Tennis Tip by Erick Collas

Doubles And Singles

In doubles you should stand half way between the centerline and the doubles line. The reason for this position is that your court coverage responsibility covers the area from the center of the court to the doubles alley line. In singles you should stand near the middle of the court. The reason for this position is that your court coverage is from one single alley line to the other. So, why not stand in the middle of the area you have to cover?

A lot of players have a hard time with the toss being thrown behind them. In order to have a ball toss in front of you, you must be leaning forward when tossing the ball. The average player leans back when tossing, leaning back will always force your toss to be behind you. Leaning forward while executing your serving motion will always keep the ball in front of your body.

WHERE SHOULD I SERVE?

Location of the serve is crucial. The majority of the time, you should be serving up the middle or at the body, occasionally serving wide to keep your opponent honest.

There are basically only three spots you should be attempting with your serve. One way to remember these three spots is by doing your ABC's. A means single Alley line, B means the body, C means the center line.

When you serve wide you give your opponent a cross court winner angle, by keeping the ball in the middle of the service square or the body, you take away the cross court angle. Also, by serving up the middle you go over the lowest part of the net. The wider you serve the higher the net is.

First serve is important in doubles more so than in singles. Use an aggressive second serve as a first serve.

The higher percentage of first serves the more active your net man can be. Getting first serve in keeps a consistent pressure on the person returning.

After a double fault, it is important not to miss your next serve. If you miss, that will be 3 serves in a row and you will get nervous and start to think about double fault and you will double faulting. So, after a double, use your second serve as the first.

This will avoid the situation of missing three serves in a row and reduce pressure.

The best way to practice your serve is to show up twenty minutes before your match and borrow a basket of balls to practice your serve. If you practice consistently before your match, your serve will improve quickly.

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