Kick Serve - Ad vs Deuce Court

[nothinButTennis]

I keep hearing kick serve is more of 8 to 2 or 7 to 1 but isn't it applicable for just Ad Court.
On deuce, shouldn't the swing me more 6 to 12 or 5 to 11?
I would like to what all adjustment you make for kick serve ad vs deuce court in terms of stands, swing path etc?

 

[TupeloDanger]

Right handed? Good luck with 5 to 11. Best wishes to your orthopedist.

 

[TupeloDanger]

Anyway, typical tennis service strategy with a fairly well developed service game, is that (assuming right-handedness) you'll hit your flat serves to the right edge of the service box, your kick serves to the right edge of the service box, and your slice serves to the left side. Obviously, you'll mix in occasional body shots, but again, those translate the same between ad and deuce.

Can you imagine how you set up to hit a flat serve toward the sideline or backhand corner in the ad court? Then can you imagine how you set up and swing to hit a kick serve to the ad court? Great.

Now realign for the deuce court. Same idea. One typical target for both kinds of serves, and nothing else really changes except the angle you're hitting from. Many people find it helpful to increase the angle between the front foot and the baseline when serving to the deuce court to facilitate this.

 

[The Jet]

You cannot hit the "kicker" without tossing the ball to your left if you are right handed. AND, you need to master what is called "pronation."

As far as placement, that's easy, pick the side that gives the person your playing the greatest difficulty.

I would mix it up, and a few right at him/her.

The Jet

 

[nothinButTennis]

You cannot hit the "kicker" without tossing the ball to your left if you are right handed. AND, you need to master what is called "pronation."

As far as placement, that's easy, pick the side that gives the person your playing the greatest difficulty.

I would mix it up, and a few right at him/her.

The Jet

Sorry, this question is not how to hit kick serve or where(placement) to hit..

 

[The Jet]

Sorry, this question is not how to hit kick serve or where(placement) to hit..

Well,

Do you toss the ball to your left and do you serve with pronation?

If you don't, you're not hitting a kicker.

Gotta start someplace.

The Jet

 

[10isMaestro]

I keep hearing kick serve is more of 8 to 2 or 7 to 1 but isn't it applicable for just Ad Court.
On deuce, shouldn't the swing me more 6 to 12 or 5 to 11?
I would like to what all adjustment you make for kick serve ad vs deuce court in terms of stands, swing path etc?

Part of the secret is that you don't face the net at the same angle when you serve to the ad side than when you serve to the deuce side. A right handed player will stand a tad more open on the deuce side to compensate for the face he's hitting in the other direction. (Side note: Many ATP players will also stand further away from the center mark on the Ad side because they intend to give themselves mostly forehands off the return of serve. If they were still serving and volleying more often, you'd see them stand closer to the center mark on both sides to reduce the angles they give to the returner and reduce their running distance to a good transition volley position.)

The other part of the secret is that you can make adjustments to your swing so you still get a kick despite hitting it toward your backhand side (deuce court for a right handed player and ad court for a left handed player). In other words, you end up (by habit, it's not something you do consciously) adjusting the angle of your string bed and your swing path a bit to hit in that direction. Do note that because of the swing path, it is indeed easier to hit kick serves out wide on the ad court for a right handed player than it is to hit it down the middle on that same side. Likewise, the outwide and body serves on the deuce court are hard to make as kick serves -- and much simpler to get if you trade the twist bounce with a slice effect.


And, as always, a good start for all topspin serves is to force yourself to hit them while trying to remain facing the fence. This exaggerates the correct technique and gives you a feel for how you need to swing at the ball.

 

[10isMaestro]

As far as placement, that's easy, pick the side that gives the person your playing the greatest difficulty.

I would mix it up, and a few right at him/her.

The best picks depend on a lot of things.

First and foremost, what kind of shot do you want to play off the incoming return? If you want to volley, middle and body serves are preferable to wide serves, on average, but, if you intend on giving yourself a forehand to strike from inside the court, then the wide serves become preferable -- again, on average. Obviously, if your opponent presents a very asymmetric return game (usually, this means a bad backhand return of serve), you can try to pick on it more often.

Another thing, if your opponent handles his racket with the opposite hand (right handed if you are left handed or left hand if you are right handed), you could also consider hitting more of your topspin serves with a slice kind of movement instead of trying to get the usual twist bounce -- it will force him to hit more backhands by getting the ball to drift in that direction. I do grant that this one is tricky -- you really need a good serve to be able to do that on demand.

Finally, he may also want to adjust the pace of his kick serves (once he gets the hang of it). Many people will try to counter a kick by adjusting their receiving court position. If you see them back up, trade pace for spin and go for a big angle -- the depth of his position will magnify the effect of your shot. If he moves up the court too much, flatten one out just a bit more. It will kick lower and move faster, the effect of which is magnified by him having moved forward. That is also hard to hit on demand, but it can really drive people nuts.

 

[nothinButTennis]

Part of the secret is that you don't face the net at the same angle when you serve to the ad side than when you serve to the deuce side. A right handed player will stand a tad more open on the deuce side to compensate for the face he's hitting in the other direction. (Side note: Many ATP players will also stand further away from the center mark on the Ad side because they intend to give themselves mostly forehands off the return of serve. If they were still serving and volleying more often, you'd see them stand closer to the center mark on both sides to reduce the angles they give to the returner and reduce their running distance to a good transition volley position.)

The other part of the secret is that you can make adjustments to your swing so you still get a kick despite hitting it toward your backhand side (deuce court for a right handed player and ad court for a left handed player). In other words, you end up (by habit, it's not something you do consciously) adjusting the angle of your string bed and your swing path a bit to hit in that direction. Do note that because of the swing path, it is indeed easier to hit kick serves out wide on the ad court for a right handed player than it is to hit it down the middle on that same side. Likewise, the outwide and body serves on the deuce court are hard to make as kick serves -- and much simpler to get if you trade the twist bounce with a slice effect.


And, as always, a good start for all topspin serves is to force yourself to hit them while trying to remain facing the fence. This exaggerates the correct technique and gives you a feel for how you need to swing at the ball.

Thank you, kinda details that i was interested

 

[10isMaestro]

Thank you, kinda details that i was interested

Basically, your string bed needs to face the deuce court at contact if you want to hit there. Other things like the friction created by swinging across the ball also matter, just like how the ball is moving at contact, but the basic point remains the same.