on your serve if you keep trying it. You have to build up to that sort of serve.
I agree. But the thing is, if you can hit serves at 110 mph with 20% going in, then you can potentially hit those same serves with, say, 60% or 70% going in. Personally, I don't think I could even possibly hit a serve close to 90 mph with my current old man serving motion. But, as I get more fit, and practice, there is, I have to think, hope.