Winning Ugly: Mental Warfare in Tennis--Lessons from a Master

by Brad Gilbert

One Minute: The Serve I want you to hit four serves to both courts, both wide and down the center. Most club players tend to hit just to the deuce court. I want you to hit to both courts for this reason. The service warm-up is aimed primarily at setting up a good comfortable motion for yourself early in the match so you don’t needlessly double-fault. Hit your initial serves with an easy, relaxed motion. Keep your wrist very loose—almost floppy. Hit your first three or four serves with almost a lazy motion. Aim for the service line or beyond. Then gradually increase velocity. You want to help yourself as much as you can for that first service game. You want to be comfortable with the stroke and you don’t want to be serving to the ad court for the first time during the match, so serve to it in the warm-up.