Position on the Ball: Serve

The tossing motion is the key to creating position on the ball on the serve. Up until now in this series, we've talked about position on the ball in terms movement around the court for the groundstrokes (Click Here), for the returns and for the volleys (Click Here.) But position on the ball is every bit as critical on the serve. We create position on the ball on the serve via the toss. Rather than using the feet to move the body to the ball, the toss moves the ball to the body. The principle is the same as in all the other shots-how you align your body with the ball determines your ability to execute the stroke. The more consistently you can place the ball in the perfect spot for your serve, the more confident and consistent your serve will be. Although much has been written on the toss for the serve, I still believe there are fundamental misunderstandings in the way many players and coaches perceive this critical motion. The way the toss is often taught does not accurately mirror what good servers actually do. When I look at the footage in the Stroke Archives, I see the...