tips for serving with sun in your eyes
- Thread starter Mbautista
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tennisdad65
Hall of Fame
I use shades and have never had much of a problem.
pabletion
Hall of Fame
mannnn, some people have trouble, others dont, might be because of ball placement??? I CANT play between 9-11am, cause the damn sun wont let me serve! Theres nowhere I can place the ball to serve decently... it sucks, but when the sun is in your spot, theres little to do...
I remember my first coach (some 20+ years ago) saying that your throw up should be so consistent that you could hit the ball with your eyes closed. He then proved it by blindfolding himself and hitting 5 in a row. None of them were exactly rockets, but all of them were clean strikes and landed in the service box.
Me? I tend to use a cap
Me? I tend to use a cap
Steady Eddy
Legend
This is where a low toss can really help. The ball isn't in the air as long, so you don't stare upward very long, so you don't get blinded by the sun. Keep the toss low, and if you wear a cap, the sun might not bother you one bit on the serve.
I don't know of anything that can be done for overheads, so be sure to lob when your opponent is at the net and on the sunny side of the court.
I don't know of anything that can be done for overheads, so be sure to lob when your opponent is at the net and on the sunny side of the court.
WildVolley
Legend
I'm a fan of using a low toss when the ball is going almost directly into the sun. This will be a problem if you like a high toss.
The two advantages to a low toss are that you can place the ball more precisely without needing to rely as much on your vision to time the hit, and you can limit your time looking up at the ball. If you're seeing the ball and the sun for more than an instant, it is going to mess with your vision on the following shot.
Yesterday, I served a set of doubles directly into the sun. By keeping the toss low and glancing at the ball for only an instant before hitting it, I was able to serve a few nice games.
The two advantages to a low toss are that you can place the ball more precisely without needing to rely as much on your vision to time the hit, and you can limit your time looking up at the ball. If you're seeing the ball and the sun for more than an instant, it is going to mess with your vision on the following shot.
Yesterday, I served a set of doubles directly into the sun. By keeping the toss low and glancing at the ball for only an instant before hitting it, I was able to serve a few nice games.
SystemicAnomaly
Bionic Poster
Won't get away with that more than once or twice. Learning to serve with other hand might be a better option. Another option is to play doubles with a partner that uses the opposite arm for serving.
welcome2petrkordaland
Professional
2 ways to serve in the sun:
1. use the slider serve, since the toss is more off to the side and not directly up. i'm a leftie so my slider serve toss i use in extreme sunny conditions is out to the left; for a rightie, the toss would be out to the right. sometimes i throw that sidewinder slider serve in just as a change of pace, even if it's not blindingly sunny. other times i use it as a second serve instead of my kicker second.
2. develop a short toss serve based on pure timing, where you just time it and kick it in with top. truth is if you can get this in as a first serve and it doesn't sit up too much, people are not likely to jump on 1st serves like some do on seconds.
1. use the slider serve, since the toss is more off to the side and not directly up. i'm a leftie so my slider serve toss i use in extreme sunny conditions is out to the left; for a rightie, the toss would be out to the right. sometimes i throw that sidewinder slider serve in just as a change of pace, even if it's not blindingly sunny. other times i use it as a second serve instead of my kicker second.
2. develop a short toss serve based on pure timing, where you just time it and kick it in with top. truth is if you can get this in as a first serve and it doesn't sit up too much, people are not likely to jump on 1st serves like some do on seconds.
SystemicAnomaly
Bionic Poster
Excellent suggest's. Forgot about using the "slider" (extreme slice) serve. I've not played midday tennis for many moons so I've not needed to resort to using the slider for this reason. As a lefty, I'll use it a novelty serve on the ad side every once in a while.
Both of the serves you've suggested, are worth developing for players that want more options when playing midday tennis. They really do need to be practiced in order to be reliable tho'.
tennisdad65
Hall of Fame
wait for night time?
that would violate the 30 second rule per serve :twisted:
SystemicAnomaly
Bionic Poster
Djokovicfan4life
Legend
I thought it was 25 seconds?
SystemicAnomaly
Bionic Poster
I thought it was 25 seconds?
Yeah, we're a little bit more lenient here when it comes to waiting for the sun to move.:wink:
keepurpowderdry
Rookie
I will rely on muscle memory reflex and timing it usually works for me.
matchmaker
Hall of Fame
Become ambidextrous, so you can toss from the side the sun does not shine. LOL
Seriously now. There is not a lot to do about it when you play at noon. Wearing a cap might help a little because you only face the sun when you turn your head upwards, so at least for the first part of your serve motion you are not blinded.
But the rest is the most important one because you make contact with the ball.
When serving against the sun, it might be more important to get a reasonably paced service in than to go for bombs.
Tossing it a little to the side the sun shines a little less can be an option but you have to be a very proficient server to do that and it breaks down your normal service motion. As it is you can either toss at 12 o'clock and go for a kick, either at 1 and hit a slice serve.
But most importantly, your serve should be so well coordinated that even without seeing the ball 100% you should still know where it is going to fall.
It is never going to be easy. You will have to have very oiled serve mecanisms or reache a technical level allowing you to change tosses and effects according to your needs.
Seriously now. There is not a lot to do about it when you play at noon. Wearing a cap might help a little because you only face the sun when you turn your head upwards, so at least for the first part of your serve motion you are not blinded.
But the rest is the most important one because you make contact with the ball.
When serving against the sun, it might be more important to get a reasonably paced service in than to go for bombs.
Tossing it a little to the side the sun shines a little less can be an option but you have to be a very proficient server to do that and it breaks down your normal service motion. As it is you can either toss at 12 o'clock and go for a kick, either at 1 and hit a slice serve.
But most importantly, your serve should be so well coordinated that even without seeing the ball 100% you should still know where it is going to fall.
It is never going to be easy. You will have to have very oiled serve mecanisms or reache a technical level allowing you to change tosses and effects according to your needs.
droptop6969
New User
wear a hat and wear shades......helps alot
