Serving for beginners

[SebGrosjeanLover]

Does anyone have any basic but effective ways of serving for a beginner? You know, just tips of how to stand and how high to throw the ball would be good. Thanks.

 

[golden chicken]

i'm going to tell you step-by-step, but remember that a serve is a continuous motion. don't pause anywhere or you'll lose power

stand sideways. use a continental grip on your racket.

shift your weight onto your back foot. drop both hands.

With an outstretched arm, fingers lightly cupping the ball, toss the ball about 2-3 feet higher than you can reach (you want to try to hit it right at it's highest point). toss by swinging your arm out at the shoulder only. DO NOT USE YOUR KNEES TO HELP YOU TOSS THE BALL. your other hand (the one with the racket) should swing out behind you at the same time and speed as your tossing arm (make a T with your arms and body).

your tossing arm should follow through and point upwards to the ball as it rises. this tilts your shoulders back, which also causes you to shift your weight forwards and stick out your front hip. raise your racket above your arm and bend your elbow. this is called "trophy position"

now, relax your racket arm and let your racket fall behind your shoulder.

push up with your back foot, fold your tossing arm down close to your body, and rotate your shoulders. if you're right-handed, your left shoulder drops and goes back, and your right shoulder goes up and forwards.

keep ahold of your racket as your shoulder rotation whips your arm into full extension to hit the ball. as your arm extends, the edge of your racket should be headed for the ball like you were trying to cut it in half.

twist your wrist so that your racket face opens to the ball. your thumb should rotate inwards (towards your body) this is called "pronation"

make contact.

follow through with your racket to the other side of your body.


for an idea of what pronation is like, stick a ball in the fence about as high as you can reach with the middle of your racket strings. then, stand sideways with one toe against the fence. use a continental grip and try to hit the ball with the middle of your strings as if you were serving. don't swing too hard or you'll scratch the paint on your racket. you'll have to turn your shoulders towards the fence and twist your wrist to get the racket flat against the fence.

also, take note of where the ball is in relation to you. that's where you want to toss the ball every single time.

 

[jBayjoey]

double post, sorry

 

[jBayjoey]

Very nice explanation golden chicken, but one small comment for clarity's sake:

Since you toss the ball 2-3 fight higher than you can reach, it'd be impossible to hit it at its highest point, although we all know what you mean. What he meant to say is to hit it with your arm fully extended.

Sorry to nitpick, golden chicken.

 

[SebGrosjeanLover]

Wow, thankyou so much Golden Chicken! I'll be sure to print that out and use it for reference. Thanks!

 

[golden chicken]

Very nice explanation golden chicken, but one small comment for clarity's sake:



Sorry to nitpick, golden chicken.

yes, make contact with your arm fully extended.

since your racket is a little more than 2 feet long, i meant 2-3 feet higher than you can reach with your bare hand, not your racket--you don't want to toss too much higher than where you'll be making contact.

too high a toss is affected by wind, inconsistency is magnified, and timing can become an issue. too low a toss means you can't serve as hard as possible.

 

[papa]

You know, I'm probably going to sound like some wise a__ guy here but I really think the best way to learn is to "watch" someone who knows how. I'm not talking about the kid next door (although he/she might know) but rather a tennis pro. Good information is also available in books, web, TV, etc.

I've found the best method, believe it or not, is to have them watch you serve a few, then let them try a few --- back and forth, back and forth. Each time little corrections can be made like for grip, stance, toss, etc. Its just amazing how our brains can mimic this process and before long we have a basic serve motion. Sure it takes practice and lots of it but at least the person trying to learn is on the right path.

I like to use the same process for all the other strokes also but the serve seems a little more difficult for the average guy to pick up.

I also like to use a few "aids" in teaching the serve which might sound strange but they work. I have a ball with a pencill going right through it so I can show spin, I have a racquet with string attached to show how little margin for error there is unless spin is imparted to the ball and a golf finder thing which I can extend way out to illustrate the path a typical ball will take along with the height of the toss. Its amazing to me that once players see some of these things they start to put the pieces together.

I happen to like "visuals" whereas some others probably don't - whatever works.

 

[Freedom]

As a beginner, the most important aspect of serving is to put the ball in the box.

 

[golden chicken]

As a beginner, the most important aspect of serving is to put the ball in the box.

yes, but i'd like to prevent beginners from becoming another patty-cake, frying pan server if i can help it.

 

[papa]

As a beginner, the most important aspect of serving is to put the ball in the box.

Well actually, you might think this important but its more important to learn how to hit it right so you can keep building on your service. Its not that hard to learn and I think its a big mistake for beginners to start just patty-caking the ball. Not trying to say you start trying to hit it 100 mph at first either but unless there are physical restrictions, most can learn the basic process in a relatively short time like an hour or less.

For starters, think about the motion you would use to throw a football (or an old racquet) from the service line over the net --- the service motion is really
like that.

 

[TennisAsAlways]

You know, I'm probably going to sound like some wise a__ guy here but I really think the best way to learn is to "watch" someone who knows how. I'm not talking about the kid next door (although he/she might know) but rather a tennis pro. Good information is also available in books, web, TV, etc.

I've found the best method, believe it or not, is to have them watch you serve a few, then let them try a few --- back and forth, back and forth. Each time little corrections can be made like for grip, stance, toss, etc. Its just amazing how our brains can mimic this process and before long we have a basic serve motion. Sure it takes practice and lots of it but at least the person trying to learn is on the right path.

I like to use the same process for all the other strokes also but the serve seems a little more difficult for the average guy to pick up.

I also like to use a few "aids" in teaching the serve which might sound strange but they work. I have a ball with a pencill going right through it so I can show spin, I have a racquet with string attached to show how little margin for error there is unless spin is imparted to the ball and a golf finder thing which I can extend way out to illustrate the path a typical ball will take along with the height of the toss. Its amazing to me that once players see some of these things they start to put the pieces together.

I happen to like "visuals" whereas some others probably don't - whatever works.

Nothing beats "hands-on training"!

 

[TennisAsAlways]

yes, but i'd like to prevent beginners from becoming another patty-cake, frying pan server if i can help it.

Yes, that way later on when it comes time to teach them the more advanced techniques, you wouldn't have to "unteach" them how to ride a bicycle. Starting off the "right way", the first time, is the better route to go, IMO.

 

[golden chicken]

For starters, think about the motion you would use to throw a football (or an old racquet) from the service line over the net --- the service motion is really
like that.

unfortunately, there are people in the world who don't know how to throw with a leading elbow, so this advice, while entirely valid, isn't always understood by a beginner

 

[mislav]

Hmm, good thread. Thanks for a detailed walkthrough, Golden Chicken. Nicely done.

 

[Mountainman]

i'm going to tell you step-by-step, but remember that a serve is a continuous motion. don't pause anywhere or you'll lose power

stand sideways. use a continental grip on your racket.

shift your weight onto your back foot. drop both hands.

With an outstretched arm, fingers lightly cupping the ball, toss the ball about 2-3 feet higher than you can reach (you want to try to hit it right at it's highest point). toss by swinging your arm out at the shoulder only. DO NOT USE YOUR KNEES TO HELP YOU TOSS THE BALL. your other hand (the one with the racket) should swing out behind you at the same time and speed as your tossing arm (make a T with your arms and body).

your tossing arm should follow through and point upwards to the ball as it rises. this tilts your shoulders back, which also causes you to shift your weight forwards and stick out your front hip. raise your racket above your arm and bend your elbow. this is called "trophy position"

now, relax your racket arm and let your racket fall behind your shoulder.

push up with your back foot, fold your tossing arm down close to your body, and rotate your shoulders. if you're right-handed, your left shoulder drops and goes back, and your right shoulder goes up and forwards.

keep ahold of your racket as your shoulder rotation whips your arm into full extension to hit the ball. as your arm extends, the edge of your racket should be headed for the ball like you were trying to cut it in half.

twist your wrist so that your racket face opens to the ball. your thumb should rotate inwards (towards your body) this is called "pronation"

make contact.

follow through with your racket to the other side of your body.


for an idea of what pronation is like, stick a ball in the fence about as high as you can reach with the middle of your racket strings. then, stand sideways with one toe against the fence. use a continental grip and try to hit the ball with the middle of your strings as if you were serving. don't swing too hard or you'll scratch the paint on your racket. you'll have to turn your shoulders towards the fence and twist your wrist to get the racket flat against the fence.

also, take note of where the ball is in relation to you. that's where you want to toss the ball every single time.

Nice detail explaination but I would leave out the twist of the wrist and weight on the back foot. A beginner should focus on the fundamentals first:
serve like within a tube, toss in front, racquet being thrown toward the ball, natural propolsion, racquet path down to the left of left side of the hip.

Good resource would be Nick Bolletieri's Sonice serve.

 

[mdhubert]

raise your racket above your arm and bend your elbow. this is called "trophy position"

This part was very tricky for me. I would advise to focus on the racquet drop more than on the trophy position. For example, imitating Roddick's (or other pros) trophy position can be counterproductive if you don't have a super flexible shoulder like Roddick. The racquet drop determines the fluidity and efficiency of your serve, while you can have a great trophy position but a poor delivery IMO.
John Yandell of www.tennisplayer.net recommends a classic pendulum preparation to reach the racquet drop naturally, you'll get a more natural swing (see Philippoussis).

now, relax your racket arm and let your racket fall behind your shoulder.

It's not that you can start to relax in the middle of a swing that lasts a few miliseconds. That's why I go for a classical move to reach the racquet drop...