The same serve

Ask the coachCategory: ServiceThe same serve
Esteban asked 3 years ago

Hello. At a beginner or intermediate level, if my serve is successful: should I repeat it until my opponent manages to return it? Or should I go varying even at the risk of losing points?

1 Answers
Tom Lodziak Staff answered 3 years ago

You have a few options you could try.

If your opponent struggles with a serve, you could use the same serve very often. Eventually your opponent will work it out, but by that time, you may be winning comfortably, so it doesn’t really matter.

Or you could only use the serve for key points in the match, e.g. if the score is 7-7, 8-8, 9-9 or 10-10. Then you should have an advantage to win a couple of cheap points.

Some players only use their best serve for game points or match points.

This is my approach… In the first game, I will test out a few serves against my opponent. If I sense there is a serve my opponent really doesn’t like, I will use the serve a little more, especially for key points in the match. But I will continue to vary my serves, so my opponent doesn’t settle.

In summary, if you have a serve your opponent struggles to return, I would use it more often, but continue to use other variations too.