Serve Webinar: The Eight Elements of Serve

Good morning!

You always play two games when you come on the court to compete.

1. During the point.
2. Between points.

We’ve all heard that tennis is a mind game. The key element is to focus on your game plan and your opponent.

Webinar August 18 (Serving strategy: patterns, percentages and exercises) details many aspects of serving in a match. One of the areas covered isEight Serving Factors“. This is a checklist of things to consider before serving to give yourself the best chance of scoring. Here are:

EIGHT SERVICE FACTORS

1. Where does my opponent think I will serve?
2. Where do I want the ball to go?
3. What are the opponent’s strengths and weaknesses?
4. What’s the score?
5. What is my favorite service?
6. What is my highest service percentage?
7. What are the natural conditions? (sun, wind, slope of the court)
8. Where is my opponent standing?

I explain this list in more detail in 25 golden rules of singles strategy. They are actually golden rule number 2!

Watch this short video I shot in Hong Kong which covers three of the eight. They are:

1. Where does my opponent think I will serve?
2. Where do I want the ball to go?
3. What’s the score?

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Enjoy the video!

Craig O’Shannessy: Things to think about before you start serving.

Who performed best on the men’s tour by maximizing the Eight Factors of Service? Here are the top ten players in three career categories.

First serve points earned

1. Ivo Karlovic 82.71%
2. Goran Ivanisevic 82.46%
3. Milos Raonic 81.44%
4. Ryszard Krajicek 81.39%
5. Wayne Arthurs 81.24%
6. Pete Sampras 80.91%
7. Mark Philippoussis 79.94%
8. Grzegorz Ruseski 79.80%
9. Boris Becker 79.38%
10. Andy Roddick 79.27%

2 serve points earned

1. Rafael Nadal 57.28%
2. Roger Federer 56.83%
3. Jan Isner 56.01%
4. Andy Roddick 55.94%
5. Novak Djokovic 55.37%
6. Milos Raonic 55.07%
7. Stefanos Tsitsipas 54.71%
8. Wayne Arthurs 54.65%
9. Juan Carlos Ferrero 54.22%
10. Casper Ruud 54.12%

Service games won

1. Ivo Karlovic 92.00%
2. Jan Isner 91.80%
3. Milos Raonic 91.16%
4. Andy Roddick 90.10%
5. Roger Federer 88.80%
6. Pete Sampras 88.74%
7. Nick Kyrgios 88.66%
8. Wayne Arthurs 88.24%
9. Mateusz Berrettini 87.70%
10. Ryszard Krajicek 87.21%

All the best!

Craig