Marco Bitran - Fix My Serve: Three Places You Can Aim Your Serve

By Junior Pswarai

There are three places that you can send a ball into by the service box, if you are looking to fix your serve by improving it then by knowing which 3 areas that you can help you attack at your opponents weaker sides.

However, even if you do find out the weaker side then don't continuously hit to this side, you want to mix it up so that you don't allow them to build a rhythm - so that you can keep them on their toes and ready to make mistakes which therefore can keep you in control of the game.

Each of the 3 areas that you go onto hitting the ball to have their advantages and as mentioned there will be one which creates a weakness for your opponent so make sure that you keep it varied from out wide, down the middle and straight at your opponent.

Wide

If you realize that your opponent isn't too fast on their feet then placing your shot out wide is highly effective, this will lead to them having to try and reach the ball in time and even if they do they may provide a weak return which you will be able to hit back to the other side as a winning stroke.

However there is a downside to this shot which is that you are making yourself open to a return, if your opponent manages to get to the ball they can in fact return it across court as well. This return might be easier as well due to the fact that the ball will slow down since it has further to travel so beware of this.

Going down the middle

If you choose to go down the middle then you won't encounter the problem of losing speed as the court is shorter across the middle than traveling all the way across making this a great shot for powerfully placed shots with some spin as well.

This reduces the chances of returning due to the angle but you can expect more of your opponents to return the ball back down the middle. If they manage to return this can put you in the position to place a controlled volley onto their weaker side which can help to win the point.

Serving at the body of your opponent

This is a great shot that you can do which can cause your opponent to make plenty of mistakes. If you serve it fast they will have to back away or get themselves into an angle however a position like this can be uncomfortable for them and can cause them to create a weak return if they are even able to get it past the net giving you the upper hand if done correctly.

Whatever you do however don't hit the ball toward their back or forehand as this is an area where it is simple for them to get into a position to return the ball, you will want to aim straight for the body so that they will have trouble placing themselves in a decent position for a return to take place.

These are 3 different types that you should mix up and learn to use to fix your serve as they can create a lot of trouble for your opponent if they are done correctly.

It's simple to fix your serve by improving plenty aspects of it so you want to make sure that you know as much as you can see as knowledge is power. If you want to make your serve more deadly then something you can do is check out this blog where you can find more information on the serve and how you can improve it.

Marco Bitran - How To Serve In Tennis Properly: The Power of The First Serve

By Junior Pswarai

When it comes down to how to serve in tennis properly you are going to want to focus on the first serve, by being able to create a strong foundation on this you won't have to put pressure on yourself for the second and increase the chance of double faulting. This doesn't mean to smash a serve in as hard as possible, there are different ways that you can create a good first serve.

Firstly, many people need to understand is that you don't exercise a lot to create something powerful and tricky for your opponent, strength is generated from all over the body not just from the arms so make sure that if you are exercising you go for the full body as this will help you generate the power and the speed that you are going to need.

Mix up the serves

One thing that will hinder your chances are throwing the same stroke over and over again and it may not lead to a double fault but it can lead to making the return for your opponent a lot easier putting you off in a worst off position.

As you may already know you have the option of 4 different types of shots that you can make; the kick, topspin, flat and then the slice.

Instead of just hitting the same one over again you need to mix it up as this can throw your opponent off if they have it in their mind that you're hitting the same one over and over again.

Adding some power into it

Don't blindly just hit a powerful serve, you want to add placement with it. Placement is highly important when it comes down to power, if you can add power and placement you will be able to find that it is harder for your opponents to be able to hit.

As mentioned don't just blindly hit it, if you can't control it then you want to slow it down slightly and build up control and only after this you can speed up and add power. The main thing you want to focus on is control and placement before you focus on putting more power into your shot than you can handle.

Keeping your opponent from attacking

Smaller players who can't generate much power might don't rely too much on their power but instead they have options such as spin and placement to make sure that they aren't able to return and put you into a defensive position.

You will want to focus on deeper shots if you aren't using as much power due to the fact that less power whilst hitting it shallow can lead to your opponent being able to return back more powerful returns which isn't something that you will want to go through.

Switch up between powerfully controlled shots and then slower ones as well but make sure that they are controlled and also that you think of the placement. If you want to know how to serve in tennis properly then this is something that you are going to have to keep in mind to keep your opponent on their toes.

If you want to serve in tennis properly there are a variety of things that you can do and a variety of things that you can improve on, all you need to be able to do is learn more about the serve. If you want to make your serve more deadly then something you can do is check out this blog where you can find more information on the serve and how you can improve it.

Marco Bitran: Tennis Serve Exercises - Improving Your Speed Without Exercising

By Junior Pswarai 

Tennis serve exercises can help you become a stronger player all around, making it harder for your opponent to attack back. There are plenty of exercises that you can do however regardless of what you do you won't be able to add any speed to your serve unless you have the correct form and know what you are doing.

Firstly you will want to make sure that you are in control of your shot. You don't want to add speed to a shot that you can't even keep in, you will want to make sure that you can easily control it and place it in various corners of the court to be a trouble to your opponent otherwise it is going to be worthless which is not what you want.

Once you have got the control under control the next thing you can do is learn how to add more speed into it.

Put the ball further in front

You will want to toss the ball slightly further in front so that you are moving your body more into the shot, with your body weight behind this you increase the power and the speed of your shot but you will want to make sure that you follow through as this can add more power and it also gets you into a position where you are ready for the return that may come back.

Don't spin the ball

Many people add spin to put off their opponents but by doing this you are slowing the ball down. If you are finding the spin to be ineffective then don't use the spin and instead replace it with speed that you can place in the main 3 areas of the court (down the middle, wide and at the body of your opponent).

Rotate yourself

Most power will come from the coil and the rotation of your shoulders and your waist. The serve is a full body process and you will want to make sure that you use your while body for this as it can help contribute to the speed and power of the shot.

A heavier racquet

You can purchase a heavier racquet which can add more power to your shot however you need to realize that a heavier racquet is going to put your arm under a lot of pressure as you aren't going to be used to the weight of it. You can also buy lead strips that you can add to your racquet making it heavier to a weight that you can actually keep controlled (make sure that you evenly distribute the weight).

Hitting down the middle

If you hit the ball down the middle, the ball essentially doesn't have to travel a huge distance meaning that you will have a faster and more powerful serve than trying to aim the ball over at the wide areas of the court.

You don't need tennis serve exercises to increase the speed of your serve, all you need to do is know what things you can do to increase the speed such as the ones that are shown above but there are many various things that you can as well.

Tennis serve exercises are important however to keep you healthy and also to keep your strength up in the game but there are alternatives you can go through if you know how (such as shown above). If you want to make your serve more deadly then something you can do is check out this blog where you can find more information on the serve and how you can improve it.