How to improve second serve of tennis games?
364970
The first and second serves are fundamentally different.  A first serve is an aggressive serve you hit to try either for an ouright winner or at least a weak return.  The second serve should be a defensive serve you know will go in that minimizes the chance your opponent will hit a return winner.  Most pro's hit a hard first serve, either flat or a slice, then for a second serve they hit either a kick or a twist because the top spin makes sure it goes in and the high bounce makes it tough to hit an aggressive return on.  You definitely don't want to double fault and give away free points.\n\nThe trick to getting your second serve solid is to 1. pick which serve you're going to use and 2. hit nothing but second serves everytime you play, until you can hit the second serve with 100% guarantee it's going to go in.  Once you have it down, go back to your usual 1st serve/ 2nd serve strategy.  You'll no longer feel shaky on your second serve because you'll know for sure you can put it in the service box.  This will also free you up on your first serve to really go for it, since you don't have to worry about double faults.
1064962
That's a great question. Here are some ideas for you to work on:\n\n1. Your serve often will get neglected when you can't find anyone else to practice with. This is actually the best time to work on your serve. I recommend that you buy a ball hopper (they make picking the balls back up so easy, and plus when you bring the arms down to use them as legs, you don't have to bend over to get another ball after every serve). With your ball hopper filled with tennis balls go and setup some targets at your local court and practice serving. You'd be surprised what an hour a day does for your serve. Check out the first link under "Sources"for a great online store where you'll be able to find a ball hopper.\n\n2. Your volleys are also often neglected when you don't have anyone else to hit with. My personal opinion is that practicing volleys against a wall is more useful than ground strokes. Find a wall, give yourself about six feet from the wall and toss a ball against it. Volley and keep the ball "in play" and continue to get closer and closer to the wall. Your reflexes and your volleys will really improve with this. If you don't do it against a practice wall, then you can mark in chalk a line at 3 feet from the ground to give you an idea of the net.\n\n3. Your footwork is something that can always be addressed, but it is often ignored totally. There are lots of drills that you can do that will help you "move towards the ball." The second link under the sources will take you to one such training resource. It's a special kind of ball that bounces unexpectedly. You'll want to toss the ball into the air, do a split step as it bounces (a split step is when you take a little hop and are ready to explode to another position), and try and catch the ball before it hits the ground again.\n\n4. Your ground strokes are pretty difficult to work on alone. You can try hitting against a wall, but if you spend your time hitting against the wall and not against other players, you'll find that your "wall time" doesn't necessarily translate to good tennis. I remember that one summer, I spent at least an hour a day against the wall, and the next time that I hit with someone, I was spraying my groundies against the back fence. The reason was that during all that wall practice, I didn't have the normal feedback that a real court gives (how the spin will affect the ball's trajectory, how much power I'm putting on the ball, etc.)--all that the wall told me was how high over the net I was hitting. So, my advice is that if you decide to spend a lot of time hitting against a wall, try to spend as much time hitting with someone else. A better use of the wall is for volleys. A ball machine is a big investment. If you decide to buy one of those, do your homework and ask around before forking out the money for it.\n\nMy final suggestion is to check out the third link in the source list. The United States Tennis Association has put a "player finder" option on their website. There you'll be able to enter your zip code and the kinds of players you'd like to hit against, and it will give you some people's names. There is no substitute for a real person on the other side of the net.\n\nI hope that helps!
725082
It certainly would help, although serving is just one aspect to volleyball.  If it's 2 on 2 than It's more important, but if its 6 on 6 or more, then you can get away with a less than perfect serve.
1089317
When I do volleyball clinics covering serving, I spend as much as 30 minutes discussing the mental approach and the mechanics of serving.  In this format it is difficult to cover much more than just the basics of it.  Most people learn best from having someone tell them how to do it and then show them how to do it - you should look in your area for any camps you can go to.  I know in my area there are a couple of high schools that have offered camps, I will be doing one out of the YMCA where I coach and the local universities offer camps.\n\nJust some tips\n1.  It is easier and therefore more comfortable to hit the ball closer to your body (letting it drop lower before swinging at it).  One of the biggest mistakes I see is players doing that so that they are at least making contact with the ball.  Don't fall into that trap.  Make contact up and away from your body - you may miss completely a few times as you get your timing down.  So what, it will pay off in the end.\n2. Make sure you are swinging at the ball.  I see a lot of players that are developing an overhand serve, drop their elbow and swing with a "shot put" motion.  During your swing, your elbow should never drop below your shoulder.\n3. All of your movement should be forward through the ball towards your target.  Imagine a narrow box in front of you that you have to pass through.  The biggest mistake I see players make is stepping sideways and swinging at the ball with their shoulders and hips square to the net.You should be turning your waist through your swing  - 50% of your power comes from that motion.  When you step out, you are robbing yourself of that power.\n\nThe thing I try to remind my players is serving is about confidence and mechanics.  I have a girl that plays for me who is about 4'11" to 5' tall and has a very slight build - she is able generate incredible power when she hits the ball.  She has an incredibly consistent and strong serve and in our last season she was in the top 3 or 4 on the team in serves even though she was the smallest player.  She is very confident and she has awesome mechanics.\n\nUse your mind to practice.  Visualize yourself serving.  You should see yourself serving using perfect mechanics and being successful with each serve.  You should do at least 20 "mental serves" a day.\n\nGood luck
490581
I'm a nationally certified Tennis Instructor. In the 37 years I've been involved in tennis, I've taught many, many students.\n\nTO ANSWER YOUR QUESTION HONESTLY...\n\nNot only do I not know of a good, cheap tennis camp, but I also do not know of a good, EXPENSIVE tennis camp.\n\nTruly, the best way to improve your tennis game is to take PRIVATE tennis lessons from a well-respected and CERTIFIED Tennis Instructor.\n\nYou see, tennis needs to be learned progressively, one step building upon another. This not only requires a great deal of concentration, it also requires a great deal of TIME.\n\nIn fact, it typically takes between 30 and 60 minutes to make a reasonable advance, and this definitely requires INDIVIDUAL instruction, not group lessons.\n\nSure, group lessons are fun. But, they don't provide you with enough INDIVIDUAL instruction to make a lasting change.\n\nTennis Camps are also fun, but they provide you with even less INDIVIDUAL instruction.\n\nDon't waste your money on a tennis camp. Instead, find a good local CERTIFIED Tennis Instructor, and be prepared to concentrate on technique.
544407
Ha ha! My greatest weakness in tennis is serving too! I suggest to keep on practicing. I practiced that for a few weeks and became steadily better. The correct way is to:\n1. Hold you racket and tennis ball, racket in your "writing" hand and tennis ball in the other,\n2. Swing your racket half a circle back, with a lot of power, and\n3. Quickly through your tennis ball in the air.\n\nYour swing with the racket should give you power. By the time you're done with the swing, you should instantly throw the tennis ball in the air. Thsi gives the serve more power form the swing. If you swing your racket and then throw the tennis ball in the air too late, your power from the swing will be gone and it will be a useless gesture. Hope that helps!
1167968
I am not sure if you are a male or female but in the end it comes down to technique over upper body strength anyway. There are many types of serves one can master. The three most common are your underhand serve...your overhand floater and your jump serve. Most people strive to learn to jump serve, though it is a less accurate serve and tends to work best if you can physically overpower your opponant.  The arm swing on your underhand serve is similiar to rolling a ball in bowling. With the volleyball in your left hand extended out, elbow slightly bent..(opposite hands for a lefty) You make contact with an unclenched fist....pushing off the ball of your right back foot. The underside of your forearm should be up. You direct the ball up AND over the net. Once mastered this is a very dependable serve..but not powerful. The OVERHAND FLOATER is an overhand serve with little to no spin. It may tend to be harder to receive because it "floats" through the air without a speedy trejectory. Thus it's name.  The overhand floater requires less power than an overhand serve with spin and more speed. Step 1: The ball should be thrown in the air. It is less important which hand you use to do this or whether or not your use two hands for your toss so long as it is accurate and about 18" above your head. Contact should be made by swinging your right arm (L for a lefty) and hitting the ball with the ball of your hand. Not the palm/fingers/or wrist! The most common mistakes are a bad toss, inproper contact, and failing to fully extend your arm above your head to maximize reach. Swing with your whole arm and not just at the elbow. Once you learn to put these two serves over the net you can work more on placement, speed, etc. Write back then and ask for tips on other overhand serves and jump serving. Good luck! :o)
385781
Iagree tennis is difficult
588062
For a one-handed backhand:\n1. Keep your hips parallel to the long side of the court during the entire swing. In other words, don't twist your hips. \n2. Follow through with the racquet. \n3. Watch Roger Federer! His one-hander is the best. \nFor a two-handed backhand:\n1. Make sure your arms are extended during the swing. \n2. Hit a two-hander like you would a forehand with your non-dominant arm. So, if you're a righty, work on your lefty forehand and when you put your right hand on there, let your left hand do the most work. \n3. Start the stroke with your hips parallel to the long side of the court, but unlike the one-hander, twist your hips during the stroke. \n4. Follow through with both hands on your racquet. \n\nIf all else fails, watch the pros!
295941
OK, i'll make this brief and easy to read.\n\nI used to be in the same situation, I'll hit really well with my friends outside of school and at practice but when it comes time for a tournament I choke, even when my opponent sucks.\n\nHeres what you do:\n\n1) go to your happy place, utopia, no matter where i be\n2) dont rush your serve take your time, and look them in the eye before you serve (stops them from moving)\n3) show NO emotion, and be calm, you wan't to make sure that he knows you have somethin up your sleeve and your not upset you missed the point\n4) STAY CALM, think clear and use your adrenaline as a benefit\n5)Focus on CONSISTENCY and making sure you hit it back to him everytime, and don't hit winners on all your shots...\n\nmost important......\n\nREMAIN CALM
435644
TIMING is the key. volleys requires u to be consistant, dont try to add power to ur shots, that'll take away ur accuracy. see where u wanne bounce the ball on the oppsite side. better net speed comes with accuracy as well. try to hit the ball away from ur opponent, make them run a little so u can come up to the net; ur accuracy goes down when u are hitting the ball while running. and for better footwork try to run the lines on the tennis court during practice or prior to the game, that will give u speed and mobility.
229489
I think that is amazing to do that. I sure have never done that and I think you deserve praise. What level of tennis players do you play against. The better the level, the more praise you should recieve. That might show you how much of a clutch player you really are and you deserve to feel good about yourself for this amazing feat.
309204
The problem with how people are answering is they might be missing exactly what you are asking.  If you are asking say the score is 15 all and you are serving from the deuce court and you miss your first serve, that is simply a fault and you then attempt your 2nd serve.  However if the score is say 15-30 and you are serving from the deuce side, after missing a first serve your opponents point out that you incorrectly served from the worng side, they can insist that you serve from the correct side with your 2nd serve.  Most players will simply give the server a first serve again and require that they serve from the correct Ad-court side.
1087956
I did something similar to that. make sure you stretch those muscles before your next practice like mad, and once you play more you'll be less prone to hurting it. Also, you may want to modify your serving technique. If you're bending too much to one side or the other, it can really hurt you. Ask your coach about it.
1117329
Two people before me, Bella and Cruzer, have answered your question. Cruzer's answer was quite long and detailed while Bella's answer was very short and sweet.\n\nI'm a nationally certified Tennis instructor, and I can tell you that Cruzer's advice, though impressive in its detail and volume, is completely uninformed and incorrect.\n\nAlthough Bella's answer was quite short, she's completely correct. \n\nIndeed, taking PRIVATE Tennis lessons from a renowned Tennis instructor is the surest and shortest route to improvement. Rest assured that the only way to control the ball is by learning proper technique and spin, be it topspin or slice.\n\nYou might be tempted to take group lessons, but do yourself a favor and leave this to beginners. For sure, if you've been playing tennis for a while and have seen too little improvement, only PRIVATE tennis lessons will do.
364823
i know how hard it is to be short and play vball. i'm 5'4" and i've ALWAYS been a DS or libero. really work on your serve and quick feet. i spent a whole summer just perfecting all my serves (jump, floater, top spin, EVERYTHING) because i'm usually a DS so i always serve. my coaches always trust me when it comes to serving and if it's an important serve, they trust me to take it because they're confident in me. i served 97.2% on my last season. also, footwork and ALWAYS being low helps. if you're fast and you can get to any ball, they'll definitely think more of you. just keep working hard and work on rolls/dives too! and getting off the floor REALLY quickly. \ntheres a drill where you lay on the ground and someone slams the ball against the ground, making it bounce back up, and as soon as the ball contacts the floor, you get up as fast as you can, get to the ball and pass to a target.then right where you ended up, you get back on the ground and do it over and over and over. i LOVE that drill.
448708
try concentrating on these three things\n\n-bend at the knees slightly\n-follow the ball to the racket with your eyes\n-follow through steping your back leg up so your facing the net