In tennis you are allowed two serves. If you miss your first serve you are allowed to take one more. If you miss your second serve then you lose the point.
Most of the times tennis players will be more cautious on the second serve to ensure that they get it in and don’t lose the point.
This is why you will often see second serves that are a bit slower and may not seem as strong.
Anything is possible!
It really depends on your tennis strategy and how willing you are to take some risk in your second serve in order to ace it.
How to Master Your Second Serve in Tennis
There is so much information about how to serve in tennis that focuses on the first serve.
What about the second serve though?
That little guy needs some LOVE and attention too…get it?!
In some ways I fee like having a solid second serve is even more important than having an amazing first serve.
In a perfect world you would master both…and I am sure you will get to a place where you feel confident about both of your serves.
In this post we will talk about why your second serve is important and how to nail down a second serve that will help you win more tennis matches.
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Why is the second serve so important?
Getting the opportunity to “try again” when you have missed your first serve is pretty amazing.
I can’t think of many chances in life or sports when we get a “redo” just because.
Having a successful second serve gives you the chance to win a point.
Serving is the one thing in tennis WE get to control so it is important to have some sort of strategy in place.
Second Serve Strategy
Your second serve should be one that is consistent and you can hit with confidence.
You should not have the same fear you have of missing the serve as you do on your first serve.
When coming up with a second serve you still want to be difficult for your opponent….but your number one goal with your second serve should be to get it over the net and in the box.
Should you use less power on your second serve?
This depends on the player.
Most tennis players seem to take down the power or speed just a bit on the second serve to ensure they hit it in.
I think that is a wise move.
I keep missing my second serve…what am I doing wrong?
If you are missing your second serve a lot then you need to do some problem solving to figure out why.
One reason people often times miss their second serve is because of the pressure.
They know this is their last chance to get their serve in and it causes some tension.
If your someone that 99% of the time gets your first serve in then you might feel a bit off and panic when you do miss and have to do the second one.
If nerves are bothering you then take a minute before your second serve to reset.
Take some deep breaths and refocus.
Another reason you might be missing your second serve is because you just haven’t practiced it enough…which leads me to my next topic.
Practicing Your Second Serve
You need to practice your first serve…and guess what…you NEED to practice your second serve too!
Make time at every practice to work on both of your serves so that they can become consistent.
Keep in mind that serving is one of the most important aspects of playing tennis because it is one of the only times in the match that you get to control what happens.
Should I aim somewhere different on my second serve?
Some people play with their speed when it comes to their second serve and some also play with where they target it.
Personally, my second serve is softer than my first so I try to mix it up by targeting different places to throw off my opponent.
Serve your second serve as your first!
So this is a little trick that I have done many times to throw off an opponent.
My second serve is very different than my first serve.
If the score is close and I am in a pinch, I will serve my second serve first and it usually completely shocks my opponent.
This is one of my favorite and most successful tennis strategies to use in a close match when I am just trying to sneak up on my opponent.
Watch Other Tennis Players
One of the best ways to learn and get information on how to do something in tennis is to just watch other players.
Take notice of how much time they take before they hit their second serve.
Pay attention to where they aim and how hard they hit the ball.
If you see something interesting…give it a try and see how it works for you!
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