Personal Best Serving

Pre-test

Beginners

·         Serve for 10 minutes.

·         Try to make as many serves in a row as possible.

Advanced

·         Allow 2-3 minutes per zone to serve.

·         See how many consecutive serves you can serve to each zone.

The Ultimate Serving Method

·         These things must be done in this specific sequence and in a smooth manner. 

·         Do not hurry your serve … let it happen.

·         All good servers have a safe serve and an attack serve.

Sight

·         Good servers sight their target sooner than poor servers.

·         Focus on the target (ball).

Feel

·         The feelings that you have when serving well. 

·         Confident expectations of a successful serve.

·         You have a mental picture of your serve going over the net and to the target (zone, space or player). 

Purpose

·         Sharpen focusing ability.

·         Confident feeling.

·         Winning feeling.

Procedure

·         Start at the attack line with a partner on the attack line on the other side of the net.

·         Toss 10 balls and look at contact point on the ball.  Say “sight” as you toss.  Let the ball drop without hitting it.

·         Serve 10 balls saying, “sight” as you toss.

·         Now, serve 10 balls saying, “sight” as you toss and “feel” when your arm swing begins.  Draw out the word “f---e---e---l” through contact.

Anchors

Verbal

·         Say “yes” on every successful serve.

·         Say “clear” on every missed serve.

·         Say “yes” and “clear” the same way, same feeling, same emotion.

Physical

·         On “yes” pump a fist or snap your finger.

·         On “clear” give the safe sign.

Procedure for Clearing Your Mind

·         Take a blank white piece of paper.  Close your eyes.  When you open your eyes, look at the paper and say “clear”.  You want your mind clear like the piece of paper.

Let it happen – do not make it happen.  Trust yourself.

·         Trusting yourself is a must.

Pre Serve Routine for Safe Serves

·         Find the zone, space or player you wish to serve. 

·         Say “Yes”, “Sight”, “Feel”, “Yes” or “Clear”.

Practice Procedure

·         Use the Pre Serve Routine of “Yes”, “Sight”, “F—e—e—l”, “Yes” or “Clear”.

·         Start at attack line.

·         Serve three-in-a-row to zone, space or player.  Take two steps back.

·         Repeat until serving from the baseline.  Stay at each location until you can serve three-in-a-row successfully.

Pre Serve Routine for Attack Serves

·         Find the zone, space or player you wish to serve.

·         Say (“Zone”), “Yes”, “Sight”, (“Zone”), “Yes” or “Clear”.

Practice Procedure

·         Use the Pre Serve Routine of (“Zone”), “Yes”, “Sight”, (“Zone”), “Yes” or “Clear”.

·         Start at attack line.

·         Serve three-in-a-row to zone, space or player.  Take two steps back.

·         Repeat until serving from the baseline.  Stay at each location until you can serve three-in-a-row successfully.

Positive Statements

·         100 affirmations per day for 21 days.

·         Say, “I am a serving machine” in a machine-like monotone voice.

Post-test

Beginners

·         Serve for 10 minutes.

·         Try to make as many serves in a row as possible.

Advanced

·         Allow 2-3 minutes per zone to serve.

·         See how many consecutive serves you can serve to each zone.

Last modified: 05/06/11