Insider:

Serving

Serving the ball in tennis looks like the easiest thing in the world. You just step up, whack the ball as hard as you can, and laugh gaily at your opponent’s miserable attempts to return it. Right? Well, not exactly. A good tennis serve is an art (even inTop Spin™), and I’m here now to tell you how to get one.

1.) Know Your Serves
The first thing you need is a clear sense of the different serves and what they can be used for. There are, of course, four distinct types: Basic (use the A button), a flat serve; Slice (X button), which curves the ball right to left (or left to right for left-handed players); Topspin (B button), which brings the ball down into the court with topspin; and Risk, which pounds the ball as hard as you can hit it. You’ll want to use the different serves in different situations.

Different strokes for different folks.

“But wait a minute,” you say. “Why wouldn’t I hit the Risk serve every time? It’s the most difficult serve to return, so that’s the one I want to use on every point!” Ah hah, I say! The Risk serve is the most difficult to return—you might be ripping off serves in excess of 130 mph if you hit the trigger at just the right time—but it’s also the most difficult serve to hit successfully. So let’s say you pound the ball as hard as you can, and it’s called out. What do you do on the next serve? You could hit the second one as hard as the first, but then you stand a good chance of double faulting and losing the point. Or you could hit a slow serve into the middle of the service box to make sure that you get it in. But then your opponent will be able to do anything he or she wants with the return, and you’ll be on the defensive. Hitting every serve at full speed is an excellent strategy if your plan is to lose. If you want to win, keep reading.

2.) A Slice of the Good Life
Let’s say you’re right-handed and serving to the deuce court. What’s your best option? It will often be the Slice. Why? The Slice serve curves out, away from the court, and your opponent will be forced wide to return it. If you keep moving forward after your serve, you’ll take the ball with nothing but an empty court in front of you. Hit your next shot at a sharp angle cross-court, away from your opponent. That’s when you can laugh loudly as he dashes desperately after the ball. Even if he gets there, the odds are that you’ll have a nice and easy third shot, ripe for a put-away.

Keep them on their toes.

3.) The Topspin in Top Spin
There you are, standing at 15-love and serving to the ad court. What’s the best shot here? You could go with the Slice again, but unless you surprise your opponent, it won’t be as effective. The curve on the ball will bring your opponent back into the court, leaving him in a good position to return your second shot. This is a good time for the Topspin, aimed out wide once again. The ball will be somewhat easier to get in than a flat serve to the same location, and it will kick up high on the bounce, forcing your opponent to play it from wide and deep in the court (unless he’s quick enough to take it on the short bounce). Once again, there’s a good chance that you’ll be able to hit your second shot into the open court for an easy win, and at the least you’ll be in control of the point. Put it all together, and it spells 30-love!

4.) The Fabulous Flat
So now your opponent thinks he’s got you figured out, and you can see him cheating out wide in preparation for another Slice serve. If you’re in the zone, it might be a good time to go for the Risk shot. You don’t need that to win, though; an equally effective play is the simple flat (or Basic) serve, aimed carefully down the center of the court. If you put enough mustard on the shot, you just might blow it right past your opponent. When you’re celebrating the ace, you can add a little extra taunting because you didn’t even need a full-power serve. The score is 40-Love, and you’re in complete control.

Sweet game.

5.) Go for the Kill
Now what do you have to lose? It’s time for the Risk serve. First, move your player out to the sideline. From there, you’ll be able to serve with a much sharper angle. You could also serve right into his body. You probably won’t get the free point that way, but you are likely to get a weak return, aimed right at you as you charge into the net. Put away the volley, and head to the bench; you’ve just won the game!

Too easy? No problem. You can still serve out with style (in a way that adds a special little twist to the knife). If you’ve spent a good part of the game ripping off big Risk serves with the right trigger, try using the left trigger instead. If you pull it off, your player will hit an underhanded serve into the court; this is the Spoon serve. The Spoon only works when it comes as a surprise, but if your opponent is playing way back in the hopes of returning a booming power serve, your spoon serve—floating in like a drop-shot—will be almost impossible to return. There’s no better way to win a point and get a good laugh while doing it.

6.) Earn to Learn
When you’re starting out, it’s easy to say that you should swing the serve out wide, but if you can’t keep a wide Slice serve in, then you might as well just try to hit the thing 500 miles per hour, which won’t do you any good either. That’s where the coaches in Career mode come in. The more serve challenges you pass, the more of those pretty little stars you’ll get, and the better control you’ll have over your serve. It’s hard work (some of those challenges are very difficult!), but it pays off in a big way. Soon, you’ll have your opponent completely demoralized by mixing Slices, Topspin serves, and risky boomers to completely blow through game after game with no trouble at all. That’s when the game gets really sweet; so get out there and start practicing.

By B.B. Larouche