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Hey I'm Andy with tennis warehouse and

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today we're going to learn how to hit a

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serve. The service arguably the most

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important stroke and tennis it starts

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every point and when used correctly it

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can give you a tactical advantage in the

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point. I'm going to highlight the five

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key elements that every high-level serve

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should have. FIRST it's very important

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that you're serving with a continental

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grip. Many people when they start out

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playing tennis use their forehand grip

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to serve. This is called the frying pan

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grip and a pancake grip and people can

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produce some pretty effective serves

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with it but it's going to limit how good

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and consistent your serve can be. If you

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watch the pros every player is serving

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with a continental grip. The easiest way

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to find your continental grip is to take

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the racket in your opposite hand like so

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Take the V of your dominant hand and

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work it down the beam of the racket all

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the way down to the grip and that should

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be your continental grip. This should be

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the way that you would hold a hammer and

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the V of your hand should rest on the

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left bevel of the grip. This is the most

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universally used Griffin tennis. Next the

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tempo of your serve is very important

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you always want to think slow to fast.So

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when I'm starting my serve

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I want to start very calm and balanced

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and you want to start with a ritual that

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you can repeat every single time you

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serve and what that's going to do is

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help you get focused and balance before

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every server. For example I like to

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bounce the ball seven times before my

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first serve and three times before my

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second serve and I want to do so with my

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feet lined up so that. If I were to draw

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a line from my back foot and some to my

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front foot it would point at the net

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post in front of me. So remember think

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slow to fast come still and balanced at

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the beginning and fast and explosive up

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into your contact.

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NEXT I want to get to the most important

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aspect of the serve which is the toss a

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consistent toss will lead to a

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consistent serve while an inconsistent

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toss will lead to an inconsistent serve.

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Start with your arms straight doesn't

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have to be locked out like that, but just

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nice and comfortable there with the ball

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in the tips of your fingers and what

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you're going to want to do.

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You just place the ball up above you.

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Instead of flinging it out of your hands

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You don't want that ball to spin as

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you're tossing. Toss location is also

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extremely important for your servant may

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vary slightly from Player to Player also

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depending on what type of server that

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you're hitting. But a general rule of

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thumb if you picture me and the position

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of the toss is like a clock you want to

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be tossing right at twelve o'clock

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position directly above you.

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Some people may move their serves their

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toss slightly to the right for a flat or

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a slice serve or slightly to the left

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for a kick serve but generally you want

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to be right around that twelve o'clock

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range. Your toss height should be not too

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high but not too low. Your top should be

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high enough to allow you to not have to

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rush your motion and get fully extended

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for your contact position yet you don't

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want it too high to where the ball is

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falling more than a foot or two from the

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apex of the toss and be higher than that

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when the ball drops a few feet from its

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Highest point your toss may be too high

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After you toss the ball you're going to

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want to move yourself into a loading

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position getting ready to explode up

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into the ball and it's important here

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that we remember our slow to fast tempo

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we want our energy to build during our

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motion as you do so your left arm should

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still be fully extended from your toss

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that's going to help keep your left side

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of your body up and your knees should be

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bent ready to explode up into the ball

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with your legs they can they can be one

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of two ways here to do it either way is

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right or wrong they're both widely used

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on the Pro Tour you've got guys like

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Roger Federer are Pete Sampras that use

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a platform stance where their feet are

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still apart their weight is evenly

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balanced between their two feet and

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they're going to jump up into the ball

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without moving their feet. Other guys

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like John Isner, Rafa Nadal, myself

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actually use more of a step-up stand so.

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I may start a little bit wider at first

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and then step up into my loading

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position now my feet are together my

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knees are together once again my weight

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is balanced evenly between the two legs

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and I'm ready to explode up into the

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ball so your knees are nice and bent

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you're ready to explode up into the ball

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Your left arm is extended and now the

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position of your racket is extremely

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crucial here

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so with that let

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storm up you want your racket to be

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really close to your face right here and

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what that's going to do you want to get

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your kind of in a position where you

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would throw a baseball or football. If

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you didn't have a racket in your hand

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kind of right by your face there and

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when that's going to allow you to do is

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really generate lots of racket head

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speed up into the ball.The most commonly

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taught mistake here is to get into that

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loading position with your racket

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scratching. Your back okay and you'll

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eventually get to that point but you

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don't want to load to there because now

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you've got no momentum up into the ball

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and you can't generate racket head speed

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you want that racket right here so that

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as you explode up you're going to drop

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the racket and generate racket head

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speed up into your contact FINALLY we're

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ready to explode up into the ball for

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contact your in your loading position

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and now this is going to be the fastest

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part of your motion as you go up into

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the ball

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Your arms are going to exchange

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positions now so your left arm will drop

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into your chest your right arm should be

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loose and explosive your wrist should be

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very loose and right at your contact

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point at the top. You're going to want to

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get a nice wrist snap down into the

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court one thing that's also extremely

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important.

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You want to make sure your eyes are up

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at contact and you want to try to see

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the ball actually make contact with the

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strings. As you're at full extension with

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your arms there to reach up at contact

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your legs should explode up into the

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ball and into the court that's very

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important.

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You want to get your body going into the

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court as opposed to behind you. When you

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do so you're going to explode up land on

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that front leg there and your back leg

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will kick up behind you and that's going

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to kind of counterbalance you make sure

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I'm really balance from that point

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you're going to want to recover quickly

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and get back into your ready position as

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quick as you can for your next shot and

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that's the basics of the serve. Be sure

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to check out our youtube channel for

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more tennis Warehouse Academy videos for

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more helpful tips. Thanks for watching.