Type of Serve - Flat, Slice, Kick

In the game of tennis, there are four commonly used serves: the "flat serve", the "slice serve", the "kick serve", and the "underhand serve". Slice serves can be hit with spin to either the left or the right, and this distinction is often utilised to make the serve unpredictable and throw the opponent off balance. All of these serves are legal in professional and amateur play. The term kick serve is ambiguous. It may be used as a synonym for the twist serve or the American twist. However, kick serve is commonly used to refer to any serve with heavy topspin or kick on it.

Servers can gain a tactical advantage by varying the type of serve and the ball's placement. The flat serve and slice serve are used primarily as first serves because they are more likely to yield an ace or force an error, although they require high accuracy. Second serves usually have topspin or kick on them, which makes them less likely to land in the net or out of bounds. Kick serves also make a good change-up as a first serve.

1. Flat Serve

Advantages of the flat serve:
1. Speed of the serve gives your opponent less time to react and prepare for the return.
2. Helps to win easy points which in turn can also help you conserve energy.
3. Easy to learn

Disadvanatges of the flat serve:
1. Gives serve and volley players less time to get to the net.
2. Percentage of serves that go in can be very low.
3. Harder for shorter people to get the clearance over the net with out some spin.
4. When returnee gets their racquet on the ball the return can come back very fast because they are using the power you generated

2. Slice Serve

 

Advantages of the slice serve:
1. Ball bounces low, away from or into opponent's body.
2. You can use the spin to jam your opponent or pull them off of the court.
3. Percentage of serves in is high.
4. Easy to learn.

Disadvanatges of the slice serve:
1. It's a basic serve, people are used to hitting back slice serves

 



3. Kick Serve

 

Advantages of the kick serve:
1. Ball bounces high, away from or into opponent's body.
2. Ball bounces opposite direction of which it hits the ground.
3. Gives serve-and-volley players time to get to the net.
4. Hard to attack
5. Less experienced people have not played much against a kick serve and it may really throw them off.
Disadvanatges of the kick serve:
1. If your opponent hit's the ball off the rise it takes away the effectiveness of the serve, not allowing the ball to go far in any direction.
2. Hard to learn


Brush the ball from low to high, from 8 to 1 or 2 o'clock. Here is a great example of a kick serve illustrated by Patrick Rafter.


Partick Rafter - The SPIN Doctor

Roger Federer Monster Kick Serve