Serving can be very daunting for some. Hopefully after this episode you can try these techniques, and feel more comfortable when it comes to serving.
There are many moving parts to the serve which makes it the most complex shot in tennis. What I like doing is breaking it down to smaller parts. This way it doesn't seem like such a big task to master everything at once.
In this episode we're working on one thing and one thing only. It just so happens to be the hardest thing in tennis to grapple. It's called pronation. Think of it as if you are karate chopping the ball, but just before you make contact with the ball, you twist your wrist around like you're high five'n the ball.
Firstly we need to check the grip. The grip we need to use for the serve is called the continental grip or hammer grip. Check our the vid below to make sure you have the right grip. Once you've got the right grip, you need to stand side-on to the baseline. If you stand front-on to the baseline you wont be hitting the ball but instead pushing the ball. Think of it like pegging a ball or shot put. We don't want to use the shot put technique.
Now that the grip and stance is sorted. We need to look at the technique of the swing or pronation. The easiest way to learn pronation is to hit the ball directly into the ground (right in front of yourself). When doing this make sure your grip and stance are correct. Then aim the butt of the racquet (bottom of the grip) directly at the ball. Should look like you're about to karate chop the ball. Then hit the ball really hard into the ground and freeze. As soon as you finish the swing, freeze, don't move you're racquet. Have a look at how you finished, because this is the important part. You want to finish with the butt of the racquet facing up to the sky. If its not, then you know you haven't done pronation. If it is, congratulations you're ready for the next step.
The next step is very much the same as the first step. However, you will now be going for distance instead of into the ground. This time start with your racquet up (like you're going to throw a javelin). You will toss the ball up like a normal serve, then like the previous step. Aim the butt of the racquet at the ball (like you're karate chopping the ball). You are not doing a full follow through swing yet. You are just hitting the ball and stopping with your arm still above your head. If you're swing through and the racquet finishes below your head height you haven't followed this technique. Swing through the ball with just your wrist and freeze. If the butt of your racquet is facing the back fence (directly behind you), you did pronation.
As always focus on the technique and practice very frequently. Check out the video below to see how it's done.
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