How to serve in tennis is one of the most important skills you will learn when you are starting.
You can not play a tennis match if you do not know how to serve or understand the rules when serving in tennis.
It could be argued the tennis serve is the most important stroke because it allows you to win a point without our opponent even touching the ball.
In this post we will cover everything you need to know about how to serve in tennis such as:
- Tennis Serve Rules
- Where to Stand When Serving in Tennis
- Who gets to serve first?
- What is a foot fault in tennis?
- Types of Tennis Serves
- Flat Serve Tennis
- Slice Serve
- Underhand Tennis Serve
- Tennis Serve Technique
- Frequently Asked Questions
How to Serve in Tennis for Beginners
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Tennis Serve Rules
When it is your turn to serve in tennis you get two tries into to get your serve in.
If you miss the first one you get a second serve.
If you miss both of your serves then you lose the point and it is time to move sides and start a new point.
If your ball hits the net but still falls on the appropriate place on the court it is called a “let” and you can do a “redo”
You can read more about tennis lets here.
Where to Stand When Serving in Tennis
If it is your serve in tennis you will stand behind the baseline on the right hand of the tennis court to start with.
You are aiming to get the ball in the box diagonally from you.
At the next point, you will move to the left-hand side of the court and still serve from behind the baseline.
In singles you can serve anywhere from the midcourt dash to the to the tennis alley.
In doubles you can serve anywhere from the midcourt dash and into the tennis alley.
To learn more about playing doubles tennis click here.
You will serve for one whole game before it is your opponents turn.
Who gets to serve first?
There are a few different ways that you can decide this.
If you are just playing for fun you can just informally decide.
You will usually take a minute before you start your tennis warm up to decide this.
If you are playing an actual match you will want to use a raquet spin.
This is where you take your opponent would call out what they want depending on what type of racket you have.
For example, if you have a Wilson tennis racket you would use “M” or “w” based on the letter that is on the handle of your racket.
Then you spin the racket on it’s head and let it fall.
Whichever letter is showing is the winner and therefore gets to decide if they want to serve or pick the side of the tennis court they want to start on.
Most people choose to take the serve.
What is a foot fault in tennis?
A foot fault in tennis is when you go over or step on the baseline during your tennis serve.
If you do this a foot fault is called and you will either have to take your second serve or you would lose the point.
You can read about more tennis rules here.
Types of Tennis Serves
In this post we will discuss 3 of the most used tennis serves for woman.
You may want to switch which serves you use during your tennis match to throw off your opponent.
It is best to practice these serve types so that you will have a few different options that you feel confident with.
In this section you will learn a bit about each one.
Flat Serve Tennis
The flat serve is one that uses little to no spin which makes it a great serve for beginner tennis players to learn.
You care focusing on hitting with power when you use this type of serve as you get more advanced with it.
Most players would use a continental tennis grip when using this type of serve which you can read more about here.
With this serve you will stand with your body parallel to the baseline and toss it about a racket length or more above your up.
If you don’t hit it the ball should land just in front of your front foot.
When you make contact with the ball you will focus on just hitting it at your target and not putting any slice or spin as you hit.
As you get more comfortable with this serve you can add more power as long as you continue to be accurate.
The flat serve can work well for a strong first serve.
Slice Serve
The slice serve is my favorite.
If you are on the deuce side of the court you will want to use a slice serve to draw your opponent to the outside of the court to open it up.
If they are able to return the serve this gives a great set up into an easy forehand shot that they then have to run cross-court to get.
On the ad side of the court you will want to slice it toward the “T”.
A slice serve is commonly used on a second serve but can also be used on the first serve as well.
With the slice serve most players will use the continental grip to get the most power and accuracy.
When you are making contact with the ball you want to hit the outside of the ball as you slice it with your racket.
You then follow throw with your racket across your body.
Underhand Serve Tennis
The underhand serve is rarely used in tennis but it is legal.
It is almost never used in professional tennis but some people may use it during a recreational tennis match.
Personally I have never attempted or used and underhand serve ever.
In an underhanded serve you would toss the ball and then hit it underhand aiming for the diagonal box that you normally would serve to.
Tennis Serve Technique
When it comes to tennis serve technique you will want to look at each part of the serve and do your best to learn how to make it work for you.
Your tennis serve toss needs to be solid in order to help you hit a powerful and accurate serve.
You also want your toss to look similar depending on what type of serve you use so that your opponent won’t be able to guess which serve you are hitting.
The next thing you will want to look at is your stance.
If your body is not lined up correctly for your serve it can throw off everything.
One thing you can do is have someone watch you or even take a video of yourself to see how your toss and stance look when you serve.
Ask for feedback from your coach or friend and see if they have any tips on how you can improve.
Also take time to watch other people serve at in person matches and also watch professionals on video.
How do they stand?
How high do they throw the ball?
When you practice try different techniques and see what works well for you.
Technically you can serve underhand and it is legal. With that said very few players choose to serve underhand. If you are looking to play in matches I would suggest trying to learn to serve overhand even if your serve is a bit weak to start out with.
The four types of serves in tennis include: flat serve, kick serve, slice serve and underhand serve.
If you are returning a tennis serve you are going to want the ball to bounce before you hit it. On other points during the match you can hit the ball before it bounces and this is called a volley. You would not want to use a volley when returning a serve.
For more serves you will want to use a continental tennis grip.
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