Serving for Power or Placement

[SlapChop]

Alright I am trying to figure out what direction to go with my serve. I have a good strong flat serve, however it takes me longer to recover from serving like that and I feel like my shot off the return is almost defensive since I am recovering from the serve. I get a good amount of aces with this serve but sometimes I feel that it will also work against me.

I can put my kick serve in with excellent placement and setup a strong shot off the return. I don't generate the aces or push back my opponent as much with this serve but USUALLY I feel more in control of the point.

Right now I go with the flat serve more and usually only use the kick serve for my second serve. I am starting to think that I might want to experiment with a different serving strategy.

 

[BMC9670]

Alright I am trying to figure out what direction to go with my serve. I have a good strong flat serve, however it takes me longer to recover from serving like that and I feel like my shot off the return is almost defensive since I am recovering from the serve. I get a good amount of aces with this serve but sometimes I feel that it will also work against me.

I can put my kick serve in with excellent placement and setup a strong shot off the return. I don't generate the aces or push back my opponent as much with this serve but USUALLY I feel more in control of the point.

Right now I go with the flat serve more and usually only use the kick serve for my second serve. I am starting to think that I might want to experiment with a different serving strategy.

Since your asking advice, I voted for mixing it up. Sounds like you have a good first serve, but you don't want to be too predictable. It may also depend on your opponents strengths as well as how well you can hold it together without getting tired through a match.

Personally, I go more with placement and variety and throw in some heaters here and there. But I've had shoulder surgery and am not young anymore. I have to keep them guessing.

 

[mikeler]

For me it depends on my opponent. Some of them love the pace from a hard flat serve but hate when it kicks above their shoulders. Others love the extra time the kicker gives them and wail on it but struggle with the harder serve.

 

[LeeD]

Of course, use what works for your to win the game.
Sometimes it's one thing, other's it's other things.
Just because you have varied weapons doesn't mean you use them all in order to show your opponents everything you have.
Doesn't make sense you can't recover from serving a first serve. It's normally no slower a swing than your kicks and it won't come back as quickly.

 

[Jonny S&V]

I always serve for placement. Why? When I'm serving for placement, I'm not worrying about pace, so my arm doesn't over-compensate by tightening up, so I get a surprising amount of pace/kick even tho I'm not actually going for it.

 

[jester911]

Having played baseball growing up and did some pitching I always find parallels to serving and pitching. The three things pitchers/servers should use to keep the batter/returner off balance is speed, spin, and location.

That said you don't necessarily have to use all the variations you possess unless needed as Leed says.

So until he shows you he can hit the fast ball then don't through him the changeup and so on.

 

[SlapChop]

Of course, use what works for your to win the game.
Sometimes it's one thing, other's it's other things.
Just because you have varied weapons doesn't mean you use them all in order to show your opponents everything you have.
Doesn't make sense you can't recover from serving a first serve. It's normally no slower a swing than your kicks and it won't come back as quickly.

Perhaps I just need to work on the recovery. I don't explode into my kicker like I do my flat serve so I don't have the initial off balance step coming into the court.

It may also be that since the contact is more vertical on the kicker where as I hit my flat serve a little more out in front so I am a bit more stretched out on the flat serve.

My personal opinion when returning serve is I dislike a hard flat serve over a kicker. I feel with almost any kick serve that I can get a good setup to return in a favorable way. Where as a true hard fast flat serve I pretty much block back and look for another shot to work with.

 

[LeeD]

My take...
When I have my flat first going, I dictate play by determining the opponent's BEST possible return, a pure luck winner. Most returns come back slow and weak, easy for volleys.

 

[LeeD]

Also, when you hit your fast serve, unless it's a lucky return, you get MORE TIME to move to the return to hit your best shot.
If you constantly hit kickers, your opponent figures it out, stands in, leans forwards, turns sideways, and smacks the ball into your court, usualy to your weaker side, and you have to scramble after serving the kicker.
Another weird thing.... most servers need lots of action for their kicker's to be effective, as much action as the swing for the first flat serve. If you can't recover from the first flat serve swing, you should have trouble recovering from the kicker, unless your kicker is a sitter.

 

[Larrysümmers]

Having played baseball growing up and did some pitching I always find parallels to serving and pitching. The three things pitchers/servers should use to keep the batter/returner off balance is speed, spin, and location.

That said you don't necessarily have to use all the variations you possess unless needed as Leed says.

So until he shows you he can hit the fast ball then don't through him the changeup and so on.

i too having played baseball since i could remember, think about myself as the pitcher.
i love hitting hard hard hard at the guy and getting weak replys then out of nowhere throwing in a nice uncle charlie for an ace to buckle his knees for a called third strike.

 

[SlapChop]

Also, when you hit your fast serve, unless it's a lucky return, you get MORE TIME to move to the return to hit your best shot.
If you constantly hit kickers, your opponent figures it out, stands in, leans forwards, turns sideways, and smacks the ball into your court, usualy to your weaker side, and you have to scramble after serving the kicker.
Another weird thing.... most servers need lots of action for their kicker's to be effective, as much action as the swing for the first flat serve. If you can't recover from the first flat serve swing, you should have trouble recovering from the kicker, unless your kicker is a sitter.

Lucky returns is what it is when my flat serve comes back at me. Maybe 1 in 150 flat serves this will happen.

My kicker is not super powerful. It doesn't really sit but it isn't professional level or anything.

I think the whole recovery thing is mainly because of how much energy I am putting into the flat serve. I don't use nearly as much on the kick serve With my kick serve I am using less energy and more concentration on placement.

 

[SlapChop]

Basically the whole difference is I don;t get aces with my kick serve but feel my return of the return is stronger.

Flat serve I get aces but I feel like I use more energy and it takes longer to get setup for my return of the return.

I need to get a tripod thing for my phone sho I can show this in video.

 

[Sreeram]

I have a good strong flat serve, however it takes me longer to recover from serving like that and I feel like my shot off the return is almost defensive since I am recovering from the serve.

you need to improve your approach shot as you improve your serve. Even I understood this in a hard way like you. I improved my flat serve by a simple grip change, toss correction and proper trophy poss. But what hurt me badly was my inability to put the easy return away. When you serve flat you get mostly shot weak returns that you need to put away by approaching the net.
One simple solution is, if you are so confident of a weak return then put some forward momentum into the court after your flat serve.

 

[pvaudio]

Placement with action on the ball on EVERY serve. A full on flat serve only looks and sounds impressive, but if you can get near it, you can often do more damage than the opponent did to you. If you take 10-15% off of the pace and put that towards spin, that same serve, in exactly the same place is going to look incredibly different. Your flat serve loses about half of its pace once it hits the ground. If you've got action on it, that thing comes at you like a rocket. Look at two of the best servers ever: Sampras and Federer. They aren't putting up 130mph regularly because they don't need to. They paint the lines with 110-125mph BOMBS that are moving about like a jumping bean once they get to the opponent.

 

[LeeD]

Yeah, but when you post vids of your serves, and then someone claims some ridiculous speed, that serve HAS to be hit flat a few times to see the chances.