By NTRP standards, I'm 4-4.5 on ground strokes and -3.0 on serve consistency, which makes me a 1.0 in matches, which is why I always loose. I double fault more than anybody I know, even beginners. But then again, I've only been playing for 1.5 years and only really took interest in tennis in the last 2-3 months. I don't have much match experience, which is also why I always loose.
The day I perfect my serve is the day I'll have the confidence to perform my relaxed ground strokes during points and not feel like there's water in my head when I'm loosing 6-1 4-0 (I really need tips on how to overcome that as well).
The thing is. The ball goes where it feels like. I don't try to aim it wide or down line or whatever -- If I do, it's worse. It can get as bad as double faulting on lob serves numerous times. Again, more water in my head after I double fault twice in a row and then my lob serve goes into the net.
In fact my serve is pretty good. Just super inconsistent. I serve like Federer, and my good serves usually hit the back fence a good 3-4 ft above the ground.
PS. I also welcome tips on how to get better at matches. I can hit groundstrokes fine, just not serves. Yet I fail at breaking service, and my footwork sometimes turns to crap.
PPS. I also miss easy overheads -- Completely. I used to be able to nail those overheads. But now I suck. You can lob every single ball when I'm at the baseline and I'm screwed.
Wow. 4.5 in 1.5 years? You must be really gifted athletically or played other racquet sports growing up. Stranger things have happened, Kudos to you.
So about your serve or more specifically your toss. It's the most under praticed yet the most important part of your stroke. Most people just throw the ball up there hoping it's in the right position and focus and everything but the throwing arm.
Ok. 1st of all the toss isn't a toss, it's a lift. Your not trying to accelerate the ball, the exact opposite, your trying to place the ball in your hitting zone which is pretty much 20-22 inches from your hand at your full reach (exactly where the sweetspot is on your racquet during the serve motion.) Now most people throw a foot above this position and hit the ball on the way down because it gives them more time to complete thier motion.
When I teach people the toss I use the analogy of tossing the ball up into an attic trap door (1 foot in front of your left foot) and having it fall back down thru the door. This helps the imagery of keeping the ball toss straight up and down and keep the tossing arm slow and steady.
Let's talk about the hand. Don't cup the ball in your palm. The surface of your hand is too inconsistent to be a reliable launching pad. You should be holding the ball in your finger tips. Now this is the tricky part. Keeping your hand consistent in the right position throughout the toss. Your not flicking the wrist, in fact, your trying to keep your palm facing the sky as long as possible. If you find the fingers pointing toward the back fence at the full extension you've flicked and your toss is probably heading behind your head. Keep the wrist/palm down. The release point is somewhere around your face level but the hand will continue to rise until your arm is fully extended (consider this the follow thru of your toss).
Now the arm. The purpose of the arm, like I mention before, is not to throw the ball but to lift it. The motion is smooth and the arm speed consistent. There should be no change of speed of the arm until it decellerates at the top to stop. The arm is straight, no bend at the elbow and only the shoulder is rotating. Now the arm likes to rotate off axis a lot and end up throwing the ball behind you or to the left. A tip to counter act this to let the arm drop and the back of your tossing hand touch your left knee cap before coming up and extending. This gets your arm in the proper alignment to toss in front of you. Try it, it works. Now lastly, you must, I repeat MUST, keep that tossing arm extended as long as possible. This is the main difference between a professional serve and a recreational serve. The pros keep that arm up and extended a long time with thier hand facing the ball. This does two things. First of all it prevents you from uncoiling too soon. Once you drop the arm the tendency is for the rest the body to follow. This cause the body to open up too soon causing people to arm the ball. Alot of rec players do this and it's not because they don't have good shoulder rotation in thier motion but it's because they opened up too soon and that contribution was lost. KEEP THE ARM UP until your ready to accelerate the racquet into the ball. (If your arm is down and your right shoulder hasn't started to rise into the ball you've dropped too soon.) Two, it keeps your head and shoulders elevated. Once you drop the arm, shoulders and head tend to follow. This bring the head down and upper part of your body collapses prematurely. This causes alot of balls to go down into the net. Keeping your arm up also keeps your eyes fixed on the place where they should be, the ball. (Steffi Graf who had probably the highest toss of all women use to point at the ball to keep her arm up, just google Graf and serve and you'll probably see her in the trophy position with her finger pointing squarely at the ball).
Ok. That's the arm. Sorry, it's amazing how much technique there is in a good toss when it comes down to it. If you have anymore questions please feel free to contact me.
Cheers,
Mike
So I think I feel your pain.