Strategies to Practice the Serve

Key Points

• The body serve is underused and can jam up a great returner that likes to take it early
• Gamify your serving practice to make it more match realistic with first serves followed by second serves and different point scenario
• Players need to get used to hitting second serves under pressure, so create these situations in your serving practice
• Practicing your serve should help you figure out your favorite serves and which ones suit your game
• Have your coach feed a ball straight after your serve so you can practice “serve plus one” or “serve plus 2”
• Work on placing your serves so you can start the point on “your terms” with your strongest shot
• You have to be very clear about what ball you’re looking to get off the return
• Aim to keep the returner guessing and off balance