Actually . . .
You see a lot of push serves from 3.5 guys. I think my spin serve is more effective. My serve isn't faster -- it is about the same speed you might see from a 3.5 guy push. But it will have spin, and that helps. Above 3.5, a guy's push serve has to be better than my serve.
Hey I resemble that comment. Ouch.
Honestly though pushing a second serve at 3.5 isn't as bad as you think since most 3.5 guys will see it as an opportunity to blast a forehand right past me. Fortunately most 3.5 guys don't have the ability to generate their own pace so they end up blasting it in the net or into the fence behind me. Now at 4.0 you can't get away with a week second serve but at 3.0 or 3.5 it really isn't a liability.
Fair enough, fair enough. It is true at 3.5 men's (and 3.5+ women's too) that players lack the ability to consistently punish the push serve. Personally, I love it when my female opponent has a weak push for a second because I can stand close and hit a drop or shot slice return and force her to run up and hit a pass against two at net. I lack the consistency to smoke that push serve, but I can put the server in all kinds of trouble, especially if she isn't good at net. But I digress, Kevrol.
Here's the thing that is frustrating.
In a mixed match with a 3.5 guy blast-then-push partner, I can literally keep track of how many first serves hit the court. It's not many. And the push second serve does result in some double faults because, well, that's the nature of push serves, isn't it? You get tight, your racket head speed slows, you have no spin to help you, and you miss.
And also, there's the whole *look* of it, right? I mean, you fellas want to look good out there, right? Well, if any player blasts a huge first serve fault and then hits a comical, dainty creampuff for a second . . . it's just not a good look.
