Question about flat serves?

[Sparkn]

What does it mean when you flat serve the ball misses and overshoots the service box? Obviously it's some sort of flaw in the technique, any suggestions? Sorry, I can't put up a video anytime soon, I don't have a camcorder.

[Blake0]

It could mean a number of things.
1. Your contact point isnt as high as it should be. (you're letting the toss drop too low and hitting with a bent arm) This isn't something that's easy to notice yourself, get someone to stand next to you while you serve to see.
2. You're wrist/forearm isn't snapping/pronating at the correct time, usually late. If you're forcing it, it'll usually go right into the net. Don't try to consciously change this though, results will be counterproductive if you do. Just keep serving until you get your timing, focus on keeping your motion in "sync".
3. You might be hitting underspin on your serve.
4. You're not contacting the ball in front of you.

Can't think of anything else, hope it helps.

[LeeD]

NO person in the world can serve better than 70% hard flat serves in a match. If they could, they'd win most of the time and become pros. And once they become pros, they start to press harder and barely get 55% into the court, slowing the ball down a little and losing the match.
If you hit too long, you hit too high over the net, pure and simple. A 6' tall person barely has a 11" window of net clearance on the first hard flat serve, so don't expect to make it every time. And as you up the pace over 120, that window becomes closer to 8".

[mtommer]

Originally Posted by LeeD

If you hit too long, you hit too high over the net, pure and simple.

This is what I do. I simply hit a serve I didn't focus enough on while hitting it.

[Slazenger07]

You might need a higher toss and you need to try and hit the ball down into the service box to make it consistent. The flat serve is all about timing.