Where to Serve in Doubles

Key Points

• Knowing and picking up on the returners strengths and weaknesses is a huge part of becoming a great server
• Ask yourself questions like do they like to go inside out, crosscourt or down the line etc. and adapt your serving
• Robert prefers to serve to an opponent's weakness on big points, rather using his own favorite serve
• Stand halfway between the inside tramline and the center line for the serve
• When using the eye formation, stand next to the center line
• Increase your margin over the net when serving so the ball bounces up and you can create more angles
• The flat serve is high risk and should only be used 15 to 20% of the time
• Serving at around 180 km to 190 km with some action and spin on the ball, can be much harder to return than a flat serve at over 200 km
• Body serves should have a lot of slice so it curves into the body of your opponent and cramps them up
• The kick serve can be very effective when used as a first serve, as it gets the ball kicking up above your opponent's shoulders
• When serving harder and lower over the net, aim deep in the serving box
• If you’re hitting serves with more slice or spin, aim further up the box
• Aim for the right pocket when serving against a right hander on the ad side
• The wide serve on the ad side should generally be hit with more spin and further up the court so you can pull your opponent off the court
• Set up cones on the court that are “alleys” that you have to into, rather than 1 target in 1 spot