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Introduction to the Tennis Serve
The serve is one of the most difficult shots a tennis player must learn because there are so many moving parts. In this section, we will break down the serve so that you can learn it easily. If you follow the fundamentals we lay out here, your service motion will look a lot like Roger Federer's. read more…

Step 1: Tennis Serve Stance
The first step of the tennis serve is the stance. The stance is how you position your body at the beginning of your service motion. The stance is important because it allows your body to move correctly during the course of your service motion. This video focuses on how you position your feet, how you hold the tennis racket, and how you hold the tennis ball in your tossing hand. read more…

Step 2: Tennis Serve Toss
The second step fo the tennis serve is the toss. The toss is arguably the most important part of the serve. You need to be able to put the tennis ball in a specific location above you head every single time you serve. read more…

Step 3: Tennis Serve Backswing
The third step of the tennis serve is the backswing. The backswing is how you take the racket back during your service preparation. You're backswing needs to position your arm and the tennis racket in a way that allows you to swing forward correctly later in your service motion. The relationship between your arm and the tennis racket that allows you to do that is called the "L" position. read more…

Step 4: Tennis Serve Knee Bend
The fourth step of the tennis serve is the knee bend. Your weight transfer and knee bend will help you "get your legs" into your serve later in the motion. The weight tranfer -- rocking from the front foot to the back foot to forward into the tennis court -- will also help you time your serve and develop some rhythm. The key to this particular part of the service preparation is to have your weight equally distributed on the balls of each foot by the time you reach maximum knee bend. read more…

Step 5: Tennis Serve Trophy Pose
The fifth step of the tennis serve is the trophy pose. The trophy pose is the competion of your service preparation. From this position, you are ready to swing forward and hit the tennis ball. Getting to the correct trophy pose requires that you complete the toss, backswing, and knee bend -- outlined in the three previous videos in the serve fundamentals series -- at the same time. Also, you want to time your preparation so that you are hitting the trophy pose at the same instant the toss (the tennis ball) reaches it's highest point. read more…

Step 6: Tennis Serve Racket Drop
The sixth step of the tennis serve is the racket drop. The racket drop is sometimes called "the scratch-back position" because it looks very similar to trying to scratch your back with the tennis racket. read more…

Step 7: Tennis Serve Leg Push
The seventh part of the tennis serve is the leg push. It's the "other" part of the racket drop. We divided the racket drop into two videos to make it easier to learn. From the trophy pose, push off both legs up and into the tennis court. The key to this step is that you want to be fully pushed off your legs -- both legs should be straight -- at the same instant the tennis racket is pointed straight down behind your back. Every single good server gets to this body position, as we demonstrate in the video. It's a critical element of an effective serve. read more…

Step 8: Tennis Serve Swing to Contact
The eighth step of the tennis serve is the swing. From the racket drop, swing up "on edge" at the tennis ball. It should look like you are, initially, trying to frame the ball with the side of your tennis racket. Just before contact, you will pronate with your forearm and wrist. Pronation is covered in the next video. Also, in the racket drop your body is sideways to the net, but as you swing up at the tennis ball you will rotate so that, at contact, you are more or less facing the net. read more…

Step 9: Tennis Serve Pronation
Pronation is an advanced serve technique, but it lies at the core of every single college and professional-level serve. Pronation is the act of rotating your forearm and wrist (and thus the tennis racket) away from your body as a unit, and doing this adds tremendous power, spin and control to your serve. This video explains what pronation is, how it works, and how to incorporate it into your serve to help you improve your game. read more…

Step 10: Tennis Serve Follow Through
The ninth and final step of the serve is the follow through. From contact, continue to pronate and point the tennis racket down at the court. From here, bring the tennis racket around to the other side of your body. Also, you need to land so that all of the weight is on your front foot and you have your back foot kicked up. From this position, bring the tennis racket around to the other side of your body in a smooth and relaxed motion. This is the completion of your service motion. read more…