Serving in Doubles

I am not the only one. I serve differently in doubles than I do in singles. And I am not so sure this is a good thing.

I serve harder in singles than I do in doubles and I have noticed the same in others. If I miss the first serve in singles, no big deal. If however, I float a safe second serve, at say 70% in for doubles, my partner at the net might lose his neck- literally!

I am willing to suffer the consequences more in singles for a weak 2nd serve but in doubles, I will pull back to 80-85% power on a first serve - not wanting to fear an aggressive second serve return.

There are others however, that DO serve the same in singles as well as doubles. And these people also generally serve the same first and second serve. This explains why some of my friends in doubles who I partner with will have 6 to 8 double faults, in a set! I am not upset with them but feel bad for them as they probably feel lousy for letting me down.

What's the secret? Not sure, I may have to query the Bryan Bros, tandem team extraordinaire! But for me, for now, I will continue to move my serves around the box, mixing flat and spin and work on beefing up my 2nd serve to a 75-80% power.

So what about you? Do you have a different serve based on playing singles or doubles?

Oh Maria...

Apparently Maria Shriek-a-pova isn't a big reader of my blog. If she had looked over this post from February-- http://paul-ihearttennis.blogspot.com/2011/02/whats-worse-than-double-fault.html

-- about double faulting, maybe she wouldn't be back to making wedding plans with her LA Laker Lover instead of playing in the Roland Garros finals.

Of the 10 double faults she had in two sets, 2 were particularly troubling. One was on a break point against her at 4-3 in the second set and the other was on match point. That's right, Maria lost her Roland Garros semi-final match by double faulting on MATCH POINT. Here is what she had to say after the match: “At times, I didn’t serve well, and was rushing more than maybe I had to, and maybe—considering the conditions—maybe I was just trying to go for too big of second serves, especially.” Really Maria, ya think?

Granted, Li Na is an excellent returner, most of the women on the pro tour are. And look at Maria's serving speed average, 158 and 154Km per hr. For those of you who can't do the math in your head-- including me-- that's 2.54 MPH slower on her second serve. What are you thinking Maria? On a windy day when you have already been broken on a double fault, after 9 double faults, you go for too much on your serve on MATCH POINT?

But she's young, only 24. She'll have lots more time for weddings, and shrieks of delight and... frustration in her future.

And to you Li Na, you go girl!
(are people still saying that?=)

What's Worse Than a Double Fault?

In tennis, there aren't too many things than a double fault. But I can think of one (or two) and that is TWO DOUBLE FAULTS (DF) BACK TO BACK, or just one DF on break-point, set-point or the biggest nightmare, a DF on match-point.

When I coached I would always remind guys that after a DF try EXTRA HARD to get the next serve in. If not, you have just served 3 balls out, what are the odds that the next one is going to go in? The psyche is a fragile thing and confidence in yourself needs to remain high. Don't put yourself in that uncomfortable position. It even happens in the pro game. It's called a meltdown, and it's ugly when it happens to them and ugly if it ever happens to you.

So remember, if you double fault, the next serve, throw in a 75% hard serve, with some extra spin to safely make it over the net (like a second serve) and play the point. Keep your confidence high and don't put extra pressure on yourself. That's your opponents job, just as your job is to put pressure on them.

Tie-Breaker Anyone?

After playing two sets with a friend today we then played two tie-breaks for fun. It had been maybe more than a month since I had played one and then months before that. As I was serving in the tie-break I was reminded that getting the first serve IN is even more important than during a regular game.

Not getting the first serve in is basically risking a double fault. As everyone knows the first one to seven (by two) wins so giving a free point (or two) out of 7 is like burning money because it's wrinkled. Not good.

So the next time you are in that situation and it's your serve, try for a 3/4's serve to your opponents backhand if possible. It's a safe, effective shot and you won't be throwing anything away.