Serve Repair

Hitting Long or Net

Assume a right-handed player.

Problem: Often hitting hard serves long.

Repairs:

1. For players of average height, hard, flat serves have to just barely clear the net, or they will go long. Only very tall players can get hard, flat serves in consistently enough to make them pay off. Adding some topspin will increase your margin of clearance over the net to several times larger. The most preferred power serve among advanced players has a mix of topspin and slice.
2. Meeting the ball too low is like making yourself shorter, thus reducing the vertical angle from your racquet over the net to your target area. A low contact point also disrupts the upward whipping action you create at full extension. You should meet power serves at full upward extension.
3. You might be meeting the ball too far back. Generally speaking, meeting the ball more in front of you will make you hit lower. Either you're tossing too far back, or you're leaning too far forward before you've swung, thus getting ahead of the ball.

Problem: Often hitting serves into the net.

Repairs:

1. As noted above, hard, flat serves have a tiny margin of clearance over the net. Hitting some topspin on the serve will allow you to hit over the net by feet instead of by inches.
2. Just as meeting the ball too low can make you hit long, it can also make you hit the net, because it reduces your margin of clearance over the net and disrupts the mechanics of a proper serve.
3. You might be meeting the ball too far in front of yourself. Try tossing less forward or leaning in more just before you swing.
4. You might be fooled by the illusion that you can hit down on a serve and get it over the net. You would have to be well over seven feet tall for this to be physically possible. Most of us have to hit up to get a serve in.
5. If your toss peaks much higher than your point of contact, the ball will develop a significant downward vector as it descends toward your racquet. Try tossing no more than a few inches higher than your point of contact.
6. Make sure to keep your head pointed upward until at least a split second after you've hit the ball. If you pull your head down too early, you'll pull your racquet down with it.