Did you know that your tennis serve balance is one of the master keys to successful serving? Balance is very underrated; however, it can dramatically increase the power, consistency, and accuracy on your tennis serve.
In this article, I’ll share two powerful tips to develop perfect balance on your tennis serve. I’ll also discuss how you can practice them on the court. Thus, you can take immediate action and start your tennis serve transformation.
Serve Stance
First of all, let’s talk about the stance. This is where things start to really break down, when it comes to your balance. In fact, I’ve seen many players who lift or shuffle their feet after tossing the ball. Consequently, they don’t have a lot of push or stability to properly jump on the serve. Moreover, their tennis serve balance is completely off and they end up hitting it late.
The best players in the world have a stable base, whether they use a platform or pinpoint serve stance. However, there are always a few exceptions to the rule. For instance, some pro players who use a platform stance move their front foot when they toss the ball. Nevertheless, they’re still very solid and really able to push through both legs when putting the foot back down. Hence, if you move your front foot, when you put it down, you have to be able to push off of it.
One reason why it happens is because players have an inconsistent toss. Then, they’re chasing the ball and naturally move their feet. Thus, I suggest you to work and master your tennis serve toss. Whenever you toss the ball incorrectly, just catch it back and avoid moving your feet and chase it.
Tennis Serve Landing
Another way to develop great tennis serve balance and stability is by focusing on your landing.
I recommend landing on the front foot and kicking the back leg for balance. A great drill to develop this skill is hopping three times on your front foot after landing. Hence, you can bring your body more upright instead of collapsing on the serve.
Once you feel comfortable in this position, I want you to take a small step after landing in a narrow base. I suggest practicing this on your own time and aside from competition. Aim to develop a stable base on your seve; hence, you can push off of both feet.
Whether you’re in a platform or a pinpoint serve stance, you still want to push off with both feet. Then, land on your front foot with balance and take a little step afterwards. If you don’t jump, I just advise taking a small step after the serve. However, the higher you go in levels, the more you’re going to want to learn how to jump.
I hope you enjoyed today’s article on tennis serve balance and stability, a master key to transforming your serve.
By Jeff Salzenstein, Founder Tennis Evolution
Jeff is a former top 100 ATP player and USTA high performance coach committed to helping players and coaches all over the world improve.
P.S. – Ready to take it to the next level with your tennis? Click here to get a free membership which includes 21 lessons covering all aspects of your tennis ($567 value). Learn the exact step-by-step system that has transformed the games of thousands. of players worldwide.
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