To Protect Your Serve

There’s a lot about tennis that you don’t have control over.  When the ball could be coming at you from any angle at any speed, your reactions will often dictate how you’re going to swing.  Thus, extensive practice and work on altering your natural reactions will be critical to preventing an injury during lengthy volleys.

But there is one part of the game that you do have more control over:  the serve.  Not only can a great serve give you an edge over a competitor, it can actually protect your body from injuries that can result from taking part in the same off-putting repetitive motions over and over again.  A new report provides some important guidance on achieving the best serve possible.

A great serve starts with how you’re actually positioning yourself on the court.  You might think about aligning your body at a right angle with the net.  You’ll want to separate your feet just a little bit further than your shoulders, and before you toss the ball, get in the habit of keeping both arms on an even line with your chest.

More critical than your stance, though, will be how you tee the ball up in the air to rocket it over to the other side.  If you don’t put the ball up in precisely the right position, your overall swing is going to suffer.  Think about this:  when the ball hangs in the air above your head, you have plenty of time to react and bring your arm around to its optimum position.  However, if you’re tossing the ball a little bit backwards, forward, or off to the side, your arm will necessarily have to be adjusted to compensate for the position of the ball.

Even a slight alteration to your movement in this manner will screw up the mechanics of the swing and potentially lead to an overuse injury if it doesn’t go corrected.  The author at the link above notes that weight should be hefted onto the front foot once the tennis ball has been launched into the air.  The thought is that doing so allows you to have more balance as you move through your entire swing, thereby staving off the injury potential of an errant serve.

When you go about the actual swing, fluidity and relaxation are key.  You shouldn’t have to work against the natural mechanics of your body.  The author suggests swinging the racquet in a manner not dissimilar to throwing a football down the field.  Stay relaxed until the ball is tossed up and then release the full power of your swing.  In doing, you’ll improve your game and keep injuries at bay.