Coaching yourself, part 3 of 5: Serving exercise

Serving exercises are my favorite exercises. Do you want to know why? Because I know that most of my opponents don’t practice their serves as much as I do (or at least they used to), and so I will always have an advantage over them!

The most important aspects of serving practice are developing high-level serves that suit your game, or the game you play want to to play. (Note the difference there.)

Imagine your game as it is now or as you want it to be. What would you like to develop for that game? If you’re a basic attacker, you want services that set up your attack. Some want opponents to push their serves back long so they can loop (forehand or backhand), and that includes many backspin serves, with other spins running through them. (Combining short and very low backspin and no-spin serves is especially effective.) Others may want soft topspin returns, and so may serve more sidespin or side-top, and may also concentrate on medium-long serves, where the second bounce, if given the chance, would be right on the opponent’s endline. Or maybe you want to focus on deep serves, such as big, breaking sidespin serves. (This doesn’t work as well at the higher levels where they are usually attacked, but is effective as a variation.)

What surprise services should you develop, in addition to your standard services that prepared you, that might give you a few free points and protect the opponent from those services, making your other services more effective?

Maybe have a coach or high-level player watch your serve, or show you his. Then practice and develop your services to the highest level you can. Here’s a hint: you may never move or stroke the pace and consistency of a world-class player, but there is NOTHING that will stop you from developing world-class serves.