You got served... How to ace a shot

Webster Thomas Titan Tennis player


Hey Everyone!

Serving is one of the key essentials that will improve your tennis game. Here are some helpful hints when serving.

Start with the toss. It should be to the front left of you if you are right handed.

Hold your racquet behind your back in ready position to serve. Then hold the tennis ball out with your left hand. Throw it straight up into the air. You should throw it up a medium height. It should be higher than the extension of your arm and the racquet, but not so high that you are stuck waiting for the ball.
Lincoln Ward, a USPTA tennis pro, explains in this video how to throw a excellent toss and how you should hold the ball when throwing your toss.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iKq4vLEi4xs

Once you have your toss down you want to position the racquet to hit the ball. You want to always hit the ball upward. If you hit it down it will go into the net or straight into the court.

To hit the ball upward you first want to bring the racquet back before striking. It is like throwing a ball, you have to use the racquet's momentum to get the ball over the net the same way you use your hand's momentum to gain distance on your throw. Make sure to hit the ball in the "sweet spot" of the racquet, the center most spot. This is used in conjunction with a fluid movement from your serving arm.

After you have the racquet positioned and the toss down the rest is simple, let your follow-through do the work. Make sure once you have hit the ball in the upward motion you follow your stroke for your serve all the way down to your bottom left, the racquet should almost touch your left calf. This will bring the ball over fast and close to the net. This is what you want in a good serve.


Also, you could do a kick serve. This is a safe first serve or second serve. This serve brings the ball high over the net and the spin brings it down to the other side of the court.
Here is a video from tennis.com that will help you achieve a basic kick serve
http://tennis.com/media/video/instruction.aspx


At this link you can also get a visual of the basic serving tips I discussed above.

For a more complete tutorial to a excellent serve watch this video.
http://www.videojug.com/film/how-to-serve-the-basics

Add what you learn in this video with they tips above and your serve will improve.