| How to Raise Your Point of Contact on the Serve | |
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The following training methods have varying success. None conflict with any others, so there's no harm in trying as many as you need, as long as you don't jump from one to the next without giving each time to work.
1. Freeze-taps: This is a method commonly used by PTR pros. Hold your racquet behind your back with your elbow fully bent. Toss the ball to the height at which you can reach with your racquet fully extended. Swing up to just meet the ball with a light tap and freeze your racquet at that point of contact. If you're not meeting the ball at full extension, you'll see it right away. Once you are meeting the ball high, freezing there will help that idea and feeling stick in your mind.
2. Fence-traps: Stand with your left shoulder a foot or so from the court fence. Hold your racquet behind your back with your elbow bent. Toss the ball so that it reaches the fence at the greatest height you can reach with your racquet fully extended. Reach up and gently trap the ball against the fence at your full extension. Make sure you're not next to a fence pole when you do this.
3. Lower your toss: Ironically, too high a toss can cause too low a point of contact. If you toss so high that the ball has to drop for you to reach it, this can encourage you to let it drop too far. Try tossing just to the height you can reach, then meeting the ball right there. This will also improve the accuracy of your toss. The shorter the ball's total flight, the less time it has to go astray. A minimal toss will give you an extra edge in windy conditions, too.
4. Serving on the rise: Often, players hit the ball too low because they hit it too late, letting it drop. Try hitting the ball while it's still going up, just as it's about to stop. This will also help you avoid an excessively high toss.
5. Start with elbow up: Many players meet the ball low because their elbow is low. Try serving for a couple of weeks without any windup. Start with your racquet behind your back and your elbow up as high as it can comfortably be. This is also a good cure for the "windmill serve."
6. Go up after the ball: Make sure to bend your knees as you get ready to strike the ball, then push up with your legs as you go up to swing. Direct all of your body's energy upward. "Explode up at the ball."
Additional resources:
How To Practice a Perfect Ball Toss
Tackling the Temperamental Toss
