The Five Fundamentals:
Position on the Ball:
The Serve

Michael Friedman

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 best players in the world executing similar basics over and over. So let's look at them more closely.

The Contact Point

To understand the toss, you have to understand the position of the contact point. The purpose of the toss is to deliver the ball to the contact point at the correct instant. This position is very specific. If the ball is too far behind the body, it's difficult to bring the ball down. If it is too far in front, it's difficult to get it over the net.

To understand the contact point, we can use the analogy of a clock (with the player facing the net.) Noon or 12 o'clock is straight up above the head, one o'clock is over the right shoulder. I want the contact to be at 1 o'clock. I also want the contact slightly in front of my body.

Although there are variations in pro tennis, Andy Murray is a great model for the 1 o'clock contact. Watch how he makes contact almost directly above his shoulder. But from the side view note that it is also slightly in front of the front edge of his body.

It's true that some top players, for example, Pete Sampras, make contact further to the left. This produces more spin, probably at the expense of some speed. Although Pete was known to serve 140mph in practice, he gave this up to hit 125mph with heavy spin by moving the ball more to the left. The result was still plenty of speed and probably the heaviest and most effective serve the game has ever seen. (Click Here.)

Every player can of course experiment with the left to right position of the ball at contact for him or herself. But in my experience, for most players, the 1 o'clock position offers the best blend of speed and spin. If you aren't Pete Sampras, too much spin at the expense of speed can cause your ball to sit up nicely in your opponent's strike zone.

Another potential problem is that players who toss the ball to the left also tend to toss it further behind. This can move the contact point back behind the front edge of the body, putting pressure on the shoulder and further reducing ball speed.

Second Serve Contact

If the contact point is at 1 o'clock for the first serve, typically for the second serve, it should be about 6 inches further to the left. Using our clock analogy, this is at about 12:30 or maybe 12:45. This change in ball position changes the angle of the racket approach to the contact and allows the player to hit up naturally to create a greater topspin component.

Again Andy Murray offers a good example. Note that the ball position is significantly further to the left. As with the first serve, some players will move the contact even further left on the second serve to achieve more spin.

But the same two cautionary points apply. These are the increased difficulty of keeping the contact in front, and the possible reduction in speed in an unfavorable trade out with spin. If you your second serve turns out to be a monster, you can always experiment with a shift further to the left to make it even heavier.

3 Elements

Once we have defined the contact point, the next question is: how do we place the ball there consistently with the tossing motion? There are three interrelated elements. The first is how you hold the ball. The second is how you aim the toss, that is, the trajectory of the ball after it leaves your hand. The third element is the actual movement of the non-dominant tossing arm to create this ball trajectory.

The way you hold the ball will play a big role in controlling your toss. I want my students to hold the ball with all five fingers evenly spread around the ball, placing the ball not on the finger tips but at the end of the fingers and thumb. The palm should be facing up so you can see your thumb nail.

Many players make the mistake of holding the racket with their fingers as they start their motion. This places the ball further down into their palm, where it is usually held only by the little finger.

The result? As the tossing arm starts to move down and the fingers separate from the racket, the fingers can fumble with the ball. This introduces an unnecessary complexity that can make tossing consistency highly elusive.

The problem can be avoided by holding the ball properly with the left hand. I feel the simplest approach is to place the bottom edge of the racket on top of the ball at about the throat or the top of the grip.Again, Andy Murray is a good example of this starting position.This allows the hands move down and up together.Another alternative is the way Sampras starts, with the ball starting in his left hand at the throat of the racket. Pete actually places the ball in the triangle or throat of the racket. Again the thumb is up.

I think that placing the ball on the strings separates the hands too much, and makes it easy for the motion to get out of synch.

Eyes

In the ready position and at the start of the motion, the eyes are looking straight ahead at the opponent. But as the motion starts the eyes should look up to the contact point well before the release of the ball.

Notice how Andy looks up before the ball comes out of his hand. He is looking up to the point where he wants to toss the ball. That makes a lot of sense.

If you are going to throw a ball at a target you want to look at the target. But on the serve I see many players watching the ball go up out of their hand rather than looking at the place where they want the ball to be placed. Imagine a baseball pitcher looking at the ball coming out of his hand instead of the catcher's mitt.

The Motion

The tossing motion itself should be as simple as possible. Notice how Pete keeps his arm straight as it drops down toward his leg, and then how it stays straight at the release point. The arm then extends all the way upward. Watch his eyes go upward to the contact point as well, similar to Andy.

Notice when Sampras releases the ball, the ball rises right above his outstretched tossing hand. I want my students to be able to see their tossing hand and the ball right above it just before they pull the trigger to hit the ball.

For both Andy and Pete, the left arm goes up parallel to the baseline because they rotate the shoulders significantly away from the net. This means that the toss has to arc back to the left to the contact. If the ball goes straight up from the release the contact point will be too far to the right. It's a more extreme with Pete, and because of this and his left contact point, he has to arc the ball quite a bit further to the left than Andy.

I think both these release positions are too extreme for most players. I teach players to start sideways to begin with and raise the tossing arm up at a 45 degree angle to the baseline. Novak Djokovic has this basic alignment and tossing arm angle. So for the angle of the tossing arm he is a great model.

This tossing arm angle reduces the amount of arc, so the ball can go straighter upwards on its way to 1 o'clock. But the more you learn to rotate away from the net, the more you'll have to learn to arc the toss into the contact point. In this way the tossing motion is dependent on what other technical elements you develop in your serve.

Trajectory

Probably the easiest way to master the trajectory is through a simple visualization. Bring your racket up to the 1 o'clock contact. Now, holding the racket at the contact point, extend your left arm at that 45 degree angle. Now visualize the motion and the ball coming out of your hand and then moving upward until it passes through the contact point in the center of your racket.

Rhythm

I think of the rhythm of the serve as a 1-2-3-4 rhythm. There are three counts to the tossing motion and then one count to the swing. This means the toss is slow and the swing speeds up after the ball is released. It goes like this: "One-two-three-hit."

On the count of one, the arms start down together, with the left arm staying straight and dropping in front of the body. On the count of two the arms separate and start moving up. On the count of three you are in the trophy position. On the count of 4 you are making contact, exhaling and following through. You can see each of the four counts in the freeze frames of points serves in the animation to the right.

It is also important to understand that the toss not only creates proper position on the ball, it also creates the timing for the swing. This is because the height of the toss creates the time interval in which you have to hit the ball. The higher the toss, the more time. Different players have different wind ups and different rhythms. They may need more or less time to reach the same contact point. This is why you see such a range of tossing heights, and no one height is ideal for all players..

Players using the abbreviated backswing will normally toss the ball a little lower and make contact closer to the peak with the toss dropping less, for example, Andy Roddick or Rafael Nadal.

Players who serve with a fuller down and up service motion like Roger Federer, Andy Murray, or Pete Sampras will usually toss the ball a foot or two higher than their contact point in order to allow the longer swing to develop.

As a player you have to find a height that gives you the right amount of time for your rhythm and your motion-an interval in which the motion doesn't feel rushed. At the same time the height of the toss should not that create a lag or a hitch in the shape or timing of the motion.

No Spin

The last detail about the toss to make it consistent and accurate is to release the ball without any spin on it. Note in the incredible Sampras high speed clip, the toss has no spin on it at all as it comes out of his hand. Watch the ball markings. They are facing you from the release to the contact. To me this means he is not really "throwing" the ball. He is lifting the ball and placing it using finger tip control to create a clean release and a consistent, perfect placement.

Practice Swings

Using complete practice swings, like in golf or baseball, can help the process of solidifying your toss immensely. These should include breathing and ball bounce rituals, looking up with the eyes, the angle of the tossing arm, etc. To find that exact contact spot in space, practice swinging the racket without the ball and look at where the racket is going to make contact. Use your complete motion including your legs, weight shift and body rotation. Launch into the air and land inside the baseline. The toss should be placed at the point where the racket makes the fastest swoosh sound in your practice swings.

Ritual

What you do just prior to the start of the motion is as important as the motion itself. I teach players to take a deep cleansing breath, in and then out, before starting the motion. Your breath should also be coordinated with the serve itself. The player should learn to inhale on the toss and exhale on the hit.

Bouncing the ball is also a part of the ritual. You want your pre-serve habits to flow seamlessly into the start of the motion. Actually, you can conceive of the start of the ritual as the start of the serve itself. The ritual needs to be as precise as the swing. The two should fit together like two halves of a whole. Executing them together should become totally automatic. This is what leads to confidence on the toss, and on the serve in general.

So now we've covered position on the ball across all the strokes. Next: the swings!