How to Hit a Flat Serve in Tennis

Video Transcript

"Hi, my name's Lincoln Ward. I'm a USPTA certified tennis instructor in Austin, Texas, with Lone Star Tennis Company. Today I'm going to talk to you about hitting a flat serve. The most important part of your flat serve is your ball toss. You have to toss the ball about--you want to create a forty-five degree angle between the baseline in your arm when you're tossing the ball up, so it's going to go out into the court. When you go to swing, you're going to take your racket back, bring it back there to your shoulder, reach forward and out, and pronate your wrist through the shot, following through all the way to your other hip--your left hip if you're right handed. Don't put on the brakes. If you try to freeze up and stop right here, you're not going to have any power. You want to swing through the serve. Swing completely through it, not brakes. Your brakes will stop naturally when you come across your body. Now, it's real important to toss the ball nice and high, and reach forward to hit the shot. As you're tossing it, you want to lean over your front foot to have a consistent ball toss. Your ball toss makes a difference in your serve. When you're holding your grip for your serve, you want to hold a continental grip. That's bevel number two. Between bevel two and three. And way you have a nice handshake grip, and when you go through your stroke, you're able to pronate your wrist out to get a little more power through the serve. That's how to hit a flat serve. My name's Lincoln Ward. Thank you very much."