If you've played for years, and in that time also learned to do kick serves. you're not what I think of as a recreational player.
I tried to learn it for a long time. It was erratic and hurt my arm.
By the way, honestly i get where youre coming from, i was just being a bit sarcastic, but really, if you dont have the time or dont want to spend money on lessons, obviously you have to use what works best in a match for you, if It is this aproach youre saying, so be It, but developing a decent second serve is always key to keep getting better, doesnt matter that you have good forehand or/and backhand, when you start to play decent oponents theyre always gonna be all over a slow second serve with no spin, so i get that if you dont have a second serve, its not that its better to play it this way, but more like you dont really have a choice, the only way that worked for me was paying for a coach that corrects you LIVE while you do baskets, trying to develop it by yourself can be really bad for some players, some are able to, but i think most adult learners will just get into repeating bad technique to a point where they are training the mistake, and there it can really be hard to start all over.