Developing The 2nd Serve In Tennis
In this 8th blog, I’m excited to share a few fundamental tips on the all-important 2nd serve. As noted by one of the greatest servers of all time — Pete Sampras, your serve is just as good as your 2nd serve. Therefore, it requires good fundamentals and lots of practice! Let’s get started with the grip.
2nd Serve Grip:
In the image below to the left, I demonstrate my 2nd serve grip where the right index finger (serving hand for me) is aligned closer to the right edge of the racquet. In the image on the right, I’m demonstrating a grip adjustment that I sometimes use to get more spin on the serve. Here, I move my right index finger a bit more to the left (closer to the left edge of my racquet) which will close the racquet face more at the point of contact and allow me to create greater brush on the ball.
Ball Toss Placement — Distance In Front:
On the 2nd serve, the emphasis is on getting good net clearance, spin and heaviness (a term used in tennis to describe a ball that feels heavy on the opponent’s racquet) on the shot. Hence, my ball toss is not quite as far out in front (see image below; also, compare ball toss placement to the 1st serve in this previous blog post). Rather, its placement allows me to extend up and brush the ball whilst also being able to get my body-weight behind the shot.
Ball Toss Placement — Positioning Relative To Body:
To generate arc on the 2nd serve with topspin or kick (terms used in tennis to describe spin that makes the ball dip down after its initial upward flight for net clearance), my toss placement is closer to 12 o’clock (if we were to visualize a clock as demonstrated by the red circle below). If my toss were to move from this position farther to the right, it would be more difficult for me to create “arc” on the shot because I would be forced to hit either a flat or slice serve, both of which will travel through a flatter trajectory. If my toss were to move farther to the left, I would need to bend my back more putting more strain on it.
Swing Path For Topspin or Kick:
In the images below, I demonstrate the required swing path to generate topspin or kick on the 2nd serve. You will see how my racquet moves from a 7 o’clock to a 2 o’clock position as it travels through the strike zone which enables me to brush the ball for spin. From here, my racquet continues to move out and away from my body (to the right) as part of the momemtum / racquet acceleration that I have created, and then my follow through brings the racquet back in to finish the swing loop.
Beginners and Intermediate level players can develop a clear mental or visual image of the swing path demonstrated and gradually develop it under the guidance of a coach.
In summary, the correct service grip, ball toss placement and swing path, will enable you to develop a consistent 2nd serve which has good net clearance, spin and heaviness on the ball. This will prevent opponents from attacking you and get you started in a neutral position in the point.
All the best,
Harsh
The Tenicity — Enerzal Coaching Program is a partnership to support tennis player development with high quality instructional content. Tenicity is a tennis player development platform founded by former India #1 singles and Davis Cup player, Harsh Mankad. Enerzal is a balanced energy drink which can be consumed before, during, and after tennis to maintain optimum energy levels.
