How To Deal with the Sun when Serving

[Roy125]

Anyone have tips on how to deal with the sun when serving against it? I kind of throw the ball lower than I usually do at those times. Any more tips?

 

[Mick]

wear sunglasses. they do help and i noticed some pros are wearing them too.

 

[Roy125]

I do wear a cap but I don't own sunglasses.

 

[tennisdad65]

I do wear a cap but I don't own sunglasses.

$5-10 gets you one
if you wear glasses, you can use the FitOver sunglasses ($20)

 

[CharlieB]

Just adjust your serving position and ball toss. Usually throwing the ball lower or to one side can help you avoid being blinded by the sun.

 

[Power Player]

If the court is layed out North to South like it should be then you should not have many problems. The sun blinding you is because you are making contact at the wrong point in the serve. This is my experience at least.

You should be looking up for a sec into the sun on the toss, but when you bring your racquet up to contact you should be twisting your torso and facing north or south.

I also wear a hat, and that helps more with keeping sweat out of my eyes then anything else.

 

[koopa_troopa]

Practice your toss and timing more. Practice it enough that you roughly know where it is without seeing it. That way you only need a glimpse of the ball to make contact with it. The sun isn't as bad as the wind IMO, which can mess up your timing.

 

[J011yroger]

I personally deal with it by double faulting a lot.

J

 

[SethIMcClaine]

You can try opening or closing your service stance so you are tossing away from the sun a little

 

[WildVolley]

Most of the time I can just wear a hat and move the toss. Sometimes I can just kick in all my serves rather than tossing them in a position where I might stare directly into the sun.

But sometimes it is just right, so I have to almost push my serve in to not double fault. I hate that, but I lose the point if I have blue streaks all over my vision from looking briefly at the sun.

I find a low toss is sometimes is the only solution.

 

[HunterST]

I personally deal with it by double faulting a lot.

J

hahahaha That's my strategy as well. I like it so much I use it on indoor courts too.

 

[canadave]

You can try opening or closing your service stance so you are tossing away from the sun a little

^^ +1. This is the best idea IMO, if you're stuck without sunglasses and/or cap. At the same time, try to adjust your toss higher, lower, or to one side, in order to "get away from" the sun. Do whatever you have to do with your positioning at the baseline, toss, etc., in order to minimize looking in the sun's direction.

If all else fails, try jollyroger's idea. Well, you won't have to try, you'll just wind up doing it.

EDIT: One time, I tried EVERYTHING I could to get away from being right into the sun, and I just couldn't. I tried for three straight points to figure out some way around it, and wound up with jollyroger's strategy on all three. Finally, in desperation (and this is the ONLY time I've ever had to do this in 20 years playing tennis), I just gave up trying and served underhand, which worked. We got clobbered on the point, but at least the serve was in.

 

[quest01]

I personally deal with it by double faulting a lot.

J

Thats a good strategy if you like losing.

 

[naylor]

You can try opening or closing your service stance so you are tossing away from the sun a little

Second that. I'm a good server, so when playing doubles I always volunteer to serve into the sun. My toss is reasonably steady, so once it goes up I don't need to fully look at the ball and into the sun. Also, I can vary my serve, so I don't become reliant on playing the same kicker or topspin serve all the time to keep it in.

 

[Tennis Dunce]

Move to Seattle...you'll never have a problem with the sun.

 

[TourTenor]

... press button which reads, "Retractable Roof".:wink:

 

[charliefedererer]

You should have a near flat, slice, kick, and topspin spin in your arsenal. While the pros and some high level players can hit these all with the same ball toss, most toss the ball to different positions to hit these. While you may not like it, you may have to play a game with a kick or slice first serve until the sun moves out of your usual location for a first serve. Also moving a little along the baseline can change the angle enough so the ball won't be right in front of the sun at your contact point.

 

[Loco4Tennis]

i practise the toss as normal so that my eyes know what to expect
changing anything on my serve motion will lead to weak serves/shanks and or double faults
i dod the same when sunny or windy, or playing under lights
ive seen the pros do this as well, practise before they serve when they play outside

 

[5263]

Thats a good strategy if you like losing.

Jolly likes to go Big and let it sort out in the wash I think.

 

[LeeD]

If it's right where you need to look, best to throw in a few hard second serves, but move it around (you have 3 location choices). Add in twist and tops, you have 9 choices. Add in pure slices, you now have 3 more. Returner doesn't know what you're planning.

 

[fruitytennis1]

Underhand serves???
I mean i can get em in decently fast(mabey 40mph) and its better than double faulting.