Serve in windy days

[johnmccabe]

Just came back from a serve practice in 10-15 mph of wind. When serving against the wind, my slice serve especially from deuce court went into the net way more often than normal. Kick serve with tail wind seems to go long more than usual. Am I not adjusting certain elements correctly? Or it is not just my technique. Maybe some combination of spin and wind does lead to more errors for rec players? I'm sure pros can serve anywhere in any wind.

do you adapt to wind by picking different type of serve? or stick to your normal serve/shot selection and change technical things like toss or swing?

 

[socallefty]

I do try to hit more kick or topslice serves against the wind as I can hit harder and still control the serve. With the wind, I’ll hit more flat and slice serves.

If there is a crosswind, I’ll hit slice when crosswind is in my favor to take lefty slice to the right and more kick when the crosswind is against the slice direction.

The key is to calibrate my serve to still hit with good depth and I probably don’t aim as close to the sidelines in the wind.

 

[S&V-not_dead_yet]

You might also consider a shorter toss if yours is above-average in height.

 

[johnmccabe]

You might also consider a shorter toss if yours is above-average in height.

That was the first thing I tried and got mixed results... the serve went awry when I forgot to speed up the rhythm with a lower toss.

 

[johnmccabe]

I do try to hit more kick or topslice serves against the wind as I can hit harder and still control the serve. With the wind, I’ll hit more flat and slice serves.

If there is a crosswind, I’ll hit slice when crosswind is in my favor to take lefty slice to the right and more kick when the crosswind is against the slice direction.

The key is to calibrate my serve to still hit with good depth and I probably don’t aim as close to the sidelines in the wind.

totally makes sense and easy to remember... thanks

 

[Nostradamus]

Just came back from a serve practice in 10-15 mph of wind. When serving against the wind, my slice serve especially from deuce court went into the net way more often than normal. Kick serve with tail wind seems to go long more than usual. Am I not adjusting certain elements correctly? Or it is not just my technique. Maybe some combination of spin and wind does lead to more errors for rec players? I'm sure pros can serve anywhere in any wind.

do you adapt to wind by picking different type of serve? or stick to your normal serve/shot selection and change technical things like toss or swing?

In 10-15 mph, you stick with your normal serve, but anything windier like 20 mph wind , you have to adjust, would use the kick serve more going with the wind, hard kick serve i mean. and going against, hit hard flat serves or slice if there is side wind.

One thing that does frustrate me a great deal is i was told in the past, i should toss the ball Lower if it is very windy day, but i have problem with that. If i toss the ball lower than usual, it completely messes up my timing and can screw up my serve beyond that day even. So tossing the ball lower just doesn't work for me.

 

[S&V-not_dead_yet]

That was the first thing I tried and got mixed results... the serve went awry when I forgot to speed up the rhythm with a lower toss.

Yeah, it's a tradeoff, just like altering toss location to avoid the sun, although that's a more severe case.

 

[OnTheLine]

I play where there is a lot of wind. I consider 10-15mph a non-windy day.
I agree with the other posters on a lower toss ... I move it to the right (I am a righty) so I get good extension and can execute a solid slice with net clearance.

The thing about serves is how difficult is it to return.
One can have a pretty looking serve that actually is easy to return. So what is the point?

Use the wind to your advantage .... taking off some pace and adding spin can make for a very obnoxious serve to return. The wind can affect the bounce.

For margin and annoyance factor, slice to the body in high wind is very effective.

 

[johnmccabe]

I play where there is a lot of wind. I consider 10-15mph a non-windy day.
I agree with the other posters on a lower toss ... I move it to the right (I am a righty) so I get good extension and can execute a solid slice with net clearance.

The thing about serves is how difficult is it to return.
One can have a pretty looking serve that actually is easy to return. So what is the point?

Use the wind to your advantage .... taking off some pace and adding spin can make for a very obnoxious serve to return. The wind can affect the bounce.

For margin and annoyance factor, slice to the body in high wind is very effective.

I serve with pinpoint stance and racquet lag, which typically works better with high toss and slower rhythm. I'll have to experiment low loss more to see if I can make it work.

 

[Humbi_HTX]

I am used to playing outdoors with 10 to 15mph winds, but more than that it really affects the flight of the ball. For me it is very hard to keep in mind which way its blowing during a rally, but on serves you have the chance to prepare for this 1 hit and how to use the conditions to your favor.

 

[ChaelAZ]

Western states have had a super windy last few months. For me, I do a lot more low toss fast serves, but like to use very slow pace kick or slice trying to play the wind. Works, but isn’t always easy.

 

[OnTheLine]

I just gotta say: today was windy AND the sun was right in my windy-day toss path. (yeah, I drew the sunny side). First service game was beyond poor. Kept my sense of humor.
Because of where the sun was (which yellow ball am I trying to hit?) went full side-arm ... even produced one ace. Got better from there.

 

[zaskar1]

for me, on windy days, my toss is affected. i really have to concentrate as i already have a tendency to swing at a bad toss.
if the wind isnt steady, i will wait for it to die down a bit.
serving with the wind i always hit a spin or kicker, as i am afraid it will land long
against the wind, i can blast away as my serve will usually go in if i dont have a bad toss.

you just have to adjust to the elements
z

 

[socallefty]

serving with the wind i always hit a spin or kicker, as i am afraid it will land long
against the wind, i can blast away as my serve will usually go in if i dont have a bad toss.

Interesting as I advocated the opposite in my earlier post. I like the extra miles per hour of pace I get when I serve hard with the wind. When I serve flat against the wind, serving hard doesn’t seem as effective as my serve gets slowed down and returners do better. So, I swing fast with a kick motion against the wind and make my serves kick up higher which can be effective even if the serve is a trifle slower than in non-windy conditions.

Maybe you serve faster than me and don’t have to worry about the effect of the wind on your serve speed. Different tactics for those who serve above 100mph and for those who play at different levels.

 

[PURETENNISsense]

do you adapt to wind by picking different type of serve?

1) Aim for closer margins (if choosing to go for normal serving pattern)
2) use heavy spin serves (kick and slice) if adapting serving routine
3) Get more 1st serves in. Helps in avoiding having to hit 2nd serves with pressure in sub-par conditions

 

[Nostradamus]

1) Aim for closer margins (if choosing to go for normal serving pattern)
2) use heavy spin serves (kick and slice) if adapting serving routine
3) Get more 1st serves in. Helps in avoiding having to hit 2nd serves with pressure in sub-par conditions

ok all good ideas but What if you are kind of player that rely Heavily on your serves getting you short balls and weak returns or even outright unreturnable serves. and if you don't get these then you suck all day. What if you are that kind of player ??

 

[PURETENNISsense]

ok all good ideas but What if you are kind of player that rely Heavily on your serves getting you short balls and weak returns or even outright unreturnable serves. and if you don't get these then you suck all day. What if you are that kind of player ??

Slice serve sliding into the body should give unreturnables. Also a well developed (even intermediate kick serve) should give the short balls especially when using kick wide on Ad (assuming a r-handed player).

You could also decide to play chess indoors for the day.

 

[Nostradamus]

Slice serve sliding into the body should give unreturnables. Also a well developed (even intermediate kick serve) should give the short balls especially when using kick wide on Ad (assuming a r-handed player).

You could also decide to play chess indoors for the day.

yea but if it is a league match, i don't have a choice that its windy. i have to take alot of pace off with more spin to get them in and returners seem to return my serve so much better when i do that

 

[PURETENNISsense]

yea but if it is a league match, i don't have a choice that its windy. i have to take alot of pace off with more spin to get them in and returners seem to return my serve so much better when i do that

Are your spin serves not as strong as your normal non-windy serves?

The other option is to hit your normal strong serves and accommodate your toss to where the wind is blowing. Be patient and only hit ideal tosses.... nothing in the rules on how many tosses your can get before you hit one. May annoy the opponent but it's legal.

 

[Nostradamus]

Are your spin serves not as strong as your normal non-windy serves?

The other option is to hit your normal strong serves and accommodate your toss to where the wind is blowing. Be patient and only hit ideal tosses.... nothing in the rules on how many tosses your can get before you hit one. May annoy the opponent but it's legal.

spin serve is spin serve, you have to put mega spin and aim in the middle of the court to get them in consistently if major windy day. and as far as catching the toss, one match i caught my toss about 3-5 times every time i served and my opponent started yelling profenities at me. I should have filed a formal complaint with league coordinator but i didn't because i am such a civlized and good fellow

 

[PURETENNISsense]

spin serve is spin serve,

Agreed.

my opponent started yelling profenities at me

That's terrible. Did you start hitting the not-so-great tosses bc of this?

 

[Nostradamus]

Agreed.
That's terrible. Did you start hitting the not-so-great tosses bc of this?

yes, i was forced to chase all the bad tosses and i served like 5%

 

[nyta2]

ok all good ideas but What if you are kind of player that rely Heavily on your serves getting you short balls and weak returns or even outright unreturnable serves. and if you don't get these then you suck all day. What if you are that kind of player ??

hi ivo!

 

[PURETENNISsense]

yes, i was forced to chase all the bad tosses and i served like 5%

Man this guy sounds like a bully. No need to drop profanity in a match at your opponent.