TennisOne Lessons

The Heavy Topspin Serve

Mark Fairchilds, Head Pro, Modesto Fitness and Racquet Club, Two-Time USPTA Player of the Year
Photographs by Steve Margheim

A good serve and volley players should have three different serves at his disposal: a flat serve, a spin serve, and a topspin or kick serve. This lesson focuses on the topspin serve. Increasingly, the topspin serve has become the second serve of choice among the more aggressive professional players such as Becker and Sampras-and it's always been the favorite of Stephan Edberg. First, the high arc over the net gives the server the additional margin of safety for a second serve. Secondly, the high arcing topspin serve takes longer to reach the opponent's racquet, thereby giving the server time to come closer to the net (if the server doesn't come in on second serve, the kicking second serve is harder for the returner to attack). Finally, the topspin serve tends to kick or hop when it lands in your opponent's court, thereby making a weak return more likely. Certainly a major reason Stephen Edberg won two Wimbledon and US Open titles was his kick serve to his opponent's backhand. The relatively slower pace of his kick serve helped Stephan close even tighter than usual at the net, setting up one easy volley after another.

The Address

In the first photo below, I am surveying the court and planning how the point will unfold. I've brought my hands up together, most of my weight is on front foot, and I am in a balanced, poised position. I make a consistent ritual of this startup pose, and I always take a momentary pause before I launch into my service delivery.

After having brought my hands (and racquet) up together, in the second photo (middle) my hands have separated as my arms swing down together. I'm following the classic "hands up and down together" pattern, and this is one of the keys to establishing my serving rhythm. Notice that my eyes are moving up to the target area. The target area is not where I hope my serve is going to land (in my opponent's service box), but the exact spot I want to place my toss (note that I'm not watching the ball in my left hand). As opposed to the target area for the flat serve, which is out in front, for the kick serve, the target area directly above or even behind the head. In the third photo I'm continuing to focus on my target area as I begin to get my shoulders in alignment for the serve.

Poised for the hit

You can easily imagine a freeze frame of Becker's kick serve in the first photo below. My left arm is pointed up at my vertical target area, and because of this type of toss, my knee bend is deep and my torso is somewhat tilted back. The torso and shoulders have coiled, and the right elbow is low. Vic Braden once said that for a big serve, "fire the extensors, baby." The only extensor muscles available for the serve are the quadriceps and the triceps. As I am aligned for the serve, notice that my elbow is bent as are my knees. This sets up the extension of my quads and triceps as they move into a strong, swift, upward hitting action.

The second photo shows my leg extension and the beginning of my elbow and tricep extension. Note how high the elbow is compared to the first photo. This adds to my upward acceleration. Finally in the third photo, as I begin to turn into the serve, notice the racquet frame on edge. The final part of the serve is a sharp snap of the racquet into the ball. When the racquet is on edge, I'm able to save this snap for the last moment. Through all three photos I have held my head up and my eyes are totally fixed on the ball.

The hit and moving into the net