What the Pros Do Differently on Serve

Is your serve getting attacked and you're finding you are losing service games? Most players think that the serve is just to start the point, but the pros know it is the start to setting up the point for success. In this video, we're going to go through 4 areas that you can improve your serve to make it more like the pros. There are a couple of main problems with club players and their serve. Problem number 1 is they step up to the line and they don't even think about what they're going to do with their serve. They just get the point started, they rush, they half volley and push it in to the other side of the court, and their opponent gets comfortable. They attack that ball, and immediately the server is defending from the net position. Problem number 2, and this is for a slightly higher level of player. They are now more thoughtful about their serve. They know that they need to hit a good serve, but they are trying to hit the ball so hard. They step up and they give it a drive forehand smack in order to hit a winner past their opponents, and their opponent just gets used to the rebound. It might work at the beginning once or twice, but as soon as your opponent understands the rebound, they will be comfortable with that serve and put you right back under pressure. Due to the rules in padel, you are much more likely to be effective with your serve when there is placement, there's accuracy, consistency, there's a bit of spin on the ball, you've got some good depth, rather than thinking about power. Power will likely mean you have less time to get to net, and it also will mean there's likely be an easier rebound off the glass for your opponents. Now let's look at the serve, how the pros do. And the first tip to serving more like them is to serve and think of it as the setup for your first volley. So the serve and the approach to net is one movement. You hit your serve aiming for accuracy into the glass, for example, and you are coming forward because you want to take advantage of a good net position and a good first volley. When I look at the club level, I see so many players serving and watching their ball before moving to net. They come up to the line, they serve, and then they watch, and then they go to net. And that hesitation, that watching your ball, even if you say to me, well, I wasn't sure if it was in or out, and it goes in, you are going to be late to your volley position. Therefore, you're not going to be in a good position for that next shot. If you watch the pros, They serve and immediately come to the net position. They are thinking, how can I get a slightly easier ball? At that level, the players return so well, so they're thinking, how can I make my next ball even slightly easier? Then it's going to be worth me hitting a good serve. So you should think like that too. If I can hit a good serve, a good placement, yes, maybe at your level it might win you the point, but if you go with the mentality that it's going to set you up easily for that next ball, then you are going to be in a good position on your serve. Tip number 2 is prioritizing placement over power. Now we've discussed that earlier, but if you look at the pros, they don't smack their serves. They could do, they have absolute power when it comes to some of their shots, but their serve, they are generally placing into a location on the service box. Now for you at a club level, most players find it very difficult to deal with the side glass, so if you were play a serve that bounces in this square here that's deep for the service line but it's going towards the glass, it will force your opponent to play with the glass. Now if that same angle bounces here, it often means the opponent actually can come in and avoid the glass. So you want a little bit of depth in this back 3 or 4 feet of the service box. You want it with a little bit of angle so it's going in towards the glass, or at least challenging your opponent to make the decision. If they hesitate and they're not sure whether to use the glass, players often get stuck too close to the glass and they end up pushing the ball. So this placement in here is ideal. Now, if you can also hit slice on that ball so that when it does bounce, it hits the glass and it stays low, that can also be difficult for your opponents. But all of this can be done at a medium speed. Because at a medium speed you can still get this accuracy, still hit with slice, still give your opponent a difficult return, and at a medium speed you can get yourself into a good position. Tip number 3 is the pros move to the net expecting a type of ball, so they're hitting their serve and they're going into a position that they feel like they're likely to get a certain type of shot from their opponent. Now They have fantastic anticipation skills, and so when the ball goes into a certain area, they can see their opponents struggling or, or playing some type of ball, and they are ready for that next ball. Very often you see them serve and immediately go like this because they see their opponents are coming up underneath the ball in order to hit a lob. But the same can happen for you. I so often see club players where they might serve... Serve! And they come in and the racket is down and they get to net, there's no split step, and then the ball comes and it takes them by surprise. So when you're coming forward, you want to serve with the racket in a nice good ready position, split step, and be ready to attack that next ball if you get the opportunity. If you've hit a good serve and you see your opponent is in a weak position, in a weak reply, and it's going to float, Be in this position to be ready to attack on your toes, fast, to move forward and get on that ball. The 4th thing that the pros do that the amateur player does not do is practice. When I travel with Red Bull TV and we go and commentate at the majors around the world, I'm always going to the practice courts and I'm always blown away with how much the pros practice their serve and return. You would think, oh, it's an easy action, they don't need to do it, but they are there stepping up to the line and doing a good 10 minutes of like serving, aiming for accuracy. The returner's practicing the return. They stop and they go again, and they just keep practicing this serve and return. I'm talking about the top players in the world like Chingalan, Delphi Jemma. They are practicing their serve and return at tournaments. So when you come early to a court and you're with someone else, instead of practicing your 3-meter smash or blasting your smashes, practice your serve and your return. It's just such an easy thing for you to get good with your serve, them to get good with their return, and they are crucial parts of the point to get the point started in your favor. One thing we provide at The Padel School that we know helps our members improve their level is training off the court. We have courses for footwork, we have courses for ball control, we have courses where you can actually practice getting spin, and one of those is for the serve. You can actually improve your serve by being at home, hitting into a netting or to a wall where you're getting there and just practicing getting the slice, giving yourself a target on that back glass and just getting the brush for the ball and get accuracy hitting over a shorter distance. It's incredibly difficult to practice your serve In a match setting, you don't want to let your partner down, you want to win the match, so you are under pressure, whereas at home you can do so much training. If you join thepowerschool.com, you'll get access to all of our at-home training that we do to help our players improve their level. When it comes to your serve this week, I'm going to set you a challenge of when you step up to the line to serve, I want you to think about how you can hit the best setup for your volley Possible. So you're stepping up the line, instead of thinking I'm going to hit a winning serve, step up, aim into that corner, a little bit of slice, come forward, and then look for that next ball. Think of your serve around a setup rather than I'm going to immediately finish the point. And depending on their return, it might require another setup. So if they hit a good return, maybe you hit a nice setup volley down the middle, for example, and get the point going rather than trying to finish points too quickly. The pros take their time and they set points up. So should you.

Cheers.