Serve directional control.

[Nanshiki]

My serve is overall pretty good, but I have a hard time with directional control...

Does anyone have any tips or suggestions on how to make the ball actually go where I intend it too?

I can't seem to do it just be changing the toss, grip, or swingpath, at least not reliably.

 

[Bagumbawalla]

Think of it this way- How do you get your groundstrokes to go where you want them to go (assuming you do)?

To hit a groundstroke, the racket head faces the direction you want to send the ball and then (though you may use topspin or slice for control) the racket, basically, follows through in the same direction.

Same thing with the serve. The ball will go in the direction the racket head is facing. With that in mind, then, practice is the key. Get out there with a bucket of balls, lay a towel out as an "aiming"point and consciously hit your balls in that direction. Practice both "flat" serves and spin. Practice wide and down the middle. Pay attention to the path of the racket head through the ball- really watch it just as you would hitting a ground stroke. With practice, eventually, it will all come together.

 

[Nanshiki]

Groundstroke direction = either timing change or my position

I want to be able to hit serves in various directions but not in a way that makes it painfully obvious, like changing the way my feet point.

Also, I kind of have a hard time hitting wide serves because of the lack of net clearance on wide ones (yes, they're going that fast...lol).

 

[LeeD]

OK, practice!
First, stance, toss, and swing aimed directly center of service court. Hit tons directly into center of service court, right AT your opponent.
From there, you topspin slice to go out wide, changing the location of the toss and the swing, but with exactly the same stance. You can change your grip, but you shouldn't need to.
For serves to the other side, pronate more. If you choose to top/slice there, you have only to adjust the toss more to the hitting hand side, and back some.
But first you gotta be able to serve ONE place consistently, then adjust toss and swing to make the ball go either directions from there.
Practice.

 

[gzhpcu]

I read a tip from Pat Rafter once, saying that how he did it was to fall/go forward with your body in the direction you want your serve to go.

 

[Nellie]

Do not adjust your serve grip/swingpath to get the desired direction. Instead, try slight adjustments to the toss. because of the swing bath of the service motion, the further forward the toss, the further you will hit the ball toward your backhand side. Also, this way of aiming the serve is really hard to read by the returner, since he/she usually cannot easily detect a couple of inches of differences in the ball forward or back.

As an aside, unless you are against a pretty good player, most returners will not be able to tell if you need to turn your feet a little to aim the serve better. So do what you need to do to place that serve reliably, and worry less about the strategy/deception.

 

[In D Zone]

Well, everyone says adjust the toss. I would agree but I have found other things to work as well. I noticed this by watch the pro's - they don't the serve the same (toss, ball height, stance, platform or pinpoint and grip). So what's the difference?

1. adjust/ determine where you stand when you serve is the another issue.
I used to stand close to the center when I serve on the deuce side - problem for me is that I have a hard time serving the ball down the middle. So my serve were predictable wide out or to the body. I experimented by moving a step forward from the center towards the right and it worked. I can serve all three target areas just by this adjustment. I did not change my toss (making it harder to my opponent to read) - everything is stays the same.

2. Platform or pin point - I've noticed that I can serve a good wide out serve on my ad if I use pin point stance especially on kick serve. Noticed it helped with my timing - allowing the ball to drop a little bit lower so that I can carve the ball at the time contact point

3. serving stance - open or close? I serve better if I am serving on the deuce side using semi open stance. Ad since (close stance)

4. Grip - my normal serve grip is eastern bh. Noticed I have difficulties serving to the middle on the AD using the eastern bh grip. I experimented and it worked - change grip to continental. No ! I am not going to change all my serve to continental; only just for this one serve.

I know there's alot to remember - my serve consistency has dramatically improved and have won easy points. To me its worth experimenting and know what works and whats not. Everyone is unique, knowing the basic is good the rest if for you to customize.

Lastly - practice, practice, practice

 

[yellowoctopus]

Hi: Try reading through this thread
http://tt.tennis-warehouse.com/showthread.php?t=235475

I found a couple of advice from Kevo and Fuzz_nation very useful, with instant results.

 

[nyc]

don't think technique...visualize WHERE you want the ball to go...and practice, practice, practice...place targets in the box and try to hit them

 

[Nanshiki]

I hit a bunch of serves tonight.

Directional control and placement is still kind of a crapshoot but it's getting the first serve is getting much faster and more reliable.

Changing tosses or positioning, or grips, or visualizing, or swing paths sometimes seems to work but I can't nail down which is doing which.

I can put it in the middle basically every time I want to (except for faults), and I can sometimes put it wide or down the T, except it causes my fault rate to go up, and sometimes it goes the opposite of what I aimed. But most of the time it just goes down the middle. The heck.

 

[In D Zone]

I hit a bunch of serves tonight.

Directional control and placement is still kind of a crapshoot but it's getting the first serve is getting much faster and more reliable.

Changing tosses or positioning, or grips, or visualizing, or swing paths sometimes seems to work but I can't nail down which is doing which.

I can put it in the middle basically every time I want to (except for faults), and I can sometimes put it wide or down the T, except it causes my fault rate to go up, and sometimes it goes the opposite of what I aimed. But most of the time it just goes down the middle. The heck.

SInce you know you have a couple of reliable spot when you serve. Focus on working on the direction / spot where you feel the weakest. And also work on what type of serve you are going to be using.

It may take some time, just remember what and how you did well and can you repeat the serve. Try to keep things simple, don't jump up or toss the ball too high.

 

[Nanshiki]

I find that I have to move around the baseline in order to get better directional control...

Not because it actually changes where I hit, but because it gives me the net clearance I need to actually be able to place the shot wide.

Also, for the record, my first serve is BOOMING right now, but I'm having a hard time finding my second serve... might be the string getting a little lose (hence why I'm hitting the first better).

 

[csr_88]

Groundstroke direction = either timing change or my position

I want to be able to hit serves in various directions but not in a way that makes it painfully obvious, like changing the way my feet point.

Also, I kind of have a hard time hitting wide serves because of the lack of net clearance on wide ones (yes, they're going that fast...lol).

for a kicker out wide i open up my racket face(on both sides of service)
ex. I am right handed so i open it up to the right
when i try to kick it out i swing a bit faster and definitely try to get ontop of the ball or it will just fly out to the side.
with the open racket face and getting ontop of the ball you shouldn't have any problems getting it over the net

 

[In D Zone]

I find that I have to move around the baseline in order to get better directional control...

Not because it actually changes where I hit, but because it gives me the net clearance I need to actually be able to place the shot wide.

Also, for the record, my first serve is BOOMING right now, but I'm having a hard time finding my second serve... might be the string getting a little lose (hence why I'm hitting the first better).

Great progress Nanshiki! You know what you need to do to get the serve in.

On Second serve:
If its the string you'll know it - your bh and fh will be affected as well.
Its all about timing on ball contact - there is a very slight delay allowing the ball to drop down for you to brush the ball with a good spin. It you hit it too early - you tend to over hit or too low to hit down to the net.
Focus on brushing the ball the right contact point; don't muscles the serve.

 

[Sublime]

don't think technique...visualize WHERE you want the ball to go...and practice, practice, practice...place targets in the box and try to hit them

This is very important. If you aren't very precise about where you want the ball to go, you can't possibly know how far off you were. If you don't know how far off you were, how do you expect your brain to compensate next time?

I think the saying is "aim small, miss small"

 

[Frankauc]

I read a tip from Pat Rafter once, saying that how he did it was to fall/go forward with your body in the direction you want your serve to go.

thanks for the tip, i will try it. I never thought of doing this

 

[Nanshiki]

Great progress Nanshiki! You know what you need to do to get the serve in.

On Second serve:
If its the string you'll know it - your bh and fh will be affected as well.
Its all about timing on ball contact - there is a very slight delay allowing the ball to drop down for you to brush the ball with a good spin. It you hit it too early - you tend to over hit or too low to hit down to the net.
Focus on brushing the ball the right contact point; don't muscles the serve.

It's starting to effect my groundstrokes, but not to the extent that it effects second serve... to hit a powerful kick like I do when it's 'on' takes a lot of confidence, and you have to have the most control and spin possible for it to stay in.

I find I've been overhitting a few more forehands than usual... guess I need to go buy some more of this string. Although I think if I restring, I'll lose my first serve.

 

[Nanshiki]

DOH, I just got creamed in my first 4.0 match, partially because I got broken every time since my first serve WOULD NOT go in once I switched to new balls, and with the lose string all I could hit was underhands... time to restring and buy another case of balls I guess.

 

[Tennis Dunce]

I agree to forego technique per se, and focus on the racquet being an extension of your arm. You could throw the ball up and hit it where you want it to go with your hand right?

The more hours you hold a racquet, the closer you get to having it feel like a part of your body...not like a racquet. Visualize...tennis is mental, mental, mental!

 

[Nanshiki]

I know it sounds crazy, but I almost thing that wearing a wristband (two actually) might have actually had to do with me serving so poorly (they were fast but often out long)... a few grams on a racquet makes a big difference and a wristband is essentially several grams on the buttcap.

I've restrung the racquet so I'll see if I can recreate 'the magic,' while maintaining a reliable second serve, volleys (I was getting too much pop with new balls), and groundstrokes (not enough confidence to drive it hard). I'll make sure to practice with the wristbands next time... and with new balls.