Your ability to serve in beach tennis can make or break your game. Especially as you are only given one opportunity per serve (unlike regular tennis where, if your first serve is a fault, you are given another chance to make it in). Therefore, you need to be consistent otherwise you’ll just be giving away points.
But consistency is only part of the equation, as softly tapping the ball over into your opponent’s lap is just asking to get the ball smashed back in your face.
For a truly effective serve you need the trifecta: consistency, power and accuracy.
The only way to develop this skill is practice and time. However, all of the practice in the world will hardly make up for a poor foundation, so here are the fundamentals of a beach tennis serve.
Step 1: Grip
- First things first, you need to be holding your racket correctly. You will be holding the racket in a “continental grip” which looks like this:
As shown in the pictures, the racket should be held with the beam of the paddle facing up. Your index finger should be slightly above the rest of your grip, and you should be able to maneuver the racket as though you were hammering a nail.
Step 2: Positioning and Footing
- You can serve from anywhere behind the back line. It does not matter how far to the left or right side of the court you are, so long as you are behind the line you are good to go.
- The foot opposite your racket hand will be in front. So if you are right handed, your left foot will be forward, left handed you right foot.
Step 3: Throwing the Ball
- You are going to want to throw the ball exactly to the height of where you are going to hit the ball.
Throw it too low and you are going to lose power in your swing as well as hit the ball at an upward angle instead smashing it down. And throwing it too high increases the chances of a bad throw as well as mistiming your hit.
Step 4: Bend Your Knees
- Immediately after throwing the ball into the air bend your knees, then extend and explode upwards as you hit the ball.
Step 5: Positioning Your Racket and Hitting the Ball
- As you lean back to hit the ball you need to bend your elbow. The amount you bend your elbow is largely up to personal preference. In the video below the instructor says to dip your racket below your shoulders, but when you watch him actually serve he himself doesn’t do so (only inconsistency in the video. Aside from that it is very instructional, especially if you are a visual learner).
- When hitting the ball, you need to rotate the arm to slice the ball along the racket. This will add spin to the ball, making it easier to control and a more difficult shot to return if done correctly.
Step 6: Run Into the Court Following Your Serve
- Immediately after serving the ball you need to run into position. You don’t know if your opponent will return with a lob or a drop shot so you need to be prepared.
Conclusion:
No great talent has ever come easy. Honing your serve is a difficult task, and perfection an impossibility as there is always room for improvement. Don’t beat yourself up if you don’t get it right away, it takes time, practice and patience.
Chances are your movements will be jerkey, inefficient and inconsistent as you attempt to piece together these six steps. However in time they will become second nature.
Throwing the ball, bending your knees, exploding up and hitting the ball at the peak of your toss should be one fluid motion, but of course this is easier said than done and will take a lot of practice to master.
For a visual demonstration check out the video below!