How to toss the ball for a tennis serve

Toss to one spot. Serve three ways from it.

Traced from real footage

See it, eight instants at a time.

Every frame is traced from real match footage, so you see the shape of the stroke, not a drawing of an idea.

A tour serve, instant 6 of 8 — A tour serve: eight instants traced from the footage, frame for frame. Hover or tap to flip; the dot marks contact.

A tour serve: eight instants traced from the footage, frame for frame. Hover or tap to flip; the dot marks contact.

Key facts

1
By one physics estimate, a ball falling about 3 ft at about 9.5 mph already carries roughly 780 rpm of topspin relative to the racquet at contact, potentially more than half a kick serve's topspin.
Tennis Warehouse University, Physics of the Tennis Kick Serve
2
Serve contact sits near 150 % of the server's standing height.
3
A common target is 17 of 20 tosses landing on a towel placed at the ideal contact spot.
4
A higher toss gives the ball more drop and more timing variance, without adding margin.

Why it works

The ball is a projectile from the moment it leaves your hand. Its drop time is fixed by how high it went, and where it is at contact is fixed by where you let go and how the arm was moving. Contact height, spin axis, placement and whether the returner can read you are all set at release. That's why the fix is at the hand, not at the racquet.

Release from a straight, locked arm at eye level. Tossing and reaching up as if to catch it keeps the arm up and the chest open. An over-the-head toss arches the back and lets the strings brush up from 7 to 1 for the kick, but it can't produce a flat bomb. Keep the toss the same whatever the target: if it moves with the target, the returner reads the target.

The line to say on court
“Same hand, same spot, same height. Only the strings change.”

Drill: Toss and catch

10 min · alone or with a partner

Lay a towel at the ideal contact spot, slightly in front and into the court. Toss with a straight arm, release at eye level and let the ball fall. Twenty tosses. Count the ones that land on the towel.
Toss and reach to catch the ball at full extension without moving your feet. Twenty tosses.
With a partner, toss and serve. Your partner calls T, body or wide after the ball is up. Nine serves.

Number to beat17 of 20 tosses landing on the towel

More drills like this: serve, practise alone, beginners

Faults and fixes

Wrist flicks the release

The ball leaves from the fingers, not the arm.

FixLift with a locked arm. Open the hand, don't throw.

Toss too high

"More time" turns into more variance.

FixToss to the peak of your reach.

Toss behind you on a flat serve

The kick toss has crept into your first serve.

FixMove the towel in front and hit that target before you swing.

Toss changes with the target

You're aiming with the tossing hand.

FixPractise one toss with a partner calling the target after release.

Questions players ask

How high should I toss for my serve?

To the peak of your reach. A higher toss gives more drop and more timing variance, not more margin.

Where should I toss for a kick serve?

For a right-hander, further over the head, so the back arches and the strings can brush up from 7 to 1.

Why does my second serve keep hitting the net?

Often it's a release problem, not a swing problem. Tossing higher adds variance and tossing further forward flattens the arc. Toss over the head so the brush sends the ball up.

Should my toss change for different targets?

No. If the toss moves with the target, the returner reads the target. Keep one toss and aim with the strings.

What this doesn't cover

How much toss variation pros actually tolerate hasn't been measured in any source used here. Toss positions are for right-handers and vary by coaching school, so treat them as ranges, not absolutes.

Sources

Tennis Warehouse University, Physics of the Tennis Kick Serve
Sakurai et al. (with Cross): toss differences between slice and kick serves
Kovacs & Ellenbecker (2011): the stages of the serve
ITF coaching: the toss-and-catch progression

Serve and returnHow to hit flat, slice and kick servesYou hit flat, slice and kick serves from the same motion by changing where the strings brush the ball. Flat goes through it from 6 to 12 on a clock face, slice brushes around the outside, and kick brushes up and across from 7 to 1. The kick is mostly sidespin, and it isn't a slow serve. It's a different bounce.Serve and returnHow to serve in tennis: the service motion step by stepA good tennis serve is a throw that starts in your legs, passes through your trunk and shoulder, and reaches the racquet last. Legs and trunk supply about 51–55 % of the serve's kinetic energy, and shoulder internal rotation about 40 % of racquet-head speed. Load the knees, let the racquet drop edge-on, reach up to a straight-arm contact and land inside the baseline.Serve and returnHow to hit a reliable second serve under pressureHit your second serve with the same swing as your first, more brush and one proven target. Slowing the arm to be safe removes the spin that gives you net clearance, so you get a slower ball with less clearance and a returner stepping in. Top-50 men win about 57.5 % of second-serve points, against 73.6 % behind a first.Serve and returnHow to disguise your serve and hit the T, body and wideTo disguise your serve, hit the T, the body and wide from the same toss and the same motion. Skilled returners read the toss and the racquet face to predict direction about 300 ms before contact, so any change there is a tell. Disguise isn't a trick motion. It's sameness, so the returner learns nothing before the ball is struck.