Serving Tips for Beginning Tennis Players

In the game of tennis, each and every point is started with a serve. Thus, the serve becomes the most important stroke in tennis. Without it, no one could ever play the game! In addition to being the most important stroke, it is also the most complicated stroke to master. In this article I provide a few tips and tricks to make the entire process more manageable and hopefully enjoyable. However, I will be honest with you right now, some parts of this process are not fun but are critical to a player's continued success with the serve.

The first thing beginners to the game of tennis need to learn with relation to the serve is the concept of the serve. What is your purpose of the serve? Is it to be an effective and reliable weapon or is it to just start a point? If you answered yes to the later, then this article is not really intended for you. If you simple want to start points, lay the racquet flat on the ground, grab the handle as you would a frying pan, hold the racquet up near your head so that the strings are facing the correct box, gently toss the ball one to two feet above your head and gently push the racquet forward, bumping the ball towards your desired target. Adjust your swing speed accordingly. There, you now know how to simply start a point in tennis. For everyone that wants there serve to be a weapon, please read on.

There are several parts that go into making a serve an effective and potent weapon. The most important tip I can give every beginner when learning the serve is to learn the correct way early! Do not get drawn into learning certain shortcuts simply on the basis to achieve early success. The serve is difficult, deal with it! There are several components to the serve and all offer their own unique challenges when learning them. The following paragraphs will discuss them individually. However, remember it is how well you can get them to work together that will define how good your serve will become. So let's begin.

The serve is comprised of several major parts. They are, in no particular order: the toss, the grip, the stance, and the swing. These tips will we written for a player that is right-handed. If you are left-handed simply interchange the word left for right. Let's start with the stance. The first tip concerning the stance, or how you stand to serve, is that it is basically the same from deuce and ad side of the court. So stand the same way on each side of the court! Approach the baseline and place your left foot near the line. Make sure your toes are pointing towards the deuce side net post or roughly at a 45° angle to the baseline. Now place your right foot next to your left so that the heel of your left foot touches the instep of your right foot. Now slid your right foot back towards the back fence until you are standing comfortably and on balance; your feet now should be roughly shoulder width apart.

Now onto the toss and this is a key concept. I choose the word toss and not throw on purpose. The word throw implies using force. This is certainly not the case. A player should imagine that they are placing the ball into a specific spot above their head. The best tip I can give any player is to practice the toss every day for 5 minutes or until you can toss and catch, without cheating, 10 in a row. A good toss will have little to no spin on the ball and your toss arm will be extended fully above your head.

The serving grip, arguably the hardest concept and variable to understand and master. But don't panic, it will feel bad! The reason I am saying this is so that there are no surprise. The proper grip for the serve is the Continental grip (ask your local pro to demonstrate it for you). It is uncomfortable to use initially and even more uncomfortable to understand conceptually. The best tip I can give you is just do it. Hold and swing your racquet 10 minutes a day using this grip. You do not even need to hit any tennis balls, just swing. Getting used to this grip is critical to developing an effective and consistent serve.

Finally, it is time to talk about the swing path. For a reliable and effective serve make sure you fully extend your racquet above your head. A great tip for practicing this is to stand close to a fence, start with your racquet in the scratch your back position (again as a local pro about this) and lightly swing the racquet towards the fence. You want to gently touch the fence as high up as you can when your arm is fully extended. Practice this technique 10 to 15 minutes each day.

One final note, all of these tips are based on the assumption that the player, you, is perfectly healthy. If for example you have a shoulder issue, then fully extending your arm above your head may not be possible. If you have any questions or concerns, be sure to consult your local tennis teaching professional. Also, all of the points are interconnected. Each must be done correctly. For if one is not it will affect the other points and subsequently prevent you from achieving your best serve. Remember, practice does not make perfect. Only perfect practice makes perfect.