Difficulty on Slice serve and serving out wide on the Deuce side

[Deleted member 25923]

I'm an unusual player. In my other thread, I mentioned how my DTL backhand is better than my cross court backhand.

Well, my serve is similar. I'm a righty, yet my down the T serve on the deuce side is much easier than an out wide serve. And I can pretty effortlessly hit the ball out wide on the Ad side, but the down the T serve is difficult on the Ad side.

How do I go about hitting that serve more out wide (aka more to the left)?

Also, my slice serve doesn't really skid or curve. I try the FYB method, but it still ends up like a slow paced flat serve.

Any tips for that slice?

 

[larry10s]

if your slice does not curve you are hitting it too flat. try to immagine you are cutting off the outside third off the ball in stead of hittng it full. hopefully the ball will end up past the alley on the deuce side. then you know you can curve and practice will get where you want.. the t serve from the ad side can be flat which i am surprised you cant do since you can do it on the deuce side.try standing on the deuce side and aim for the ad t. when you can do that move 1 step to your left. when you can do that move 2 more steps to your ad side serve position. you can also hit the ad t with slice. to me even better than flat since it skids away as it lands. so p[ractice a slice to the ad t also.

 

[Ballinbob]

Very helpful vids I found:http://tennis.com/yourgame/instructi...rve/index.aspx

And a very helpful thread made by yours truly lol: http://tt.tennis-warehouse.com/showthread.php?t=227632


I had the exact same problem, but this thread really helped me out. I think starting on page 3-4 In D Zone starts posting and he has some good stuff. The trick with me is not to hit my slice serves hard, but I try to get a good short-angle on them to draw my opponent off court. And if you like to S&V, that leaves the whole court open to volley into.

Some people like to really put some juice onto their slice serves, which is fine b/c it works for them. I'm just saying a slower, spinnier slice serve that is placed well out wide is a good serve to come in behind.

Good luck though with this serve, it's really good to have. And if there's something that is not in that thread we'll see what we can do

 

[OhDear]

You can always try the topspin serve to the outside.

 

[Nellie]

Often, if you are rotated too far to the right and/or you toss too far to the right, you cannot serve it left (wide to the duece/ down the tee on the ad court).

 

[Tennis Dunce]

Stay sideways longer...most people open their shoulders too early.

 

[Deleted member 25923]

Very helpful vids I found:http://tennis.com/yourgame/instructi...rve/index.aspx

And a very helpful thread made by yours truly lol: http://tt.tennis-warehouse.com/showthread.php?t=227632


I had the exact same problem, but this thread really helped me out. I think starting on page 3-4 In D Zone starts posting and he has some good stuff. The trick with me is not to hit my slice serves hard, but I try to get a good short-angle on them to draw my opponent off court. And if you like to S&V, that leaves the whole court open to volley into.

Some people like to really put some juice onto their slice serves, which is fine b/c it works for them. I'm just saying a slower, spinnier slice serve that is placed well out wide is a good serve to come in behind.

Good luck though with this serve, it's really good to have. And if there's something that is not in that thread we'll see what we can do

First link doesn't work. I'll check out the thread though.

You can always try the topspin serve to the outside.

I originally played with a kick (topspin) serve, but it was slow and seldom kicked. It was often shallow and just kind of died. I still practice it, but I'm doing slice more because my coach said you don't need as much racquet head speed for it.

I can still pull out a good kicker, but it's often random.

Often, if you are rotated too far to the right and/or you toss too far to the right, you cannot serve it left (wide to the duece/ down the tee on the ad court).

Thanks. I'll try this out. I do toss more to the right. Is that how you vary your serve placement? By moving the toss?

 

[coyfish]

The toss is how I do it. I just toss more to the right and the ball will curve like hell to the left. I can also put some good spin if I give a similar toss to the 2nd serve but instead of brushing so much up on the ball, brush to the side a little bit. I use this a bunch to changeup my typical "kick" 2nd serve. The expect the kick but it just curves left.

As for your backhand. I used to have similar trouble. Are you turning your shoulders enough?? I had a bad habit of trying to arm my backhands which worked awesome for the DTL shots but not so much for the cross court. Instead of moving your arms try to just turn your shoulders more and see what happens.

 

[mg.dc]

Here's two quick suggestions I'd like to add.

1. Thinking of the ball as a clock, hit the ball at either 2 or 3, right at the outer edge.

2. This second tip really helps me to get crazy slice spin on my serve. It'll either be an ace, or will bring your opponent off the court completely. Ater you hit the ball at either 2 or 3, keep your head/gaze/stare in the same direction. Do not follow the ball. Think of Federer here. Exaggerate it.

 

[Rickson]

Toss that ball to your right, sewers.

 

[TarHeelHSV]

Toss that ball to your right, sewers.

Toss, more than anything will help, but when I am going for the deuce sideline, I rotate my grip about a quarter turn left and it seem to help get a little extra jump on the serve and bring it down a little faster.

 

[Rickson]

The extreme eastern bh grip does work well for slice serves.

 

[Nellie]

Also, the further forward you toss the ball, the more the ball go to your backhand side. So if you are a righty and use identitical service motions, the toss more forward will result in a wider serve to the duece court.