Serve Lesson: The Only Serve You Need to Dominate Matches

Summary

In this video, Pete from Crunch Time Coaching introduces the 'slice serve' as the ultimate tennis serve for both righties and lefties. He explains its advantages, such as the ease of learning, variety in spin, and effectiveness in keeping opponents off-balance. Pete emphasizes the slice serve's low trajectory and skidding action, which can confuse opponents and set up easy points. He also invites viewers to join his seven-day serve challenge, offering a comprehensive guide to mastering the serve and improving overall game performance.

Takeaways

• 🎾 The speaker, Pete from Crunch Time Coaching, introduces the 'slice serve' as the most effective serve for both righties and lefties.
• 🏆 The slice serve is preferred for its versatility, allowing for a variety of spins and placements, making it suitable for first and second serves.
• 🚀 The flat serve is easy to learn and can generate a lot of pace, but it lacks the variety needed to dominate serve games in a match.
• 🦶 The kick serve is advantageous for righties, as it targets the opponent's backhand, but it requires more skill and physicality to execute effectively.
• 📉 The kick serve can be less effective if not executed with enough power, as it may sit in the opponent's strike zone, making it easier to return.
• 🎯 The slice serve can be hit wide, deep, or into the body, confusing opponents and setting up easy points or attacks.
• 🤸‍♂️ The slice serve is physically easier to perform, requiring less back arch and knee bend compared to the kick serve.
• 💡 The speaker emphasizes the importance of practicing serves in different spots in the box to avoid reinforcing bad habits.
• 📅 Pete invites viewers to join his 'Seven Day Serve Challenge' for free, starting February 22nd, to improve their serve skills.
• 🏆 The challenge includes a variety of lessons and drills designed to help players fix common serve mistakes and increase serve speed.
• 🎥 The speaker shares a testimonial from a member who experienced increased confidence and success in matches after participating in the program.

Q & A

What is the main topic of the video?

The main topic of the video is about the only serve you need to dominate your tennis matches, focusing on the slice serve.

Why does Pete recommend the slice serve over the flat serve?

Pete recommends the slice serve because it has spin, which makes it more effective and versatile. It can be used for both first and second serves, and it's easier to develop than other serves.

The advantages of a flat serve include the ability to generate a good amount of pace and its simplicity to learn.

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What are the disadvantages of relying solely on a flat serve?

Relying solely on a flat serve can limit your ability to dominate serve games in a match, as it lacks variety and can be easily countered by opponents.

What is the kick serve and why is it effective?

The kick serve is a serve that puts spin on the ball, causing it to bounce high and rebound off the court. It's effective because it can get out of the opponent's strike zone, especially their backhand side.

Why does Pete consider the kick serve to require more skill than other serves?

Pete believes the kick serve requires more skill due to the need for a proper back arch, significant knee bend, and the ability to accelerate and explode into the ball to make it kick effectively.

What are the benefits of the slice serve for recreational players?

The slice serve is beneficial for recreational players because it's easier to execute, doesn't require significant physical skills like a kick serve, and is less common among players, making it more confusing and effective for opponents.

How can the slice serve be varied to dominate a match?

The slice serve can be varied by hitting it wide, deeper in the box, into the body, or even over the center strap in doubles, which keeps the opponent guessing and can lead to easy points.

What is the Seven Day Serve Challenge that Pete invites viewers to join?

The Seven Day Serve Challenge is a free program designed to help players improve their serve over seven days, with a focus on perfecting the slice serve and other serve techniques.

What does Pete promise to teach in the Seven Day Serve Challenge?

Pete promises to teach a perfect practice template, how to fix the toss, eliminate the pizza move, understand and improve pronation, and join the 100 mph club with powerhouse serving techniques.

Outlines

00:00

🎾 Introduction to Dominant Serve Techniques

Pete from Crunch Time Coaching introduces the video's focus on the essential serve technique for tennis players. He emphasizes the importance of mastering one serve to dominate matches and invites viewers to join his seven-day serve challenge. The video discusses the three main types of serves: flat, kick, and slice, highlighting their advantages and disadvantages. Pete explains why the flat serve, despite its simplicity and power, is not sufficient for an entire match, and why the kick serve, though effective, requires significant skill and variety.

05:00

🏆 The Slice Serve: The Ultimate Weapon

Pete reveals his favorite serve, the slice serve, and explains its benefits for both right-handed and left-handed players. He details how the slice serve can be used effectively for both first and second serves, and how it can force opponents off the court. Pete also discusses the ease of learning the slice serve compared to the kick serve, and how it can be varied to confuse opponents. He emphasizes the slice serve's low trajectory and skidding effect, which makes it difficult for opponents to return and sets up easy points for the server.

10:02

📚 Seven-Day Serve Challenge: Enhancing Your Game

Pete invites viewers to participate in the Seven-Day Serve Challenge, a comprehensive program designed to improve serve technique. He outlines the content of the challenge, which includes a perfect practice template, tips for mastering the toss, fixing common serve mistakes, understanding pronation, and achieving powerful serves. The challenge culminates with a focus on the slice serve, which Pete considers the most effective for dominating matches. He also mentions the benefits of signing up, such as free coaching and the opportunity to win cash prizes.

15:02

🏅 Testimonials and Future Serve Videos

Pete shares a testimonial from a member who has seen improvements in their serve and match performance after participating in the program. He encourages viewers to sign up for the Seven-Day Serve Challenge, which is only available for a limited time. Pete also teases upcoming serve, forehand, and backhand videos, and promises a giveaway for subscribers once the channel reaches 50,000 subscribers.

Keywords

💡Serve

In tennis, a serve is a shot to start a point. It's a fundamental skill that can significantly impact the outcome of a match. In the video, the focus is on mastering the serve to dominate matches, with an emphasis on the slice serve as the most effective type.

💡Flat Serve

A flat serve is characterized by a lack of spin, resulting in a ball that travels straight and fast. It's easy to learn but lacks variety and can be less effective in advanced play. The video suggests that relying solely on a flat serve can limit a player's ability to control the game.

💡Kick Serve

A kick serve involves imparting topspin on the ball, causing it to bounce high and potentially out of the opponent's reach. It's particularly effective for right-handed players targeting the opponent's backhand. However, it requires more skill and physicality, making it less suitable for all players.

💡Slice Serve

The slice serve is the video's recommended serve for both righties and lefties. It involves spinning the ball to create a curve that pulls the opponent off the court. This serve is versatile, allowing for different placements and speeds, and is considered easier to execute with less physical strain.

💡Serve Challenge

The seven-day serve challenge is a program mentioned in the video, designed to help players improve their serving skills. It includes various drills and lessons to enhance the serve's effectiveness and variety, aiming to make players obsessed with perfecting their serve.

💡Toss

The toss is a critical part of the serve, where the player throws the ball into the air before striking it. A consistent and controlled toss is essential for a reliable serve. The video offers a 'toss fix' to help players improve this aspect of their serve.

💡Pizza Move

The 'pizza move' is a common mistake in serving where the player's hand moves in a circular motion, akin to spinning a pizza. This can lead to a lack of control and power in the serve. The video provides a system to correct this mistake and improve serving technique.

💡Pronation

Pronation refers to the rotation of the forearm during a serve, which affects the speed and spin of the ball. Proper pronation is crucial for generating power and control in the serve. The video explains the nuances of pronation and how it can be adjusted to serve at different speeds.

💡Powerhouse Serving

This term refers to the ability to serve with significant power, aiming to reach speeds of over 100 miles per hour. The video includes a dedicated day to help players join the '100 mph club' by providing drills and tips for powerful serves.

💡Serve Curve

The serve curve is the trajectory of the ball during a serve, particularly when using a slice serve. A good serve curve can force the opponent to move out of position, making it difficult to return the serve. The video emphasizes the importance of mastering the serve curve to dominate matches.

💡Recreational Player

A recreational player is someone who plays tennis for enjoyment rather than as a professional. The video is tailored to help recreational players improve their serve, making it more accessible and effective for a wider audience.

Highlights

Pete from Crunch Time Coaching discusses the only serve you need to dominate matches.

The video introduces the flat serve, its ease of learning, and its limitations.

The kick serve is explained as a safer option due to its spin and high bounce.

The slice serve is Pete's favorite and recommended serve for both righties and lefties.

The slice serve allows for variety in serving, making it effective for first and second serves.

The slice serve can force opponents off the court and exploit their weaknesses.

Pete emphasizes the slice serve's low trajectory, making it difficult for opponents to hit comfortably.

The video invites viewers to a seven-day serve challenge for free coaching.

Day one of the challenge focuses on the perfect practice template.

Day two addresses the toss, a common issue for tennis players.

Day three aims to fix the number one serve mistake, the 'pizza move'.

Day four explains pronation and its impact on serve speed and power.

Day five is about joining the 100 mph serve club with drills and tips.

Day six focuses on mastering the slice serve, the key to dominating matches.

The seven-day serve challenge is a limited-time offer, not always available.

The challenge includes free coaching and a chance to win cash prizes.

The video ends with a call to action to sign up for the challenge and a promise of more content.

Transcripts

[Applause]

hey it's pete from crunch time coaching

and in this video we're going to talk

about the only serve you need

to dominate your matches i'm going to

explain why this serve is easier to

develop than any other serve

why it's more effective i'm also going

to invite you into

my seven day serve challenge for free so

i can teach you how to do this

step by step you're going to love this

this is my favorite serve by far

so i can't wait to dive into this video

let's get started

[Music]

all right so there's three types of

serves

that people have that's it there's the

flat serve

and a lot of people start out with a

flat serve because first of all they're

starting with the wrong grip

or a grip that you really can only hit a

flat serve in

and so it's simple to just kind of put

the ball in play that ball doesn't have

any spin on it it's flat

now the positives of having a flat serve

is that you can get a good amount of

pace on the ball you can get a good

amount of pace even the pros when they

want to hit a big

bombing serve what are they doing

they're flattening their serve

out so you can hit a serve really really

hard and it's also

very easy to learn all you need to do is

basically do that and you've got

yourself a flat serve

so to learn more of a different types of

spin it's going to be

a little bit more of a learning curve a

little tougher to learn but i'm going to

explain

why i really love teaching this one

particular serve to you

so the flat serve is one that you want

but

the negatives what's the negatives you

can hit the ball harder it's easier to

do so you're like

well pete this sounds great to me the

problem with a flat serve though

only having a flat serve you can't play

an entire match with just a flat serve

and really dominate

your your serve games because you can

hit a big

bombing serve how many players and you

might be one of them have you seen

that come up and they just have a big

bomb of a serve for the first serve and

then just

tap the ball in for the second serve

that's because all they have is a flat

serve

and they know that they can't

consistently make that so that's the big

downside of just serving and trying to

play a complete match

with just your flat serve so you're

going to need more than that

so let's get to serve number two okay so

the second type of serve

is the kick serve and this is a great

serve especially for a lot of righties

because you can

kick the ball up at your opponent's

backhand

so it's a really good serve for

varieties to develop if you can do it

the advantage of a kick serve first of

all right off the bat we got spin on the

ball so it's going to be

safer because the ball is going high

over the net especially with the kick

serve that ball goes

higher over the net and and the spin is

bringing the ball

back down the court and because it's got

kick or top spin on the ball

when it bounces it rebounds high off the

bounce so

this is a serve that you can get up out

of your opponent's strike zone

especially they've got that one-hander

and you can get a lot of easy points or

you can set up your volume or you can

have your

partner poach on that that's great so

the kick serve should be number one

right well i think even for righties it

is not number one and here's why

i think that the kickstarter is a great

serve

but it takes a lot of skill i think it

takes the most skill in my opinion

comment below let me know what serve you

think takes the most amount of skill to

perform

i happen to think it's the kick serve

because when you're hitting that kick

serve

number one is i definitely think it

needs to be going

over your ball cap here or your head

it's got to be coming here

so you're tossing it that way which

requires a back arch

requires a back arch another thing too

that really have a great kick serve

is i think it requires the most knee

bend

so you can really bend those knees and

then extend up out of there

and the more you can do that

successfully accelerate and explode up

into that ball

the ball can really kick up at your

opponent it can be a really tough

serve to corral and and get back

okay but if you can't do all those

things

but you have some sort of kick serve

well then your kick serve can just be

literally sitting there it could be

working against you it doesn't really

explode off the court and it's bounced

up here nice and high

in the strike zone and if your opponent

can cheat inside the court

now they can just basically take it as a

high easy almost approach shot

and crush your kick serve i've seen

people who have weaker kick serves

it works against them they're just

getting picked on all the time

because the balls are sitting up there

all right i also think that the kick

serve

compared to the last server i'm going to

explain to you doesn't have as much

variety

it it really doesn't move through the

air as much

as the laster i'm going to explain to

you okay so the benefit benefits of a

kick serve is

now we got spin on the ball so that's

great so you can use it for first and

second serve

if you've got a really good kick serve

you can make the ball bounce

high out of the strike zone it's really

good for righties because you can

find your opponent's backhand that's all

great

but it's not my number one serve so i'm

going to come back

and explain what my number one serve is

i'm going to show you i'm going to

talk about how to use it and then i'm

going to talk about how to teach it to

you okay so my number one serve

for righties and lefties now everybody's

gonna be thinking well pete we obviously

know it's the best for lefties

and that is the slice serve

okay i love the slicer because again

it's got spin on it

you win with spin so i can use the slice

serve on my first

and my second serve the flat serve i

can't really do that with

and as a lefty i love it because i'm

naturally finding my opponent's backhand

so that's especially why i love it

and when we think about the slice serve

we're thinking about what

you're usually thinking as a lefty right

that nasty lefty serve from the ad side

going pulling your opponent off the

court into the

fence into the curtain inside which i'm

going to be showing you in this video

and so you can really get your opponent

off the court that's number one i think

the slice serve can get your opponent

further off the court than

any other serve for the righty it still

works great

okay you are serving a lot of times at

your opponent's strength if you're

playing another right you're serving at

their forehand

but don't look at that as a negative if

you can get it off the court first of

all it's not in their strikes and

they're having the stretch now their

forehand is coming back weaker

and now you can pull the ball to the

backhand corner

you can attack the weakness so don't

just think that this is a

serve for lefties but that's not

it that see when you hit a slicer what i

want people to really really understand

and why i think it's the most effective

serve and why it's the only serve you

need to dominate a match

is you can hit a bunch of different

slice serves most people just think of

the out wide serve

that's one of the serves but you can

even just

add variety in that corner serve you can

hit some serve

softer to where it's really curving off

the court maybe it's going slower it's

really going shorter in the box

going off the court you can also hit

your slice serve a little more flat with

a little more pace

going deeper in the box but beyond that

then another one that you can do is you

can also

hit a slice serve into the body

so if you're bringing your opponent off

the court and then going at their body

now just with those two serves i think

you can dominate a match

but i also like a third one especially

for doubles to where when you slice the

ball you can actually have it coming

over it's actually going on this side

and then over the center strap

as it's dropping into the box and you

can still get it to your opponent's

backhand

even on the do side as a right-hander so

you can still hit your second serve

especially in doubles

you can still with a slice find your

opponent's backhand

so i i think it's really great for all

the

all the variety that you have and also

with a slice serve here's what i really

like about a slice serve

for the recreational player i do believe

with a kick serve

you've got to have more physical skills

right you've got to arch the back you've

got to bend the knees

with a slicer watch this watch how

beautiful this is when i hit a slice

serve

i don't need any knee bend of course if

i add knee bend the slicer is going to

be better but i don't really need it

i don't need to arch the back a bunch i

don't another thing about the kick

service when you throw the kick serve up

it goes up and then you got to let it

drop a little more so the timing's a

little harder

i can basically throw the slice serve

right up to the peak of the toss

and start to cut the ball okay so when i

do that

there you can see what i did no knees

really easy i just throw it out to the

side

super easy to hit just curl around the

ball and all of a sudden i'm slicing my

opponent

off the court really easy to do

physically

and now once i learn that serve now i

can bring it into the body

i can bring it over the center strap so

i can have my opponent guessing

another thing too is you're not going to

see even though it's a much easier hit

you're not going to see a lot of

recreational players with a great slice

serve

so the fact that it is curving in

a lot of your opponents haven't seen

that or they've seen it very rarely or

they haven't seen it done

at a very high level so if you can

really make that ball spin

in at them it's very confusing and it's

running away from them

okay it's running away from them or it's

attacking them into the body

those are the two ways you want to use

it another thing that's great about the

slice serve is we

we talked about the kick serve how it

can kick up but for too many people the

kick serve

sits up the thing about a slice serve is

it skids and it stays low

so you're having your opponent where

does everybody want to hit the ball

i think people want to hit the ball

right here

and then a lot of people especially if

they got a little more aggressive

semi-western grip which more and more

players have even a lot of older

recreational players in their 50s and

60s

have changed with online instruction

they're watching online instruction so

they've changed that semi-western grip

but slice serve stays

low and runs away so you're having to

get down here

that's going to make the ball pop up

especially especially if you're playing

doubles out there

this is going to set up a lot of easy

values for your partner so your

partner's going

love playing with you if you've got that

slice serve

okay so it's it's a big big advantage to

have and what i want to show you right

now before i invite you into the seven

day serve challenge

is i want to show you a drill that i bet

that you've never done so if you're

watching me do this right now

you're seeing with the slice serve that

i am

working all different spots in the box

you're seeing the ball go out wide

you're seeing the ball go deeper you're

seeing it hook into the body

these are all the things that i want you

to practice just don't go out there

and just always aim your slicer off the

court

so i want you to go out and do this

drill that i'm showing you right now and

then i'm showing you some points that

you can see that because i'm doing all

this

i'm getting a lot of free points i'm

getting my opponent to go into the

curtain

when it's going into the body i'm either

getting a weak reply to where i can put

away a forehand or the ball is not

coming back

another thing too is once you master

that if you do happen to have a

flat serve or a kick serve it sets that

up so much

easier i'm going to show you a kick

serve right now couple of kick serves

that i've won the point one here with an

ace and another one was a week reply

and the reason why this kick serve won

me the point wasn't because the kick

serve was so great it was a good kick

serve it wasn't great

but it's because my opponent was waiting

on

the slice they were expecting the slice

so i just put

the kick serve out there all of a sudden

they were nowhere near to be found so

it can set up your other serves okay so

i want to

invite you to my seven day serve

challenge

which you can sign up and get free

48-hour access so you can see if you

really love it

all right so you can sign up get free

48-hour access we're starting february

22nd

and here's everything you're gonna learn

inside of the seven-day

uh serve challenge i call the serve

obsession challenge because i want you

to

get obsessed about your serve for seven

days and so

on day one i'm going to walk you through

the perfect practice

template so when you go out for the rest

of your life you can have this one

practice to where you know that you are

not wasting any time too many people

just go out with their bucket of balls

and they're just reinforcing bad habits

this is why people get stuck at 3035

low 40 levels for 15 20 30 years

because they just keep doing the same

things that are not getting their game

to the next

level on day two and we all know how

frustrating

the toss can be i actually had super

embarrassing story i was a director

at a tennis club and i was playing

tournaments and i was going through a

year or two where i lost control of my

toss completely

embarrassing so i have a 10 minute toss

fix

for you right now when i toss the ball

up i feel really really confident i love

my toss

and i want to show you this system that

you can go through on

day three we're going to fix

the number one serve mistake so before i

can teach you the slice serve or the

kick serve which we're going to get to

in the seven day serve challenge

before i can teach you that we've got to

get rid of the number one serve mistake

held i think it holds back about 80

percent of recreational players

and that is the pizza move that's where

iraqi comes back here

and we all know it's wrong but that

muscle memory is a beast and it's so

hard to fix so i show you the system

on how to fix the dreaded pizza move so

you can start to serve more like the

pros

on day four we're gonna go through

pronate like the pros

and a lot of people are confused what

pronation is so i clearly explain what

pronation is

but i think what a lot of people don't

think about you also kind of equate

pronation with maybe more racket head

speed more power

but there's different little nuances

within your pronation the way you

approach the ball

that's going to affect the speed that's

coming off of the racket

but you're still swinging just as fast

one of the coolest things i ever saw

there's this pro on tour katie mcnally i

actually know her because we do

some clinics at harper's point in

cincinnati which is her home club that's

where she grew up

and right now she plays doubles with

koko golf she's also doing great things

on this on the singles tour as well

but she made a video i think it was for

the tennis channel to where they asked

her hey

serve it at 80 miles an hour guess what

k did bam

80 miles an hour serve it at 90 miles an

hour

katie did 90. serve at one at 100. she

was able to go

on a dime from 80 to 90 to 100. how is

she doing that

and the serve looked the same exact pace

she was hitting different parts of the

ball her pronation follow-through was

just a little bit

different subtle differences that you

can't really pick up on camera i kind of

show you how to do that

on day four day five is a day you don't

want to miss

because we're going to go through

powerhouse serving we're going to join

the 100 mile an hour club i'm going to

show you

the steps that you need it's about a 30

minute video i went all in on these

videos for you guys it's a 30 minute

video that gives you a bunch

of drills and tips and lessons

on how to finally serve over 100 miles

an hour

and then on day 6 it's the most

important day in my opinion

it is the one serve that you need to

dominate all your matches

and that is serve the curve my slicer it

is my favorite serve by far

of course i had big incentive to private

lesson to get my life's work on the

serve so it's a complete

steal of a deal but then when the week

is over

then we put the seven-day serve

challenge back in the vault we only did

it one time last year i might do it more

this year

i haven't made up my mind but for right

now we're closing it up

i don't know one will open it back up

and you can't you just can't access

it you know there's no price to it you

just can't it's not available so

definitely sign up for the seven day

serve challenge i'll see you inside

we're gonna start on february 22nd

you can send videos to me look at this

note from

one of our new members michael who

signed up for next level university but

he can send in

serve videos and he didn't even really

expect much from the program

look what he just wrote me this

testimonial i just got this today hot

off the presses

to where he's already feeling more

confident on the serve and

also he won his matches even more

important

all right so you can get free coaching

we're also giving away cash prizes

like if you watch this video to the end

and you don't sign for the seven day

serve challenge guess what you don't

love tennis

shame on you all right we'll see you on

the next video don't forget to like

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back with more serve videos more

forehand videos more backhand videos

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