How fast should a 14-year old serve?

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matchpoint54

Rookie
I'm a 14 year old freshman, who plays varsity tennis, and also tournaments regularly. The problem is that I'm not that tall at 5'2 and about 90 lbs. I can return a lot of first serves and rarely get aced, but I'm looking to serve harder. My first serve slice is pretty consistent, and I've got a decent kick serve. But I'm curious to see how hard should an average 14 year old 4.0 player serve?
 
me 14 too. My fastest is a 77 mph, measured from a bushnell radar gun. It was still basically a hybrid flat/kick so I bet it could have gone faster. It was my first ever 1 bounce the back hit. Dunno if it was in or out though; right on or next to line. my dad says is it was in though.

My kicker can consistently 1 bounce the back fence by 1-3 feet now.

Oh I'm 5 feet 6 inches, 123 lbs.
 
As long as you are giving your opponent trouble don't worry about the speed-worry more about the placement and spin.

Good Luck!
 
drakulie said:
As long as you are giving your opponent trouble don't worry about the speed-worry more about the placement and spin.

Good Luck!
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agreed

you might have to face the fact that your serve wont be your weapon, you will then need placement and variety and a good tennis brain to know how to use your serve not to win the point but to set up the ball for which ever groundy is your strength

once again good luck
 
Haha, funny. I was about to post a thread about the same thing. I'm also 14 at 5ft 2in at 95 lbs. :) GO SHORT PEOPLE! My serve goes round 80mph-90mph. Kick serve isn't that great though...I normally hit a first serve both times, because I almost never double fault.
 
matchpoint54 said:
I'm a 14 year old freshman, who plays varsity tennis, and also tournaments regularly. The problem is that I'm not that tall at 5'2 and about 90 lbs. I can return a lot of first serves and rarely get aced, but I'm looking to serve harder. My first serve slice is pretty consistent, and I've got a decent kick serve. But I'm curious to see how hard should an average 14 year old 4.0 player serve?
Click to expand...

You should be serving 40, 41 mph...whatever it takes.
 
The speed isnt that effective sometimes.

You should be worried for your entire gameplay, not your serve only.

Let's say you play on clay court....so, your super faster serve, its nothing there.

So, work on your serve with direction, speed will come with the time, you're only 14, lets talk again in 2, 3 years and you'll see a nice change.

Of course if you have a good technique :D
 
Voltron said:
Because my club has one, I don't get to choose when I clock my serve. And I can't always have a camera in my bag.
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nice excuses. I am sure you can't one day ask "hey mind if i use the radar today?" or you could possible schedule a day ahead of your time to use it. Of course you don't always have to have a camera in your bag, just that specific day you wish to use a radar and show us your awesome serve (for your age group) and strokes.
 
fluffy Beaver said:
nice excuses. I am sure you can't one day ask "hey mind if i use the radar today?" or you could possible schedule a day ahead of your time to use it. Of course you don't always have to have a camera in your bag, just that specific day you wish to use a radar and show us your awesome serve (for your age group) and strokes.
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Hey, good idea, now why didn't I think of that? I'll try, I'm not saying it is 100, I'm saying about 100 (ie 90 to 110, ok maybe closer to 90)
 
For your height and age, I would say in the 60s on average. I would say by the time you're a senior, aim for the upper 90s and drink lots of milk!
 
don't try to serve too hard, too fast.

I tore my rotator cuff at 15 because I didn't listen to my coach. I found out how to snap my body and really achieve racket acceleration but I did not yet learn how to be fluid and reduce the stress on my body. Unfortunately, my puny growing shoulder couldn't handle it and rip.

I didn't have surgery but it took me all of college to rehab my shoulders. I never could serve really hard again without paying for it the next day.

So, my advice is to take it easy, learn to strengthen your body all around and concentrate on good easy form. The serve is the only stroke where to you stand still and use each part of your body, in sequence from the ground up and incrementally add to the final racket speed.
 
Hmm....just like a used cars salesman....the more you listen to him talk...the lower the #'s get.

In another three or four days he will admit to having never picked up a tennis racquet.
 
I'm 5'11", 170 lbs and about to turn 15. I've had 4 different pros at different clubs tell me my flat first serve is around 100 mph. I know a kid on my team thats about the same build as you and he doesn't serve or hit hard, but is so consistant it doesn't matter.
 
matchpoint54 said:
I'm a 14 year old freshman, who plays varsity tennis, and also tournaments regularly. The problem is that I'm not that tall at 5'2 and about 90 lbs. I can return a lot of first serves and rarely get aced, but I'm looking to serve harder. My first serve slice is pretty consistent, and I've got a decent kick serve. But I'm curious to see how hard should an average 14 year old 4.0 player serve?
Click to expand...

Fast enough to trouble about 50% of the 14 year olds you face...
 
my first serve gives a lot of people trouble, but my kick serve always gets attacked, mostly because it's pure spin. It bounces pretty high, but it's soft. So, if I miss a first serve, (which doesn't happen that much), I'm always on the defensive. How can I improve this?
 
As a developing junior, it's better to work on placement and consistency than power. Because one's body is still in a major growth pattern, it's rather vulnerable and a serious shoulder injury could sideline you for quite a while at a critical phase in your development.

The same should be considered for crazy kick, topspin, or twist serves, which basically require the same racketspeed as a hard flat serve, but brush on the ball somehow with some added body/shoulder torque.

My serve speeds continued to increase all through the juniors and finally peaked out around age 24. I'm 37 now, can still hit 110 mph-plus serves with consistency and good placement, and my shoulder still feels great, thanks to a good, smooth basic stroke.
 
Last time I was clocked I was hovering between 90 and 100 on first serves, and a consistent 70+ 2nd serve. You guys are tiny though, I've been over 100lbs since about 6th grade. Go eat something and don't worry about your serve so much.
 
im 15 5'10 and im in the 105mph zone. but kids i train with are like 14under5'5 and hit in the 90's. but as people have said whatever gets the job done is good enough.
 
heres a better way:

1. Stop posting crap like this on the boards.
2. Worry more about your playing abilities than post count.
3. Talk to a baseball coach you know if you really wanna be radared.
 
I think the short answer is...

...as fast as possible. I mean, Andy Roddick was already serving in the 120s when he was in high school. As someone else noted, it's not just speed. Spin, placement, and getting a decent percentage of first serves (like 60%) also count for a lot. The serve is the #1 most important stroke in tennis, so the more you can do with it early on in your career, the, um, better your career is likely to be...
 
Spindarella said:
I'm 14, 6'6" 190 and can serve like 64 mph now
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At that height, you should be able to get in the high 80's, low 90's with barely any effort. Remember to utilize your WHOLE body, not just your arm...

I figured that out about a year or so ago, and now my serves are my strongest shots.
 
I'm 14 and I have about an 85 but I really should bend my knees more and move more up on the ball
I'm 5'10" sorry forgot to mention
 
Last edited:
fatboysmiles said:
I'm 14 and I have about an 85 but I really should bend my knees more and move more up on the ball
I'm 5'10" sorry forgot to mention
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That sounds decent if it's consistent. I'm 5'10 as well, and linger between 80 and 90 on first serves (which are fairly consistent), and I have a 65ish kick serve for my 2nd. Both are effective, and if my first (flat) serves aren't going in I resort to either slice serves or kickserves for both 1st and 2nd which can also be effective if the player doesn't pick up that I am not able to hit my best.
 
I'm 14 and I mix up my serve speeds a lot. My fastest is probably in the 80's and 90's maybe sometimes a little bit faster.
 
ibringtheHEAT said:
At that height, you should be able to get in the high 80's, low 90's with barely any effort. Remember to utilize your WHOLE body, not just your arm...

I figured that out about a year or so ago, and now my serves are my strongest shots.
Click to expand...

Hey, along with drakulie, I have increased my speed since the last post. Well above 100 now. Oh, and I'm 6 years older now, too. Thanks!
 
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