Service Yips

[Matthew ATX]

How do y'all deal with this? I'm a 4.5C but I don't know how to serve anymore. My toss goes wildly behind my head. The only way I can keep it in front of me is to throw it low but then I dump the serve into the net. My serve use to be a weapon and now I'm good for 3-4 double faults a game. Even when my toss is right, I don't know how to go up and get it, probably because I'm used to chasing it behind my head. I'm like falling down and hitting it off the top of my frame. I've never had the yips this bad and I can't figure out how to get rid of them. It's going on two months.

 

[Cashman]

Stop playing matches for a little bit and go back to basics.

I would even put the racquet away for a bit and just practice your toss. Get really comfortable putting the ball In the right place, over and over until it’s so accurate and boring that you’re not even thinking about it.

Once you’ve re-saved the toss in muscle memory, just start hitting the ball out of the backscratch position. Don’t worry about any mechanics - just start rolling the arm over. Backscratch, ball up, hit through. Backscratch, ball up, hit through. All you want is good solid contact.

Once you are tossing reliably and making reliable contact, start reintroducing elements of your serve - sync your trophy prep, add deeper knee bend, more explosion up into the ball, more aggressive movement into the court. If things go off the rails at any point, back off and reinforce what was working. Don’t worry about where the ball is going, just worry about how the motion and contact feel.

This is what worked for me, anyway. It does assume you have a pretty solid motion - if your technique sucks you will just groove bad habits

 

[LeungD]

Here's what fixed my toss: looking up to the spot I want to place the ball before I toss.

 

[nyta2]

Here's what fixed my toss: looking up to the spot I want to place the ball before I toss.

+1 multiplied by a basket-of-balls/day for 3 mos....

 

[Chalkdust]

How do y'all deal with this? I'm a 4.5C but I don't know how to serve anymore. My toss goes wildly behind my head. The only way I can keep it in front of me is to throw it low but then I dump the serve into the net. My serve use to be a weapon and now I'm good for 3-4 double faults a game. Even when my toss is right, I don't know how to go up and get it, probably because I'm used to chasing it behind my head. I'm like falling down and hitting it off the top of my frame. I've never had the yips this bad and I can't figure out how to get rid of them. It's going on two months.

Is it consistently bad, or does it come and go?
When you are warming up, or just hitting practice serves, is it the same? Or just in matchplay?

 

[time_fly]

I used to have massive toss problems. I served with a pinpoint serve and would generally toss with my weight on my front leg while pulling my back leg in, and that didn’t work for me. Rocking to the back leg to start the toss and making sure my tossing hand starts low fixed it for me. That may not be your solution, but there are a lot of different toss grips, starting stances, toss angles, etc out there. Get on the practice court and see if you can find what works for you.

 

[ChaelAZ]

I've never had the yips this bad and I can't figure out how to get rid of them. It's going on two months.

In an individual game, it just happens. Over months though it might just be you've ingrained some mental or physical habit that is mucking things up. So as mentioned above, might be worth taking a short break just to clear mental/physical memory. Then just get back out in a low pressure setting and groove back from casual serves to full serves and see how it goes.

 

[ShaunS]

How do y'all deal with this? I'm a 4.5C but I don't know how to serve anymore. My toss goes wildly behind my head. The only way I can keep it in front of me is to throw it low but then I dump the serve into the net. My serve use to be a weapon and now I'm good for 3-4 double faults a game. Even when my toss is right, I don't know how to go up and get it, probably because I'm used to chasing it behind my head. I'm like falling down and hitting it off the top of my frame. I've never had the yips this bad and I can't figure out how to get rid of them. It's going on two months.

There's plenty of good advice here. I'll assume this is far more than an indoor to outdoor transition around this time of year. Serving outside is always odd for a little while coming off the perfect conditions of indoor tennis.

I'll echo what @ChaelAZ said though. It's easy to slip into bad habits, but it can be very difficult to spot for yourself. If you've got a buddy who's got a good eye for technique, explain the issue to them, and have them watch you hit some serves. Alternatively, book a quick session with a quality teaching pro. If there's a mechanical issue, and it's quite possible there is then they should be able to spot it quickly. I've done this numerous times in the past where I just couldn't "detect" the problem because it'd become part of my routine.

You could also take a couple weeks off. Sometimes I'll come back from a break and absolutely groove serves. I expect it's because I reset some of the little quirks I'm doing to alleviate aches/pains or whatever.

 

[TennisOTM]

I found this podcast episode useful when I was struggling with my serve toss:

How To Fix Your Serve Toss - Essential Tennis Podcast #295 -

If your serve toss gives you fits (especially during matches) then this episode of the Essential Tennis Podcast is a must listen! You’ll learn step by

www.essentialtennis.com

 

[GummiiBear]

Deleted.

 

[davced1]

I have this in matches and I try to figure it out. My 2nd serve is reliable I can roll it in so I could go for a big 1st serve. The warm-up serves are usually ok, then I progress to the match and the serve is still ok, not practice level but with some pace. As the match goes on it just keeps on getting worse and I just roll in the 1st serve. After tonights match as this happened per usual I was curious to see if I still could hit big serves when the mental block of the match was gone. Of course I could better than ever probably, smooth motion, toss was there, the right amonunt of spin and everything was fine.

I thought why can't I seem to keep it up in matches it would get me through my service games much easier. How to overcome the mental block? It's the same for general strokes, only shot that stays the same throughout the match is the backhand slice with the rest I get more tentative the longer the match. I can hit a decent forehand but resort to pushing. It's very annoying to say the least. I believe it has something to do with my no risk personality. I don't like to miss so in matches I keep to the safest alternative even though it's probably not benefical long term.

 

[socallefty]

How do y'all deal with this? I'm a 4.5C but I don't know how to serve anymore. My toss goes wildly behind my head. The only way I can keep it in front of me is to throw it low but then I dump the serve into the net. My serve use to be a weapon and now I'm good for 3-4 double faults a game. Even when my toss is right, I don't know how to go up and get it, probably because I'm used to chasing it behind my head. I'm like falling down and hitting it off the top of my frame. I've never had the yips this bad and I can't figure out how to get rid of them. It's going on two months.

How are you feeling about yourself outside of tennis? Sometimes if you are not feeling good, it is easy to fall into self-pity and sabotage yourself on court which can lead to self-inflicted problems like service yips.

If it is a pure technique issue that has gone awry, take a lesson.

 

[Morch Us]

how to serve anymore.

My serve use to be a weapon and now I'm good for 3-4 double faults a game.

My advice is to see what you were trying to change in the recent times in serve. It seems like you had a "dependable" serve, but you were trying to "develop" something, which might have taken away some other "natural" technical element from your serve (which you were not activitly thinking about before).

My best guess is that you were trying to develop a stronger kick serve and lost track of the toss and "easy forward action". If this is the case, forget about the kick for some time, and go back to basics, and try to remember how your serve "used to be". And then re-develop the kick, and while "re-developing" or "re-inventing" remember NOT to forget already developed skills and keep practicing them as well.

 

[S&V-not_dead_yet]

@Matthew ATX,

After you get your toss straightened out [no pun intended], video yourself so you can spot any obvious problems [balance, timing of weight distribution, fluidity of arm swing, etc]. Maybe you're doing things now that you didn't prior.

Also, try serving from the Service Line as opposed to the baseline and as you recover your rhythm, move back gradually.

 

[Morch Us]

If it is a pure technique issue that has gone awry, take a lesson.

I don't think so, since he had a dependable serve before. It is more of a "mental block" where you just have to get the brain to forget the recent adjustments (the new natural) and get the "old natural" back.

For serve, this does happen, when you try to "improve" some technical elements. For example when trying to increase the power of serve, or when trying to incorporate new mechanics like "twist" spin.

 

[Klitz]

My take in general is that you have to keep swinging. The muscle memory for one's Serve is predicated on a certain range of RHS.

The only way to "find" your serve mid match is to keep confidently swinging. Specifically, I would switch to a more aggressive second serve as your first, until you know that you can make the second serve no problem.

Once that happens, you will feel less pressure to make your true first serve, allowing for you to swing freely.

 

[Tom Haslam Tennis]

Lots of great points on here.

Of course the toss is so important. But one thing I have found with my players and something I experienced and when I was playing as well, is that when we get into this sort of rut and miss a couple of serves, we immediately get that fear and feeling of 'Oh god, here comes a double fault'.

One of the first biggest problems is that the hitting arm tenses up, which creates a horrible feeling when you're trying to hit. I'd focus on keeping this hand as loose and relaxed as possible. If you can do this straight away simply by thinking about it, then great. But a tool you can use to do it yourself is to tense your hand as hard as possible and then release it, do this 3 times before you serve and then keep it as loose and relaxed as possible.

Then just focus on one technical queue, for example - I'm going to make sure I really throw my racket up to the ball, rather than hitting it on the way down.

I've found these both to be really useful for both my players and myself.

Hope they help you too!

Tom

 

[xFullCourtTenniSx]

1) Take a deep breath.
2) Loosen everything up. (Hands, wrists, elbows, shoulder, legs.)
3) Choose where you want to hit it.
4) Step up to the baseline and focus on the first shot you want to hit after the serve (or being ready for the return).

Basically, take out all thoughts concerning whether the serve goes in or not. If you know you're capable of serving, trust it and focus on playing the game assuming the serve is going in, whether it be a bad serve or a good serve.

 

[OnTheLine]

I am no 4.5 player ... but have gone through yips with the serve. About 2 weeks ago, I strung together 2 particularly bad matches ... director of tennis at club had watched both and asked me what happened: Told him I was doing my Zverev impression followed by my Sabalenka impression. It was that bad.

Usually when this happens I start getting more and more timid and start decelerating to avoid the dreaded DF.

The only way I have been able to get out of a service slump (usually last a week or so) is to start pounding the serve. (I know, kinda lame to say as a 3.5F but ...) Focus on only the ball (not fancy spin, placement, etc.), just look at the ball and hit it as hard as I can. Usually this kinda re-wires my rhythm and somehow everything comes back normally. Now if I can only remember that in the middle of a free-fall match.

 

[sureshs]

How do y'all deal with this? I'm a 4.5C but I don't know how to serve anymore. My toss goes wildly behind my head. The only way I can keep it in front of me is to throw it low but then I dump the serve into the net. My serve use to be a weapon and now I'm good for 3-4 double faults a game. Even when my toss is right, I don't know how to go up and get it, probably because I'm used to chasing it behind my head. I'm like falling down and hitting it off the top of my frame. I've never had the yips this bad and I can't figure out how to get rid of them. It's going on two months.

1. Straight arm
2. Shoulder as hinge, no elbow bend
3. Hold ball with thumb and first 2 fingers only
4. Toss slowly, just enough for the desired height. A coach studied videos of rec and pro players and compared their tossing arm speeds. The rec players were much faster than the pros! The hurried motion is very bad
5. Align the direction with a landmark, typically front thigh or netpost
6. Before tossing, look at the eventual highest toss position, and don't move your head up from low to high along with the ball

 

[sureshs]

The only way I have been able to get out of a service slump (usually last a week or so) is to start pounding the serve. (I know, kinda lame to say as a 3.5F but ...) Focus on only the ball (not fancy spin, placement, etc.), just look at the ball and hit it as hard as I can. Usually this kinda re-wires my rhythm and somehow everything comes back normally.

Very interesting. It maybe because it clears your accumulated muscle tension and gets you free flowing again.

 

[FuzzyYellowBalls]

How does one breathe, chew, blink? Serve so often that the toss is automatic like these activities. Start tossing around age 6 then just do it at least every week for a few decades and it becomes one of these automatic things.
To catch up on lost time, 100 balls in a basket, serve for an hour everyday for a year or two.

 

[ktx]

I suggest 2 things: visualization + finding 1 technique thing to focus on in a match. If you have an innately good serve, your toss is going awry bc of the yips and it's becoming a self-fulfilling prophesy. For the technique thing, like knee bend or swing fast - just something to get your mind off the toss. Besides, you likely have the skills to hit a decent serve in off a bad toss. I say ignore the toss. It'll come back.

 

[S&V-not_dead_yet]

The only way I have been able to get out of a service slump (usually last a week or so) is to start pounding the serve. (I know, kinda lame to say as a 3.5F but ...)

It doesn't sound lame at all. "Pound" is relative: if it's 95+% of your max, you're pounding the serve. It doesn't matter how fast it goes or how slow someone else perceives it.

 

[Jono123]

Take a breath, stay relaxed and loose. Try taking a few fingers off the racquet and let it do the work,

 

[Matthew ATX]

Thank y'all so much for all the responses. Lot's of good stuff in here.

I've been working on holding the ball differently so my fingers don't cling to the toss as much and roll it behind me.

 

[Matthew ATX]

Also, I think my back injuries (upper and lower) last year are weighing on me. I feel good now, but I'm so afraid of getting hurt again that during match play, I am really tentative on how I move, how I bend etc... I didn't think about it on my serve, but the more I dwell on this, the more I think that I'm just being tight when I serve. That doesn't explain the toss yips, but I think it might be responsible for why I don't know how to move my body in my service motion anymore. I've always had a pretty jerky service motion, which is the exact type of thing I try to avoid in day to day life to avoid getting hurt again.

 

[S&V-not_dead_yet]

Also, I think my back injuries (upper and lower) last year are weighing on me. I feel good now, but I'm so afraid of getting hurt again that during match play, I am really tentative on how I move, how I bend etc... I didn't think about it on my serve, but the more I dwell on this, the more I think that I'm just being tight when I serve. That doesn't explain the toss yips, but I think it might be responsible for why I don't know how to move my body in my service motion anymore. I've always had a pretty jerky service motion, which is the exact type of thing I try to avoid in day to day life to avoid getting hurt again.

This is a long-shot but have you ever tried Tai Chi? TC is the opposite of "jerky": everything is smooth and rhythmic and mostly circular. It might not even help your serve but it might help with injury prevention.

 

[mnttlrg]

I've never had the yips this bad and I can't figure out how to get rid of them. It's going on two months.

I have struggled with major issues with my toss for a while. The best fixer for me was to change the moment in my physical process that I do the toss.

So normally I'd lean back, toss up, then move forward to hit. I have found it easier to toss as I move forward into a knee bend. That way my tight back muscles and legs don't keep interfering with my tossing arm.

 

[PURETENNISsense]

Stop playing matches for a little bit and go back to basics.

Best and only necessary advice!

Maybe check how you are gripping the ball with your tossing hand too. Makes a big difference.... can remedy a habitual bad toss

 

[Nostradamus]

Try the Rick Macci method of fixing your serve, it really works

 

[Slicehand]

3-4 df a game? So you lose every serve point in a match by double faulting? Wow, better than that just tap in the ball untill you develop raquet head speed to spin the ball into the court

 

[S&V-not_dead_yet]

3-4 df a game? So you lose every serve point in a match by double faulting?

He never stated he loses at love.

 

[sovertennis]

+1 multiplied by a basket-of-balls/day for 3 mos....

This, and perhaps do the practice somewhere other then on a tennis court to help separate and isolate the physical act (tossing) from the setting (which is providing you with some anxiety). May sound a bit new-agey but it seems to work for some players.

 

[Chairman3]

As you're about to serve, kind of step off the line, relax, and take a deep breath.
Seems to work for me

Don't get rushed and work to keep an even tempo throughout the match for both your motion and toss.

 

[nyta2]

This, and perhaps do the practice somewhere other then on a tennis court to help separate and isolate the physical act (tossing) from the setting (which is providing you with some anxiety). May sound a bit new-agey but it seems to work for some players.

interesting concept, but definitely the same concept of "try this new swing, and don't worry about where it goes" (which can be hard to separate, because most folks just want to get the ball in the box, which often times makes them revert back to their old comfortable swing)

hehe, it's often counter intuitive to think you're making progress toward a new correct/more efficient swing, when the result was a ball hit over the fence

 

[socalmd123]

Right before you hit ball say either out loud or to
Yourself “ hot dog”.

 

[sovertennis]

,",
interesting concept, but definitely the same concept of "try this new swing, and don't worry about where it goes" (which can be hard to separate, because most folks just want to get the ball in the box, which often times makes them revert back to their old comfortable swing)

hehe, it's often counter intuitive to think you're making progress toward a new correct/more efficient swing, when the result was a ball hit over the fence

I did not refer to a "swing" or to hitting a ball. I referred to a "toss" without subsequently hitting a ball, "over the fence" or otherwise.

Also, "revert back" is redundant.

Yeesh.

 

[S&V-not_dead_yet]

I had some mild toss yips recently: the ball was going way too far to my left and was spinning quite a bit. While I occasionally toss to the left too much, I never spin it.

It disappeared after a couple of games but it was odd.

 

[nyta2]

I did not refer to a "swing" or to hitting a ball. I referred to a "toss" without subsequently hitting a ball, "over the fence" or otherwise.

Also, "revert back" is redundant.

Yeesh.

i see, thx for the corrections

 

[texacali]

I am in the worst yips of my life. Out of the blue, third match in a tournament, my serve completely deserts me and has been gone since. Literally, missing the ball completely or when contact made, ball lands nowhere near the court. Have resorted to a Pickleball underhand serve just to get the ball in play. Prior to that tourney match, I was serving pretty well and consistently. Have received lots of advise on the issue but this is really depressing.

 

[TennisOTM]

I am in the worst yips of my life. Out of the blue, third match in a tournament, my serve completely deserts me and has been gone since. Literally, missing the ball completely or when contact made, ball lands nowhere near the court. Have resorted to a Pickleball underhand serve just to get the ball in play. Prior to that tourney match, I was serving pretty well and consistently. Have received lots of advise on the issue but this is really depressing.

That's a nightmare. Does it happen even when you're practicing alone, or only in competition / around others?

 

[texacali]

That's a nightmare. Does it happen even when you're practicing alone, or only in competition / around others?

Yup....happens even when I am out with a bucket of balls. Strangely, no problem hitting overheads.

 

[am1899]

I had some mild toss yips recently: the ball was going way too far to my left and was spinning quite a bit. While I occasionally toss to the left too much, I never spin it.

It disappeared after a couple of games but it was odd.

I had the opposite problem - toss was going too far to the right, a la Dementieva. It went on for over a year. Could not hit a kick serve at all, really embarrassing.

Anyway, I finally figured out that I was rushing the start of the motion. As a result, I was tossing the ball while my weight was still over my front foot. Once I slowed down and allowed my weight to rock back to my trail leg - before tossing the ball - that made a huge difference. Haven’t had a problem since.

 

[TennisOTM]

Strangely, no problem hitting overheads.

Hmm, well maybe that's a place to start from. Give yourself a super-high toss like you're practicing overheads. If those are no problem then work your way towards lower tosses, gradually down towards a normal serve toss.

 

[NattyGut]

Grip and rip

 

[Roforot]

I don't believe it was suggested, but if you may try holding hte ball in your hand as an ice cream cone; that along w/ a straight arm will smooth out your toss.

 

[NattyGut]

Moratagalou insists you must adjust your toss depending on which eye is dominant. This means if you are right handed serving into deuce court and right eye dominant, you wouldn't see the ball as well in front of you if you are not positioned with your shoulders facing the court, as opposed to your shoulders facing the
(right) side of the court. I don't know ... perhaps ... but, worth exploring. Nothing beats practice and some lessons as others note

 

[badmice2]

How do y'all deal with this? I'm a 4.5C but I don't know how to serve anymore. My toss goes wildly behind my head. The only way I can keep it in front of me is to throw it low but then I dump the serve into the net. My serve use to be a weapon and now I'm good for 3-4 double faults a game. Even when my toss is right, I don't know how to go up and get it, probably because I'm used to chasing it behind my head. I'm like falling down and hitting it off the top of my frame. I've never had the yips this bad and I can't figure out how to get rid of them. It's going on two months.

Video?

 

[nyta2]

this is an old thread (2022) but in case folks are still reading,...
i read an article about a russian figure skater whose coach/mother used to intentionally make her perform her routine with distractions (air horns, yelling, misc events, etc..)
because she needed to be able to ingrain her routine into her muscle memory so much that she could NOT fail
i think we need to practice our serves to that level.
too easy to get fake confidence from serving a bucket continuously...
yips, for me, comes from having to think about my serve, and deal with pressure of the moment.