I have a very 'safe' serve, but in order to have it as strong ammo, I need to make it much faster and more powerful.
One problem is my grip, I know.
However when the pro has me shift to a continental grip, I get rotator pain in my shoulder, and so I resort to shifting my grip back to the 'Eastern' grip.
My serve isn't powerful either, and I don't use the best grip either. I also struggle to bend my knees. But I do hit the ball pretty hard. But what really helps me is I'm able to consistently get my serve deep in the box, while varying my placement. Depending upon the situation, sometimes I'll serve down the T, sometimes I'll serve into the body of my opponent, and sometimes I'll serve sharply out wide. I try to never let my opponent get comfortable. So my serve is not much of a liability, and is sometimes an asset. I sure don't double fault much. Plus, it's forced my return game to be better. :-)
Hope this helps, good luck
Aug 17, 2008 Rating
hitting the ball flat by: Mike
I also don't have very powerful serves, but recently I learned the importance of the pronation, so that I hit the ball when my racquet is flat.
This helps my serve, but I think the only way to really have very powerful serves is to just go alone to tennis courts and just serve more and more balls.
I always try to find a way that my serves will be mostly aces. I can usually find stuff that can make it better, but I think the only actual way to make your serves very strong is the painful way, a lot of practice.
Nov 16, 2008 Rating
Do a kick serve by: Anonymous
Dong a kick serve might help a little even though it is a topspin serve because your whole weight will push the ball forward adding more power to the ball or maybe your'e having problems with the continental grip because your hand might not be in the "handshake" posistion.
