What are you thinking about when you serve?

[Cindysphinx]

I'm struggling to find a consistent thing to think about when I serve. Toss location? Toss height? Spin? Pace? Placement? Weight transfer? S&V? Stay loose? Something else?

When you step up to serve, are you thinking of all of these things, or is there one thing you think to yourself that seems to work?

[spadesss]

i tried not to think or over think.
just do it.
i have an idea or gameplan such as "my serve down the middle is better at ad court so i go there more often" or my opponent has a weak back hand, serve to hand 90% of the time."
i remind my self now and then between points.
hopefully, those 100 or 1,000 ball hit in practice will guide me through the serving process. don't think about the toss-swing.

[fearless1]

Depends.

If I'm in practice mode and doing some tweeking, then I'll be thinking of technique, form, power, etc.

In a match though, the only thing that matters is aiming the shot so you are more likely to hit the target you are aiming at. With serve especially, it's ironic that the more you think about serve mechanics and perhaps try to control certain aspects of it too, the worst one tends to hit it.

Hitting LOTS of practice serves, tweeking, experimentation, etc will help you to answer many of your own questions in ref to serving.

[fuzz nation]

Honestly, I try to keep my head up and my eye on the ball for good contact.

The one other thing I sometimes need to refocus on is my timing. If I get too rushed and snatch up at the ball, I don't get a loose, powerful motion so I need to tell myself to s-l-o-w d-o-w-n.

[Kaptain Karl]

... whether or not I got enough items crossed-off my To-Do List...?

Seriously ... my serve is grooved enough that I'm only thinking of the spot I'm hitting with that ball. (I've already decided which spin and location to use, so that's "automatic" once I've begun my motion.)

I'd recommend you need to spend many more baskets of balls perfectly practicing your Serve. (How do you practice your serves now?)

- KK

[ubel]

Usually thinking about where I want to serve it and how aggressively I need to play depending on the type of return that is most likely going to come from the spin, direction and power I put on the ball. Playing aggressively on serve to force errors is vital for me in holding my serve, as I generally have a tendency to go walk-about if I don't focus on appropriate aggression and more often than not if I go walk-about I'm probably getting broken

[Cindysphinx]

Originally Posted by Kaptain Karl

... whether or not I got enough items crossed-off my To-Do List...?

Seriously ... my serve is grooved enough that I'm only thinking of the spot I'm hitting with that ball. (I've already decided which spin and location to use, so that's "automatic" once I've begun my motion.)

I'd recommend you need to spend many more baskets of balls perfectly practicing your Serve. (How do you practice your serves now?)

- KK

Right now it's freezing so I haven't hit a hopper of serves since October. It's killing me, man! There's still ice on the courts, so I have a few more weeks before I can go try to get anything grooved.

Winter totally bites.

[batakdepores]

Hi Cindy,

Since I'm not rusty anymore, thanks to playing every weekend, I don't think too much when I serve but I don't mind listing my thought process, it goes something like this:

Where is he/she (my opponent) standing? Where is the partner standing (doubles game)?
(action) Call out the scores
(thought) I'm going to serve flat/topspin/slice to x location
(action) bounce bounce bounce
(action) look up once more to make sure returner is not currently picking his/her nose or watching next court's game
(action) toss, ugly throphy pose...
(thought) Eat this S*** (action) 5mph over the speed limit (55mph here in NY) bomb!

Pretty much it, Cindy.

[MrCLEAN]

I'm not sure if you mean what are you thinking about during the swing, or just in general. During the swing, about the only thing I think about is keeping it smooth, nothing in particular.

As far as the pre-shot routine, the score dictates to some extent what I want to do. I decide what kind of serve to hit, where, and if the score dictates that I can go for a little extra, or take a little off if I NEED a first serve.

Nothing major though, I just let it happen.

[JRstriker12]

Cindy,

I try to make all my important decsions before I get set to make my serve. Just before I step to the line I take a look up and I decide where I am going to hit it, whether it will be flat or use spin, pace, and whether I plan to come in or not.

During my serve, the only thing I really think about is trying to be consistent on my toss and to keep my head up and look at the ball through the serve. I hope to get to the point where I really don't have to think about those two thing though.

[tennis-n-sc]

Since I'm a 99% doubles player, I only try to think "First serve in." Hopefully, lots of practice and muscle memory will take care of all the other things you have mentioned.

But, from time to time, other fleeting thoughts do appear. Did I wear colored underwear with the white shorts? My partner did and it is disgusting. Is my fly zipped. Birds. Wind. Sun. Job. Kids. Wife. Dogs. Who is that girl? this guy's backhand sucks. And, then some unimportant things, too.

[maleyoyo]

First, I took a deep breath and fully exhale to relax. Second, I decide what I want to do with the serve. Third, I visualize the ball going to the court the way I intended. Fourth, I anticipate how the opponet would react to my serve.

[Tim Tennis]

Very interesting, if I am competing seriously I will think about a lot of things before I serve. The score, opponents weakness, where I have been serving, just how important the point is. Then I will select the serve I want to use, (flat, topspin, slice, power serve) and where I want to place it. Basically I weight the percentages. Once I have decided what I want to do I relax and go with the plan. While I am executing the serve I try to stay relaxed and make sure I get the full range of motion to hit the serve I have decided to go for.

Best regards,

Ed

[Cindysphinx]

Originally Posted by tennis-n-sc

Since I'm a 99% doubles player, I only try to think "First serve in." Hopefully, lots of practice and muscle memory will take care of all the other things you have mentioned.

But, from time to time, other fleeting thoughts do appear. Did I wear colored underwear with the white shorts? My partner did and it is disgusting. Is my fly zipped. Birds. Wind. Sun. Job. Kids. Wife. Dogs. Who is that girl? this guy's backhand sucks. And, then some unimportant things, too.

:snicker:

I can add to that list: "OK, those boobs are fake, fer sure. They don't even move when she runs."

"Barbi? Who goes by the name Barbi? She looks like a Barbi."

"I hope I don't hit her in the ear, 'cause those earring might rip her ear completely off. And how can anyone serve with half a pound of gold on their wrist?"

"If you're gonna dye your hair, dye it already."

"Gawd, I hope my butt's not sticking out the back of my skirt. I feel so bloated."

"Ugh. Another wedgie. I wonder whether I've waited long enough since the last one to do a manual retrieval."

[Supernatural_Serve]

Once I bounce that ball twice and begin the toss, the only thought on my mind is getting maximum extension and racquet head speed. I am thinking "Go attack that ball with as much upward explosive energy as possible" while remaining relaxed and controlled about it.

Before that I am visualizing the path of the ball to my target,

Before that, I am visualizing the 2 or 3 shot pattern that I want to run as a "play"

[Kaptain Karl]

I used to have one regular hit scheduled on a court which caused some weird thinking. From the South End you were looking at your toss in line with the flight path of a popular -- and busy -- Regional Airport. Every once in a while I'd toss the ball and there'd be a Citation or a DC-8 right there! In those moments my thought would be ...

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Acck!!!


- KK

[TonLars]

You need to have your serve practiced enough so that youre confident in the technique and not thinking about that so much. Then, youll maybe just have a couple reminders youll think about during serve games that apply to what you sometimes have trouble doing as well, and youll refer to that if youre missing some serves. For me, I need to remind myself to get my toss up high enough.

On first serves im just thinking where im going- either to the T or out wide usually. You should decide this before you start your serve motion, not during. I tend to usually do an even mix between those locations, but then I catch myself going every other and try to think about where really the most effective and consistent spot to go to would be after seeing how they return and how im doing. I also dont want them to catch on to a pattern I would develop in this way of mixing it up, so ill sometimes go to the same location 2 or 3 times just for the sake of that.

2nd serve, again you need to have confidence and have practiced it. Im pretty much just thinking "get it in" and getting my toss high enough and hitting it almost with as much racquet speed as the first serve, but with more spin to kick it up. I guess im also thinking about location, but I serve probably 85-90% of 2nd serves to the backhand side, which is usually the weaker, and hardest to attack off of. I thrn later in the match will go to the other side, and like to use this tactic on big points, because I will often draw an error from them not expecting it to go there, or sometimes even get an ace off the 2nd.

[Bagumbawalla]

Watch the ball.

Fix "hold" it with eyes.

Concentrate on swing path through ball.

B

[gsquicksilver]

i think about aceing the hell out of my opponent!

[tennis-n-sc]

Originally Posted by Cindysphinx

:snicker:

I can add to that list: "OK, those boobs are fake, fer sure. They don't even move when she runs."

"Barbi? Who goes by the name Barbi? She looks like a Barbi."

"I hope I don't hit her in the ear, 'cause those earring might rip her ear completely off. And how can anyone serve with half a pound of gold on their wrist?"

"If you're gonna dye your hair, dye it already."

"Gawd, I hope my butt's not sticking out the back of my skirt. I feel so bloated."

"Ugh. Another wedgie. I wonder whether I've waited long enough since the last one to do a manual retrieval."

Now yer gettin' it. There is great humor in tennis!!!!