The consistent serve can be difficult to maintain; however, it is
helpful to key on a few basic points.
Let your body do the job and concentrate on these simple keys:
Objective: Develop a consistent toss and learn the slice.
Carving the outside edge of the ball will
help you hit a slice serve that drags you opponent wide of the court.
Grip:
Continental, you should be able to bounce the ball with the edge of
your racket.
Stance:
Stand sideways to the net with your feet
comfortably apart and your weight on the back foot. You should be able to draw a diagonal line from the toes of your back
foot to the toes of your front foot to the service court. You should hold the racket in front of your body,arms in close,
and supported with your free hand. The racket is on edge and pointing to the service box.
 Back-swing and toss:
When you’re starting out, learning to hit different locations on
a regular basis starts with a consistent ball toss. If your toss is regularly in the right spot, you can get away with some
idiosyncrasies in your motion. Your first goal should be to keep the toss out in front of your body—just about in line
with your hitting shoulder—and make contact at full extension.
Down together, up together rhythm. The toss is straight up from your extended
left arm. The racket swings down past the right hip and then up behind the back.
Point of Contact:
Reach up as far as you can, making contact above your
head, slightly in front and to the right.
The Slice Serve:
The primary purpose of the slice serve is to pull the opponent wide
or to have the ball jam the opponent. The lower and further to the right one makes the toss, the more effective the slice
becomes. Using the example of the clock-face, the racket should "bypass" the ball at 3 o'clock.
The Spin Serve:
The spin serve is really a combination of the slice and the topspin
or American twist serve. The stroke can easily be disguised by imparting both over-spin and slice at the same time, the ball
can either curve quite wide or kick high enough to present an awkward shot for the receiver. By using the face of the clock,
theracket should "bypass" the ball at 1 o'clock
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