Which serve to learn first

[Nero_S]

I am in the process of learning the flat serve. My coach tells me that my serve motion is OK and that I need now to practice in order to gain consistency and power. My question is should I continue to practice flat serve and then proceed to learning ie slice serve, or should I start right away with learning a new type.
My coach says that I should stick with flat until I learn it, but what do you guys think?

DrTwin

 

[mwitiiram]

personally, I was taught topspin for consistency then develop power on it. I think that a flat serves best use is with power. For a novice, power is the last thing one should be concerned about. Talk to your coach about a topspin serve.

 

[skuludo]

I don't know.
I say stick with the flat serve, but you don't want to be hitting the flat like this http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lQdK0vxqCZM . The flat serve should be clean with topspin and clear of slice.

You want this http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SDNhhzaj3wc minus the wacky follow through.

 

[SFrazeur]

I was taught the slice serve first, which for me was a mistake, I was not comfortable with the wrist movement in that direction; but as soon as I was taught the kick serve I got it immediately. I teach the serve that the student is the most natural with. I always teach a student to serve with the continental grip.

 

[SFrazeur]

You want this http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SDNhhzaj3wc minus the wacky follow through.

His follow through is not wacky, it is just incomplete. He is stopping the racquet in front of his body instead of following through. Stopping in front is going to slowdown the serve speed a great deal.

 

[dave333]

I don't know.
You want this http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SDNhhzaj3wc minus the wacky follow through.

if it were more complete it would be better, but it is still one nice serve.

 

[ubel]

Learning a high percentage, topspin serve is imo the most important thing for anyone wanting to learn how to hit a conventional serve for the first time. Having such a high percentage shot, such as a kick/twist serve, which is very likely to stay in and keep your opponent guessing is extremely helpful to keep your confidence up when your flatter, first serve isn't working on any given day. Hitting consecutive double faults just hurts you mentally so much, it really brings down your overall game when you can't count on being able to get the ball in play.

So yea, I say learn where to toss, learn the correct swing path, and get your topspin serve on.

 

[moxio]

I personally went slice -> topspin -> flat. I use my topspin a lot more than my flat or slice because I can hit it pretty fast and it goes in a lot, but I like to mix in my slice serves (sometimes even as first serves). Especially when serving from the deuce court.

 

[Tennismastery]

Learn your topspin/slice/hybrid/kick serves first. These will be your second serve foundations and allow you to have a strong second serve. Having a flat serve is only as good as having a second serve to back it up. Plus, having a great second serve will allow you to go after your 'flat' serve with more aggressive attack since you know you have a strong second serve to fall back on when you miss.

Also, even among the pros, there is no such thing as a pure flat serve. There is no way a player under 8 feet tall can hit a 120 + mph flat serve in without some element of spin. Roddick could not possibly get a 150+ mph serve in without some hybrid spin to accentuate the downward arc of a serve at this speed.

I use the slice serve as the foundation as it teaches the effect of spin as well as creating the foundation for the swing path as it relates to spin serves. It is easier to move to the topspin and kick serves for my students from this foundation...and then very easy to employ a flatter component by simply pronating earlier or use easy analogies as give the ball a high five or simply tell them to flatten the serve out. In most cases, (certainly not all), these students usually hit their flatter serve with the right element of spin to be far more consistent as well as learn to hit it harder and harder within this framework of learning.

 

[skuludo]

I am aware Drakulie has an incomlete follow thorugh. I just chose another word for it.

Just don't hit the serve I did.

 

[Solat]

i believe the slice serve is the easiest to learn the continental grip, HOWEVER it does not help in teaching the ideal ball toss, as it is easiest to serve a slice with a 1 o'clock toss

 

[Bagumbawalla]

Since you have a coach, I assume you have been playing for a while.

Unless you mean "instructor" instead of coach, and you are, in fact, a beginner.

Lacking clear information, my response, therefore, is a bit schizoid.

1. You have the coach, ask him/her to explain the things in a way that makes sense to you-- the logic of starting this way and how you will progress. In other words, what is his teaching strategy?

2. Tennismastery (above) is a well qualified instructor- bring up his suggestions, especially if you have been playing for some time. The coach may be doing you a disservice to deprive you of the confidence a good spin second serve can provide.

3. ON THE OTHER HAND, If you you are new to tennis and new to serving-- if you are a true beginner and your "coach" is an "instructor", I see nothing wrong with starting with the "flat" serve. Sometimes it is hard enough to co-ordinate all the elements of the serve, without worrying about imparting spin and trying to get the ball into the service court.

Your "coach" could be just trying to get you to work on the basic "feel" of the service motion, ball toss, shifting of weight, arm motion, ball contact...
If you are a true novice, this is a valid way (in my opinion) to start. Work on making simple/solid contact with the ball and establish the basic form. Once you have the basic actions down and the serve begins to feel right-- then work on spins and getting the ball into the service court.

Without more information, it is hard to say. At any rate, a student needs to have confidence in the instructor. Ask him a few questions. If he/she is a good coach, he/she will have answers that make sense. Let us know what happens.

B

 

[Tennismastery]

The concept of whether you should learn a flat serve first is similar in some ways to the question of whether you should learn the volley with the eastern grips first because they are easier.

As a high performance coach--yet one that also works with beginners, I ask the question: Should you avoid something because it is hard? Will avoiding it allow you to learn it easier later?
The answer to both these questions is no. While there may be a few exceptions, most players who learn flat first, especially if they are using the eastern grip first to serve flat, have great difficulty learning to serve with the continental grip and develop a mastery of spin serves. In addition to the continental grip, there are many differences in the swing path and body position, as well as a difference in the action of the ball itself as a result from spin that makes changing from flat to spin serves so difficult.

Also, since all top level flat serves still employ spin to a certain degree, learning to hit 'flat' as a truly flat serve will be limiting in consistency of a flat serve.

The time it takes a beginnner to gain a feel for the spin serve, the continental grip, and learn where to aim for it doesn't take much longer to learn than the overal timing, swing and aim of a flat serve (if the student has no other previous experience). However, it takes much longer to master the spin if a player has learned the flat first. And, heck, if a player has a bit more spin on his flat serve, then I don't consider that a terrible thing. Having no second serve (or one that is a puff ball dink) IS a terrible thing, in my opinion as it will nearly prevent any player from moving out of a 3.0 or 3.5 level in most cases.

Again, I would remind you that if you want to be a skilled player, I have a saying: If you avoid that which you want to achieve, you will only achieve that which you are trying to avoid.

Think about it. It has a lot of barring on players wanting to play more skilled tennis. Don't avoid something just because it is hard...or, more important, don't learn simple methods if they won't help you become a skilled player: If you do, you will only be a 'simple' player.