The serve is by far the most important blow in tennis. Because it's the punch that starts every ball change. Without him, a proper tennis game would not be possible. With a good serve you can dictate the ball change from the beginning and thus give yourself a tactical advantage.
Even if the serve has the greatest impact on the game, it is also the most demanding blow for most tennis players. Technically, several motion sequences have to fit together to hit the ball optimally.
With this guide, you will learn the mark-up in 8 simple steps. With this, you make the serve your strength in the match.
Starting position
Depending on the score, the mark-up is performed from the right or left side. You have to play the ball diagonally into your opponent's serve. We now assume that you are initiating from the entrance side, i.e. from the right.
Basically, you always stand sideways to the baseline at the serve. For this, go to the yellow marked field. This is the permissible range for the racket. We recommend that you position yourself as close as possible to the middle marker.
The advantage here is that you are already standing in the middle of the playing field right after the serve. This is the best starting position for the next blow. If you were to hit from an outer position, you would have to run to the middle after the serve.
Foot position
Now stand with your left foot as close as possible to the baseline. It is important that you do not touch the baseline with your foot. Otherwise, you risk a foot error. Your left foot should point towards the right net post. You line your right foot parallel to the baseline. Place it slightly offset behind your left foot.
For left-handers, the exact opposite is true. In this case, the right foot stands at the baseline and points to the left net post. Accordingly, the rear left foot is parallel to the baseline.
Overall, the correct foot position is the basic prerequisite for a safe stand at the mark-up. Over time, two different foot positions have emerged, which you can take on the serve. This is on the one hand the "platform position" and on the other hand the "pinpoint position".
Grip posture
Another important point in the serve is the choice of the right grip. In general, you should choose the so-called "Continental handle" for the surcharge. This is also used for the backhand, There's a trick you can find the Continental handle in no time:
Take your dominant hand and stretch your thumb and index finger apart to create a "V". Hold the tennis racket with the other hand pinning to the ground. In the next step, you attach your hand with the "V" in the middle of the racket frame.
Hitting Ball
For the ideal serve, a precise ball throw is indispensable. The decisive factor here is the correct throwing height. For one thing, you shouldn't throw the tennis ball too high, otherwise, you'd have to slow down or interrupt the swing movement. On the other hand, the litter must not be too deep. Because then you don't have enough time to perform the stroke movement.
In principle, the ball is thrown up a bit in front of the body, in order to shift one more easily forward later on when contacting the ball. You start with the throw by stretching your arm to the net. You hold the tennis ball with your fingertips.
Then you move your arm vertically upwards. At eye level, you let go of the ball. However, your arm still swings upwards and points towards the ball.
We advise you to train the ball throw several times until you succeed in a uniform ball throw.
Catch-up movement
In the next steps, we describe the movement sequence for a right-hander. As a left-hander, you just have to think the other way around.
So you're now at the baseline and holding the tennis racket in your right hand at hip height. In the starting position, you also hold the tennis ball with your left hand on the racket. Now you stretch your left arm forward with the ball and start to throw. You look up and you look at the ball.
At the same moment, you pick out your right arm with the racket backward. In this case, the pick-up motion is similar to a loop. First, you drop the racket a little until the tip of the racket points to the ground. Then you swing it in the bow up to behind your back.
Meanwhile, you should also go to your knees to prepare for the jump.
Placement
Before each serve, you should consider where you want to place the ball in the field. The serve field is not that big, but you can often surprise your opponent by cleverly distributing the serve. The following options are available to you:
- Outwardly
- Through the middle
- On the body
Variant
As with the other basic strokes, you can give the tennis ball a rotation on serve. If you combine spin with well-placed balls, you have an extremely effective serve. In summary, you have three different variants to choose from:
- Straight serve
- Kick surcharge
- Slice surcharge
Depending on the variant, the characteristics and the ball throw differ.
Do you feel safe on the serve? Then go straight to the forehand.
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