Extreme Makeover: The Serve

David W. Smith, Senior Editor TennisOne

Continuing on in this series of “Extreme Makeover” for players stuck at the same levels for years, this month I wanted to offer information on how to take that unreliable, ineffective, or out-right god-awful serve and make it a formidable weapon!

Consider that a serve can be either an intimidating instrument or a shaky liability. With an effective serve, one can theoretically have half the games of a singles match won. Obviously, even as this is seldom a guarantee, the confidence that forms when one has a good serve can also improve the chances of breaking an opponent’s serve. This stems from the added pressure of an opponent who senses the necessity to hold because they feel they will have great difficulty in breaking your serve! And, a more aggressive approach to returning serve sometimes follows a player who serves well. (But, not always!)

Needless to say, at the very least, everyone should have a good serve as it is the only shot that is controlled by the player from the very start. Not only that, it is the only shot that can be practiced effectively without a practice partner. But, all the practice in the world usually won’t equate into an effective, dominating serve if the techniques being practiced are faulty!

Understand, that if you have been serving for years with an unreliable or technically unsound serve, you really will need to break down and shed your previous notions, feelings, perceptions, and comfortable swing patterns and start anew.  The reason for this statement is that in most cases (players who have struggled for years with developing a serve that serves them well, (pardon the pun!)), there are so many incriminating factors that simply offering a tip, a suggestion, or a minor change won’t alter the basic structure. In other words, it won't change much of anything. Such attempts are usually so close to the old patterns that the player unconsciously will revert back to their comfortable, familiar serve. This is especially true when the player tries to employ new patterns in competitive play. Competition will almost always promote the old ways because they are more comfortable and promote confidence.

In making an Extreme Makeover, every player will want to clearly identify those elements that are prohibitive in establishing an effective, advanced serve. Understand that each serve element is often dependent on other elements; a player must grasp the serve within this concept. For example, changing the grip won’t create a successful serve without usually changing the stance, swing path, footwork, and aim. This is why starting out with the more comfortable—but inferior—eastern forehand service grip is truly a recipe for “serve stagnation.” A comfortable level with the eastern forehand grip makes it extremely difficult to transition to a more advanced continental grip and this often prohibits students from ever making the progression to any advanced serves in their lifetime!

As players advance, they will discover that the current serve is holding them back but here the switch to the continental grip becomes problematic. This is because players don’t recognize that everything else in the stroke needs to changed also.

Traditionally, players using an eastern forehand grip will face the target and swing using a linear swing path. This is often called the “waiter’s grip” or waiter’s position.” While, for beginners, this method increases the likelihood of getting the ball to land in the court, it is about as far from a skilled stroke or swing as can be! If one looks across the public and club courts around the world, they will see an abundance of players serving this way…even after these players have been playing for several years or even decades. This observation, should demonstrate the clarity of this calamity: If players continue to play for decades and seldom, if ever, move out of this introductory method of serving, why is it ever taught in the first place?

However, because the vast majority of recreational and club players usually start serving this way and are stuck still serving this way years later, it is never to late to make a change. But I won’t kid you, it will take dedication and strident effort to stay with the serve for at least a month or more before the proverbial light bulb goes on and you begin to establish a more effective and reliable serve. To start, follow these instructions:

Steps to a Successful Makeover

1. Players need to gain familiarity and comfort with the continental grip. I often joke with students to walk around the house holding a continental grip. Yet, this isn’t really a joke: players need to become intimately familiar and comfortable with this grip and the way to do this is to use it all the time! However, there are some drills that players can do to speed up this process:

• Down Bounces: I recommend kneeling down on your right knee if you are right-handed. (Kneeling down helps keep the student from migrating towards the eastern forehand grip.)

• Up-bounces: standing, holding the hitting arm straight with the racquet held at a 90-degree angle to the forearm with the continental grip and held palm down. Bounce the ball up, keeping the ball bouncing about a foot above the string bed, and keep the racquet held about waist level. Work to get 100 to 150 bounces in a row. Initially, the player will feel strain in the forearm. But, in time, the ability to do this many up bounces will become easier.
  
  A more advanced version of this is to practice bouncing the ball ten times near the tip of the frame, ten times in the sweet spot, and ten times near the throat, then repeat. By making a conscious effort to hit different parts of the frame, the player improves and fine-tunes the hand-eye coordination. Make sure to keep your hitting arm straight too. This helps teach the proper arm position for backhand volleys during the drill too!

• Down bounces standing: Stand while holding the continental grip and try brushing down the outside of the ball, (right side for right-handed players). Students first trying this exercise may find themselves turning around in a circle following the ball, in time, however, the students will be able to get the ball to spin straight back up the racquet for successive bounces.

• Catches: Tossing the ball in the air, try to catch the ball on the strings while the ball is falling. Imagine the ball is an egg or water balloon that you don’t want to break. The secret to this drill is to toss the ball and hold your racquet high up and then bring the racquet down as the ball is falling. BUT, don’t try to touch the ball or catch it until it gets to about waist level. Students tend to try and touch the ball when it is still up over their head, only to have the ball bounce off the strings instead of the strings “catching” the ball while the racquet falls at the same speed as the ball. This finesse drill accents the continental grip while improving the touch and racquet head control of the player.

2. Stance: If a player is using an eastern forehand grip, the player will usually face the net during the toss and throughout the swing. This must be the first significant change once the player starts using a continental grip. The proper stance should be very closed during the initial service movements. Standing at least perpendicular to the baseline is a start. I usually recommend players turn even more than this. Often this is difficult or uncomfortable and most players will toss and immediately turn to face the net. This, however, compromises the entire serve and will ensure it will go nowhere near the desired target. Here are some drills that you can try to gain comfort in this sideways position:

• Stand sideways with your toss shoulder against the fence. Swing the racquet from the “back-scratch” position across the fence remaining sideways during this move. While in a real serve you will also swing forward, towards a target, the action of swinging across the ball while staying sideways is learned through this simple drill.

• Aim with your body as if you were going to try and hit the ball at the right-hand net post, (for right-handers). If you are using a continental grip and swing similar to how you were when you were standing against the fence in the previous drill, the ball should curve in with a good slicing action.

NOTE: The slice serve is what I call the “Foundation” serve for all serves. There is a common misconception that pros hit “flat” serves. In reality, in almost all high-level serves, there is an element of brushing “across” the ball. The emphasis on a flatter serve is created by tossing the ball forward, towards the net; the server will lean in, still remaining somewhat sideways. This forward lean creates a swing path that is more “at” the ball but it still retains the integrity of swinging across the ball as described in this article.

Developing a slice serve first helps the student understand how spin will affect the flight of the ball and how it feels when the strings brush across it. Also, the slice serve helps players learn two important concepts or swing elements: 1) they learn to lead with the “edge on” position that is a key racquet position for skilled serves; 2) they learn to lead with the leading edge of the frame instead of pulling the elbow and arm down first, (usually from the dreaded “waiter’s grip” position), and leading with the grip instead of the top of the racquet.

Swing Path: Following the stance, the swing path must change to incorporate the new grip and body position. Most players who use an eastern forehand grip tend to swing from the waiter’s grip backswing position, leading with the elbow, followed by the forearm, then the racquet. This sequence causes the racquet to hit the ball before the racquet has accelerated past the hand and forearm creating maximum racquet head speed long after the ball has already left the strings. This very common swing pattern can oftentimes be recognized by the number of bruises that can be seen on the player's shin! Because the racquet speeds up well past contact, it is often difficult to slow the racquet down below the waist resulting in players banging themselves on the shin! This one aspect is why so many players don’t even try to swing hard!

The proper swing path is similar to the swing path from the drill where the player is standing sideways against the fence. The swing path is now left to right while the racquet is also moving forward. The combination of the racquet moving in two planes, (forward and across), is what allows a player to impart spin and pace at the same time.

Pronation: This is also called “internal rotation of the forearm.” The action of taking the front or leading edge of the hand (as if the hand were the racquet face), and turning it as if giving someone a “high five,” is the action of pronation. However, this action is naturally occurring and in most cases does not have to be mentioned, let alone taught. (I’ve seen pros actually teaching players to pronate intentionally. This almost always results in players pronating early and hitting the ball too flat at best,or hitting the inside or wrong side of the ball at worse!) But, it is this action that imparts great speed to the racquet and pace to the ball. As the player swings forward from the edge on position, the player will automatically create this forearm rotation.

Swing Path Drill: If you choke up on the racquet so that you are holding it near the throat (still using a continental grip), it is easier to feel and impart this proper swing path. The swing should allow a player to keep the elbow high for a moment after contact and feel the action of the strings both moving across the ball as well as moving forward. (This combined move is essentially the pronation of the forearm in action.)

I suggest having the players start serving at the service line at first. This way, they won’t feel the need to swing so hard to get the ball over the net from the baseline. It is a little like teaching a kid how to shoot a basketball correctly but lowing the basket so he won’t feel like he has to “throw” the ball instead of “shoot” the ball into the basket.

Footwork: Many people don’t associate “footwork” as being part of the serve. But, it is and it must be addressed. Most players who served with the typical waiter’s grip (eastern forehand position) tend to step around themselves during the serve with their back foot. Almost all skilled servers push off on their front foot and land on this front foot, while the back leg kicks well back before coming around long after contact has occurred. If a player is trying to learn the proper service elements without addressing or correcting the back leg’s action it will result in the back leg coming around during the contact phase. This will cause the player to open up too early and be too open during the stroke and usually result in the serve being pulled way wide toward the side fence (deuce court)!

Footwork Drill: Stand sideways on one foot, (left foot if you are right-handed), and serve while balanced on this one foot. This action will help the player accomplish two things:

1. The player will learn to push off and land on the front foot.

2. The player will learn to serve from a more balanced position.

This simple drill is great for beginners and also good for advanced players looking to improve their swing balance. In fact, it is common to have advanced players actually serve harder and better while balanced on one foot. This is because they learn to toss better, swing from a more balanced position, and push off on the correct foot.

Putting it all Together

As stated, improving one’s serve is seldom adjusting only one element. The interconnection between grip, stance, swing path, footwork, and the ball’s flight is significant. However, there is a progression one should take when attempting to undo the old and learn the new.

1. Gain comfort and familiarity with the continental grip.
2. Establish the ability to create the proper swing path
3. Choke up on the grip and start on the service line when first working on the new serve
4. Learn to control the ball from this shorter distance before moving back to the baseline.
5. Swing balanced without trying to swing hard. Swinging hard will bring back the old stroke and grip patterns without you even knowing it!
6. Learn to push off and land on the correct foot when swinging faster.

Once the student has achieved these concepts and practices, then working on adjusting the angle of the racquet in the swing path will create additional spin serve characteristics. In fact, once the student has mastered the elements discussed here, then other serve articles will make sense and empower the student to progress with steady improvements and greater serving effect.

Conclusion

There are many elements of the serve and many different variations of spin from this slice foundation. However, these variations not only are easier to develop after learning this slice serve foundation, but the fact is, if the player continues to use the rudimentary eastern forehand/waiter’s grip service motion, they will never learn to hit more advanced hybrid, topspin, and kick/twist serves!

Make yourself a bet: use new serve exclusively for a month, even if it means losing every service game during that month. (You won’t!) If after this solid month of use and implementation in competition you don’t master the serve to the point of it being superior to your old serve, you can always go back to your old serve. (I guarantee you won’t!)

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David W. Smith is the Director of Tennis for the St. George Tennis Academy in St. George Utah. He has been a featured writer in USPTA's magazine ADDvantage in addition to having over 50 published articles in various publications.

David has taught over 3000 players including many top national and world ranked players. He can be reached at acrpres1@email.msn.com.