Coach Michael Mantua of TAG International Tennis Academy is a Singapore Open Champion and the former number 7 ranked player in the Philippines. One of Coach Michael’s best weapons is his tennis serve, which has a top speed similar to the top players on the ATP Tour.
Coach Michael Mantua shares his 8 best tips for a powerful and accurate serve.
1. Consider Using a Platform Stance
A platform stance which has a wide base with the feet apart has the advantage of a more horizontal drive through the ball compared to the pinpoint stance where the back leg moves forward to meet the front foot. There are advantages and disadvantages to each style but Roger Federer, Pete Sampras, Andre Agassi, Novak Djokovic, Dominic Thiem and Coach Michael use the platform stance on their tennis serve. Kei Nishikori famously changed from a pinpoint stance to a platform stance on his tennis serve.
2. Use a Continental Grip
It is absolutely important to use a continental grip so that you are able to create the whiplash effect. Many players and coaches call it the wrist snap, and there is indeed some element of that, but what it really is the forearm pronation which allows the racquet head to travel a great distance in a very short time, creating massive racquethead speed which will in turn impart massive power, speed and spin to the serve depending on your tactical objective.
3. Be accurate on your toss consistently
This is a matter of practice. Being able to toss the ball slightly above the strikezone to the same spot correctly allows the body to reach up for it and go after the ball with maximum extension and confidence. If the body is always reacting and compensating to hit the ball, even slightly, you could hit it well, but such adjustments will result in significant loss of power on your tennis serve.
4. The Hip out and the Trophy position with the front shoulder over the back shoulder
This is often also known as the power position. Imagine your left lateral oblique (if you are right-handed) as the pole of a pole vault and it is on stretch to propel you forward and upward. This is achieved by pushing your hip forward and your tossing arm upward. The more you stretch your oblique, the more elastic energy you have to impart energy into the ball for a powerful tennis serve.
5. A Deep Knee Bend is essential to generate a Leg Drive
Most players do not bend deep enough. The deeper the knee bend, the more the legs are “loaded” so that it can drive the entire body forward and upwards and generate racquet head speed and impart energy to the ball with the tennis racquet.
Elbow up, racquet down in the trophy position, and as the leg drive is released, the racquet head will accelerate through the impact zone of the serve with tremendous speed.
6. Have a loose, live arm
Having a very loose and live hard is very important so as to take advantage of the kinetic chain where the shoulder, elbow and wrist are the final parts of the chain. A loose live arm allows the server to generate massive racquet head speed that will impart massive power or spin to the ball as desired by the server.
7. Focus on the impact
The entire set-up of the serve and motion is to create the fastest and most accurate racquet head impact with the ball. So, what is truly critical is the IMPACT OF THE TENNIS RACQUET. Impact the back of the ball squarely with good pronation CLEANLY and you will get a powerful flat tennis serve. If you are intending to hit a Topspin Kick Serve, then “Flash” impact the ball in the direction of the spin you want to impart.
8. Putting it together
Ultimately, a consistent toss, a deep leg drive, trunk rotation, lateral stretch, relaxed body, loose arm, forearm pronation and a clean impact with massive racquet head speed is the way to a powerful and accurate tennis serve. All these elements must work in sync so a lot of practice is needed.
It takes lots of practice so go out there and serve baskets to targets, and also look for a very good coach such as Coach Michael Mantua or the coaches of TAG International Tennis Academy who are former pros to help you improve your serve.
The TAG International Tennis Academy Definitive Guide Series
We hope you have found this article on a competitive tennis player’s nutrition informative and helpful. If so, please share it with your tennis playing family and friends. This article is part of the TAG Definitive Guide Series which encompasses the best tennis advice available on the internet. If you enjoyed this article, some other interesting tennis instruction articles you may like:
- Best tips to a reliable Double Backhand by TAG Coach Israel Abarquez
- Best tips to a powerful serve by TAG Coach Michael Mantua
- Best tips to a single backhand return of serve by TAG Coach Peter Egos
- Best left-hander tips by TAG Coach Parekh Pratim
- Best tips to a devastating one hande d backhand by TAG Coach Bo Alburo
- Best tips to a knee buckling drop shot by TAG Coach Ten Rapeepat
- Best tips to an effective Serve and Volley Game by TAG Coach Ray Evan
- Best tips to an impregnable defence by TAG Coach Rocky Paglalunan
- Best tips to a ferocious inside out forehand by TAG Coach Jeremy Maniago
- Best tips on the art of poaching in doubles by TAG Coach Dave Regencia
- Best advice on Nutrition and Diet in Tennis for Peak Athletic Performance.
If you are looking to improve your tennis, you can look to some of Singapore’s best private tennis coaches such as the tennis coaches from the best tennis academy in Singapore, TAG International Tennis Academy by taking private tennis lessons. We can be contacted at +6598395232, or contact us HERE.
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