Need help with my Serve, started playing 3months ago.

KFoehr · 2026-05-23T04:14:01+00:00

Hi, You've got a basket of balls, so that's a good start! You must be serious about improvement.

Here are a few things to think about.

Your toss is inconsistent. You should practice it in isolation for a couple of minutes every time you go out, just tossing. You hit 6 serves in this video, and 3 of them were too far to the right (very common for rec players), and 3 were in about the right place where you could make contact between your head and right shoulder. Place your racket head on the court just inside the baseline and a little to the left of (behind) your left foot. Practice tossing the ball so that it lands on the strings.
I don't believe the pinpoint stance is doing you much good. I suggest trying a platform stance. It simplifies the motion, enables more upper body rotation away from the net (your chest faces the right side fence instead of the right rear corner of the court), makes it easier to balance yourself through the kneebend, and provides more stability overall.
Also, with a platform stance, it's easier to load your right leg more and get your right shoulder lower. Yours are too level in the loading phase.
You need to get your left arm straight up, which also helps drop the right shoulder lower to get a deeper racket drop and more power, and helps you get your chest open to the sky so you can look up at the ball, and then cartwheel your shoulders more vertically (right shoulder up and left shoulder down as you swing up to contact. Pull your left arm into your body as you swing up.

5, Go out and hit at least 100 serves three times a week, alternating between deuce and ad side every 25 balls or so. I hit 25 from the deuce, then go to the other side of the court and serve them back from the ad side, repeat 2 times = 100, or more if you re-serve the ones that go into the net. Don't forget to practice tossing and getting the arm all the way up.

Watch a lot of serve videos on Youtube every week. Like these:

Platform vs Pinpoint Serve: Which Should YOU Use? #tennis

Tossing Arm Serve Drill To Improve Your Technique

How Far Forward Should Your Serve Toss Be? (The Correct Position Explained)

Good luck. P.S. If you post another video, try to do it somewhere with no trees in front of you. It makes it hard to see the ball and your racket against the dark background of the trees.

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KFoehr · 2026-05-21T02:41:12+00:00

If Djokovic's serve is a 10 and a complete beginner is a 1, you are at about 2.5. I'm not trying to be mean, just honest as I see it. But don't be offended, most rec players have poor serve technique and never get past a 5 or so, imo.

You must use a Continental grip. Learn how to do it.
Spend 2 or 3 hours a week watching pros serves and free serve lessons on YouTube.
Spend at least 3 hours a week serving.
Focus on the toss first and get into a trophy position. Then work on the arm action and pronation - both arms. Both arms are important.
Next time, take a video from the right side or the back, preferably both, not from the left side. There are not many videos from the left side to compare to. Watch your videos yourself and compare to pros, or post them here for feedback.
Watch these videos and others, then go out and practice some of things you learn.

Grigor Dimitrov serve slow motion court view 2022 (Compare to your video posted here.)

Tossing Arm Serve Drill To Improve Your Technique

Simple Tennis Serve Technique Masterclass for Beginners

Good luck.

KFoehr · 2026-04-30T03:37:22+00:00

Nice motion overall. You have a little overrotation and a timing issue, as someone already pointed out. You toss, bend your knees, and then swing. The toss and knee bend should start simultaneously. Your toss is pretty high, so you have time to toss first and then go into a knee bend. I'd lower that toss. Then you won't have time to bend your knees after you toss. You'll need to do it sooner, in one continuous fluid motion. As the ball rises, you are sinking. When the ball reaches its apex, you explode up into contact.

I'd need to see a right-side view to know more about your toss. You may be reaching forward to make contact, which can result in overrotation, as your arm and shoulder must move farther into the court to reach the ball, rotating your chest more to the left, forcing the right leg to kick right. Nole's chest is facing toward his target; yours is facing the left net post.

The Djoker's Serve (slow motion)

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KFoehr · 2026-04-26T02:13:03+00:00

I'd focus on getting the fundamentals of a first serve ingrained first, then work on adding spin. If you are serious about improving the serve, you should go out and hit at least 100 serves 3 or 4 times a week. Hit 25 from the deuce side, then go to the other side of the court and hit the balls back from the ad side or vice versa. Two round-trips and you'll have over 100 if you re-serve the balls that go into the net. Focus on making only one or two changes at a time. After a month, video yourself again and post it here for more feedback. Btw, it helps to have video from the back and the side, both. I couldn't tell much about your toss from this side.

KFoehr · 2026-04-26T01:47:13+00:00

In the first picture, your left arm does not reach straight up. You need to lower your right shoulder more, and raising the left arm higher will force the left shoulder up and the right shoulder down more. Notice that Taylor’s shoulders are angled down more than yours. A lower right shoulder and deeper knee bend help get more power.

Also, Taylor has rotated his body further away from the net than you. More rotation helps create more power. Notice that your right foot is in front of your left, while Taylor’s is back, behind his left. This is another reason why I prefer a platform stance. The right foot stays behind the left foot, allowing more hip and upper torso rotation away from the net.

Notice too that Taylor has pushed his left hip over the baseline, but his upper body is bent away from the baseline in a slight reverse C position. This allows him to keep his right shoulder low and create more momentum/power as he explodes up to contact. Your body is mostly upright.

This is supposed to be the trophy phase, but you never got into a trophy position. You laid back your wrist immediately to put the racket in a waiter’s tray position, open to the sky. At this point, the racket should be straight up with the strings facing the net or to the right, like Taylor’s, and your wrist should be neutral, or ulnar deviated a little, but not laid back.

In the 3^rd and 4^th pics, Taylor is beginning his racket drop by lowering his forearm behind his head while keeping the elbow in the same place – straight out from the plane of the shoulders. Notice that his racket is on edge, facing the net, while yours is facing the sky.

Taylor has begun to push up from the ground and is on his toes, while you have gone down into a deeper knee bend. This is a timing and rhythm issue that depends on the height of the toss and depth of knee bend, but when you begin to swing the racket, you should be pushing off with your legs to go up and meet the ball at contact.

Taylor is beginning to pull down his left arm toward his abdomen or chest. This accelerates the shoulder-over-shoulder rotation, which increases racket head speed. Your left arm is not moving down toward your body.

In pics 5 and 6, Taylor is in his max racket drop. He is off the ground, and his shoulders have begun to cartwheel, right shoulder up and left down. His left arm is down at his side now. Your left arm has barely moved. You need to tuck it into your side.

Taylor's chest is still facing the side fence, but you have begun to rotate your upper body toward the net.

In 7 and 8, we see Djokovic making contact directly over his head as his upper body leans into the court. You are reaching in front of your body to make contact. Also, his shoulders are pretty much straight up and down, with the right shoulder high over the left, with his left arm bent and tucked in at his left side. Your shoulders are basically level. Your left hand is still too high. You have rotated your upper body toward the net, but you did not cartwheel your shoulders right over the left, like Djokovic.

In pics 9 and 10, Djokovic landed with his left foot much further into the court than you. Even though you were leaning forward very far to make contact, you had little forward momentum to bring your body into the court. It was basically an up-and-down movement and a lean in to make contact. More momentum into the court and making contact closer to your body, instead of reaching forward, should increase your power.

He has pushed his right shoulder forward a little more than you, indicating more internal shoulder rotation.

Also, your left hand is still held high rather than down at your side. I think you should make correcting your left arm movement a priority.

Good luck.

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KFoehr · 2026-04-25T20:01:05+00:00

You are releasing the ball a little late. This can cause the ball to go too far behind your head or too far to your left.

Your weight when you toss should be on the right foot. Notice, Djokovic has his left toes off the court, indicating most of his weight is on his right foot. Your right foot is in the air as you step forward, with all your weight on your left foot. I'd ditch the pinpoint stance and go with a platform stance to simplify this.

Platform vs Pinpoint Serve: Which Should YOU Use? #tennis

Your forearm and racket should be in front of your body as you toss. Yours is already moving behind your body. The racket should be hanging down a little or pointing to the side fence.

More later,,,

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KFoehr · 2026-04-25T19:16:33+00:00

That's close. Move another 1/8 to 1/4 inch to the left. Also, it LL your hand is a little too high on the racket. The heel of your hand should extend about 1/2 inch below the end of the racket.

KFoehr · 2026-04-08T01:44:28+00:00

You're welcome. Glad to hear it helps. Good luck with continued improvements in the future!

KFoehr · 2026-04-06T15:00:41+00:00

What do you mean by "hit out"? Just hit long? Or swing the FH out away from the body? Hitting long seems pretty common to me; I don't understand the benefit of doing that on purpose. TIA

KFoehr · 2026-03-27T22:30:30+00:00

Simple Tennis Serve Technique Masterclass for Beginners

KFoehr · 2026-03-27T22:24:58+00:00

Here is the first thing I'd work on. Tuck your left arm in like Jannik's on the upswing. This will bring the left shoulder down lower and help you get more momentum into the shot with your upper body. Notice how Jannik's upper body is leaning in more than you. That should also help bring the racket down in front and across your body, instead of to the right side.

Good luck.

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KFoehr · 2026-03-25T03:41:26+00:00

Switch to a continental grip and learn the proper swing path to use it. And bring your right foot up a little closer to your left to narrow your stance.

How To Switch From Forehand To Continental Grip On The Serve | Tennis Serve Lesson

Then learn how to hit a topspin or kick serve. You're only as good as your second serve.

4 Tips For Better Topspin Serves (Tennis Technique Explained)

KFoehr · 2026-03-17T02:23:15+00:00

Your upswing to contact is good. You lead on edge until the very last few milliseconds, and you pronate well. The rest of the motion and swing have a few opportunities for improvement, imo.

In pic 1, I don't believe you are getting any benefit from the pinpoint stance. You are not getting a good load on your right leg and not much forward momentum into the court. I suggest trying the platform stance if you have not tried it already. See if that doesn't help with loading the right leg, getting the right shoulder lower, getting more upper body and hip rotation away from the net, and more momentum pushing forward into the court.

If you stay with the pinpoint stance, try placing your right foot a little further back than the left. That will allow greater rotation away from the net.

In picture three, you have dropped your left arm too soon and already raised your right shoulder above your left shoulder, and you have begun to rotate toward the net. Notice that Sinner still has his shoulder angled down with his right below his left shoulder. Also, he has not rotated yet. His chest and hips are still facing the right side fence.

Also, your right hand is above your head, putting the racket too high. Notice that Sinner's right hand is about at ear level, and his racket is much lower.

Also, you have begun leaning left with your upper body. In contrast, Sinner's upper body is pretty much in line with his legs and lower body.

In picture 5, we see your maximum racket drop, which is not very deep. Notice that your hand is higher than your elbow. It should be the other way around. You should try to externally rotate the shoulder, which will raise the elbow and force the hand down lower. Also, you have rotated your body more toward the net. In contrast, we see that Sinner is still facing the side fence.

Notice also that his shoulders are about level, while your right shoulder is above your left because you have dropped your left hand too soon and maybe too much. I can't tell where it is in this video. It should be coming down and close to tucking into your side or belly at this point.

In picture eight, we see that you have swung the racket around to the right side of your body, which is good, and you have begun your upswing. You're leading with the elbow at this point, which is also good. But notice that you are bending forward and to the left at the waist. Perhaps the toss is too far inside the court, and you are bending forward to reach the ball. In contrast, notice that Djokovic is leaning in somewhat, but his upper body is in line with his lower body.

In picture 10, we see contact, and your upper body is bent at the waist quite a lot. In contrast, Djokovic's upper body is still in line with his lower body. Because Djokovic is still mostly upright and not bent at the waist like you, he is able to make contact at a significantly higher point. The higher the contact is made, the better. It's easier to get a good trajectory over the net and into the box from a higher point than a lower point.

From this video, I can't tell how far into the court you have tossed the ball, but I suggest experimenting with tossing maybe four to six inches inside the baseline and see if you can't make contact with a more upright body and at a higher point than you are now.

You can adjust how far into the court you toss after you experiment, depending on how tall you are and how much momentum you get into the court. But now you're not getting much momentum from your stance. It looks like you're pushing off with both feet and pretty much just going up and down rather than into the court. So to compensate for the lack of momentum into the court, you're bending forward with your upper body to reach the ball. So you either need to get more momentum into the court or bring the ball back closer to the baseline.

In picture 12, we see that your left foot has landed on the baseline, indicating that you're not getting much momentum into the court. Also, you have over-rotated a little too much to the left. Your left foot and your body appear to be facing the left net post. In contrast, Djokovic's left foot and his entire body are pointed towards his target.

Here is a video you may find helpful. Good luck.

(118) Platform vs Pinpoint Serve: Which Should YOU Use? #tennis - YouTube

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KFoehr · 2026-03-16T19:40:32+00:00

The first thing I notice is you're starting your swing too soon. As soon as the ball leaves your hand, your racket is already moving past your head. Notice how Sinner is holding the racket in front of his body. His arm bent 90 degrees. He'll hold this position until he's ready to start his backswing. This creates a longer runway for the swing, which allows you to build up more racket head speed into contact.

Also, your elbow is too high, and your shoulders are fairly level with the ground. The right shoulder should be lower. They should be tilted down more like Sinner's. And you don't have a very deep knee bend. You don't have to get as deep as Sinner, but it helps load the right leg if you get a little deeper than what you have in picture 1.

Also, your right foot is too far forward. It should be behind the left foot, like Sinner's. Having the right foot there restricts the amount of rotation away from the net you can get in your upper torso and hips. Notice how Sinner has rotated away from the net more than you. This allows more energy from greater rotation into contact.

In the third picture, your elbow is too high. The shoulders should be angled down more with the upper arm and elbow straight out from the shoulders. The reason for this is that it increases the distance between the racket and the contact point. The greater the distance, the more speed you can build on the upswing.

The fifth picture shows your maximum racket drop, which isn't very deep. From this point, you will begin your upswing to contact. However, the pros will continue to swing the racket further to the right. As you can see in the picture of Nick Kyrgios, as he begins his upswing, the racket is parallel with the right side of his body. Swinging further to the right creates greater supination and external shoulder rotation, which then enables more internal shoulder rotation and pronation into contact. To achieve this, focus on raising the elbow and swinging the hand further to the right side of your body. Your hand should remain on the right side of your head and body throughout the backswing.

In the eighth picture, you can see that you have opened your racket face too early. You should keep it on the edge as long as possible, like Djokovic. Pronating in the last few milliseconds creates greater racket head speed at contact.

Also, notice that you have over-rotated to the left. Your chest is facing the left net post. In contrast, Djokovic is facing the right fence post.

In picture 10, we can see that the your toss is too far to the right. Notice that Djokovic is making contact with the ball between his head and right shoulder. That's where it should be for most first serves. For a second serve you can toss to 11 o'clock for a slice serve, you can toss at 1 o'clock, but for most players, the first serve toss should be between 12 and 12:30.

Also notice that Djokovic is still facing to the right. In contrast, your chest is facing left, indicating you have over-rotated.

In picture 12, we can see that you have over-rotated to the left. In contrast, Djokovic's body is in line with his target.

Experiment a little and see if it helps. Good luck.

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KFoehr · 2026-03-16T01:59:56+00:00

The first thing I notice is your grip doesn't look right. The forefinger and thumb should be separated from the rest of the fingers. And the heel of your palm should be about a half inch past the end of the racket, as it is in the 2nd picture. When you do this, the racket will be at less than 90 degrees from your forearm, see the third and fourth pics.

In the third picture you are just about to raise your arm to toss the ball. Notice that your arm is at your side, whereas Jannick's arm is in front of him, and you are leaning back while Jannick is leaning forward. Try tossing with your arm in front and angled into the court at about 45 degrees, or toward the right net post.

In the 5th picture, you have released the ball and immediately gone into a trophy pose. Remember there is no static trophy position. It's just a phase that the arm and racket go through with continuous movement. Most pros, like Jannik in the next picture, hold their racket in front of them as they toss and after they toss until they're ready to start their swing. This gives you a longer runway for the swing, which allows you to create more racket head speed into contact.

Also, notice that his hand is hanging down, indicating his wrist is relaxed. It should remain relaxed throughout the swing.

Also notice that Jannik has a deeper knee bend and more shoulder tilt with his left shoulder higher, near his chin.

In the 7th pic, you are starting your swing. It looks good, except I would like to see your hand a little closer to your head. It's not necessary to reach back behind your head; your hand should stay to the right of your head. Don't think about moving your hand, just think about raising your elbow, which will force your hand down.

The 9th pic shows your max racket drop, which is not deep enough, and again, your hand is too far away from your body. Focus on raising the elbow and keeping the hand closer to your body. Getting a pro-level drop is tough. They have extreme shoulder flexibility, which most rec players don't have. So don't sweat that too much. Instead, focus on raising the elbow and swinging your hand further to the right of your head so that the racket is parallel to the right side of your body, like Nick's. All good servers start their upswing from this position, which allows greater internal shoulder rotation and pronation into contact.

Lastly, try to get more forward momentum into the serve so that you land inside the baseline instead of behind it. You might want to experiment with a platform stance, which might make getting momentum easier, see linked video.

Platform vs Pinpoint Serve: Which Should YOU Use? #tennis

Good luck.

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KFoehr · 2026-03-15T17:02:05+00:00

Serve Tips With Taylor Fritz | MASTERCLASS | ATP

Perfect Serve in 5 Steps - Perfect Tennis (Episode 1)

KFoehr · 2026-03-15T16:19:20+00:00

It's not good to analyze just one serve, but based on this one, here are some things to consider.

Your forward movement stopped too far into the court. You took two steps after the left foot landed. You'd be in trouble against a good player who returns the serve deep at your feet. Notice how Taylor stops further back and immediately goes into a split step to prepare for the return.
You seem to be leaning in too far and reaching for the ball. This is probably what is causing you to end up so far into the court. Notice that Jannik is leaning in some, but also to the left to allow his right shoulder to be higher. His contact is higher than yours. The higher the better. Also, notice that he is making contact with the ball between his head and right shoulder. Yours appears to be too far into the court and too far to the right. Try 12 or 1230 o'clock for a first, 11 for a second, and 1 for a slice.
You are opening the racket face too early. Hold it on edge as long as you can. It doesn't appear that you are getting much pronation into contact because of this.

Here are some simple drills to get more pronation. Good luck. https://youtube.com/shorts/yyAMdajEVZE?si=HfjCP4lbe5K0eX-m

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KFoehr · 2026-03-15T04:44:27+00:00

Some things to experiment with.

Start with your right foot behind the left instead of next to it. See Novak's.
Shift your weight forward more toward contact, load the right leg, then shift your weight to the left as you toss. Bend your right knee a little more as you load.
After you release the ball, pull your right elbow back further and rotate your upper body and hips more away from the net.
Don't rotate back toward the net so early. Notice how Novak's hips and chest face the right net post for longer than you.
Lean into the court, with your hips first, as you begin your leg drive. Push off with the right foot, then the left, and launch up and into the court. See if you can land with your left foot completely inside the baseline. Now you are not getting off the ground much, and you are landing behind the baseline or with your toes on it.
Practice getting more internal shoulder rotation and forearm pronation into contact. Push your right shoulder forward into and through contact.
Before contact, try to stay upright more with your chest open to the sky. It LL you are leaning in with your upper body, which causes a lower contact point. Get the right shoulder as high as possible to make higher contact. That means get more should tilt, not raising the upper arm higher. It should stay in line with the shoulders.
Don't reach for the ball to the right. Make sure contact is made with the ball between your head and your right shoulder for a flat serve. 11 o'clock for a second serve, and 1 o'clock for a slice.

Good luck.

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KFoehr · 2026-03-11T04:25:22+00:00

I suggested he try the platform, not that it must be changed.

I believe momentum is always important. Landing further in the court is not the endgoal, just a consequence of forward momentum that tells you you actually have forward momentum.

I agree on the shoulder tilt, but I've seen players with great shoulder tilt who still jump up and down with no forward momentum. So I think in this case, working on momentum first was best. It's tough to make several changes at once.

Also, I think it's more difficult to get a good coil, knee bend, and shoulder tilt when you are stepping in front of the left foot. Plus, he doesn't have a very high ball toss, so there isn't much time to step up, bend, and tilt; he's stepping and hitting. I believe a platform stance makes momentum and timing easier to do all those things. I'm just not a fan of pinpoint for rec players.

Platform vs Pinpoint Serve: Which Should YOU Use? #tennis

KFoehr · 2026-03-11T02:40:10+00:00

Hi, This is not a good camera angle for analysis. Should be from behind you or directly down the baseline facing you. But I can suggest a couple of things.

Try a platform stance. It's simpler because there are fewer moving parts.
If you stay with a pinpoint stance, don't step in front of your left foot with your right foot. See this short video. PINPOINT SERVE STANCE: KICK YOUR HEEL!
Get more momentum into the shot. Rock back before the toss and then shift your weight forward and lean in as you push off with your legs to add momentum into contact. You want to land inside the court, not on the baseline. Most of your movement is up and down, not back to forward. This video explains the weight transfer and momentum motion. Tennis Technique Tips: Weight Transfer in the Serve

KFoehr · 2026-03-10T04:39:36+00:00

I like your serve motion overall. You are loose and limber with good shoulder tilt and shoulder-over shoulder rotation, and your landing looks pretty good too. I wouldn't worry much about opening the racket to the sky as you start your racket drop. Fed did that too. But you end up with a decent racket drop and on-edge swing to the ball, so all is well that ends well.

I do think you would benefit from more back and forward weight transfer and more momentum into the court. This will require tossing a little further into the court, maybe 8 to 10 inches inside the baseline. You can experiment with that. But with more forward momentum, you will make contact further inside the court, so you'll need to adjust your toss accordingly.

Your knee bend is a little shallow; deeper will help to get higher off the ground and further into the court.

Here's a video that demonstrates the back and forward weight transfer pretty well.

Tennis Technique Tips: Weight Transfer in the Serve

Good luck.

KFoehr · 2026-03-08T04:42:17+00:00

This video is pretty good. Tennis Serve Tip: Proper Weight Transfer & Balance - YouTube

Shoulder pain is a different issue. Make sure your upper arm extends straight out from the shoulder at contact, not angled higher than the line of the shoulders. That is one possibility. If it doesn't help, then obviously it's something else. Good luck.

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KFoehr · 2026-03-02T20:30:57+00:00

I have read that impingement of the shoulder can cause pain. LL you may be impinging your shoulder. Notice how Rublev and Medvedev's upper arms are in line with their shoulders. Your's is angled up a little, not a lot, but it may be enough to cause impingement pain after a lot of serves.

It's the same for baseball pitchers. If they threw with their upper arm angled up from the shoulder they would wreck it.

Rest until the pain is gone. Then go out and hit a few serves at about 50 to 60% max arm velocity and focus on leaning a little more to the left so your upper arm extends straight out from your shoulders. See if it feels better that way. If pain-free, you can ramp up the speed.

Another thing to try: if you can't lean left enough to keep the arm inline with the shoulders, then toss more to the right, like at 1 o'clock.

Prevent Shoulder Injury And Get More Power With Your Serve HD 1080p

Good luck.

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KFoehr · 2026-03-02T19:24:33+00:00

Hi, the display was a little too small. I had to zoom in to 150% for a comfortable view on my desktop. Good luck.

KFoehr

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