Establish Your Rituals
They are all very recognizable. Isner bounces the ball berween his legs. Djokovic dribbles the ball 10 times (it used to be 19!) Rafa grabs and pulls at his clothes. Sharapova bounces up and down and pulls her hair behind her ears. Konta stiff arm dribbles the ball from shoulder height.
What are they doing? They are performing their pre -serve rituals. It's not important what they do, it's important that they do it the same way every time- in every situation. For what purpose?
Sports psychologists agree- the value of this practice is huge. It helps the player treat each moment the same. If it's 15 all in the second game of the match, or if it's ad out at 5 all in the third set, the more "sameness" a player can bring to the moment, the higher the likelihood that they will perform at a high level. These actions also help players to slow down, to take a few deep breaths, and to think a little longer about the situation and their tactics. This all serves to enhance and improve the quality of the performance in any given point.
In our HP program, we teach a specific sequence. We promote and encourage that each player develop their own personal style and approach, but we train all players to ensure that their pre-serve ritual includes certain elements.
The first, the most individual, is the treatment of the ball. Most players bounce it 3-5 times. Some bounce it off the racquet, some off the court. Back in the day, Lendl used to very dexterously juggle two balls in his left hand during his ritual. ( Years ago, I had the opportunity to ask him about this, and he confirmed he was looking for the smaller of the two balls to help the speed of his first serve) . As mentioned, Konta uses an unusual technique to bounce her ball. What each player does, is not important. What is important is that it doesn't change, regardless of the situation or associated pressure. Watch them. See if this part of their ritual ever changes. It is the sameness that serves as a valuable psychologically grounding tool. It helps handle pressure in the tough moments, and enhances performance.
The second element we promote is the visual eyeing of the specific target in the service box. Our players practice the typical three targets - the "T", to the body, and wide. Our experience has shown that players are much more likely to place the ball at their intended spot if they have visually focused on that spot before the motion begins Almost all serve motions have at least a brief pause between the last bounce of the ball, and the initial movement of the arms, before the full motion actually begins. It is during this pause where we encourage players to look across the net and "spot" the location they intend to serve to, (being careful not to show that information to their opponent!).
The third and probably most significant element is the mental reminder of the toss location. If the server's final thought before serving the ball is the exact required location of the toss for the chosen serve type and location, then they not only have decided specifically what spin they intend and where the toss should be for that spin, but they have laser sharp focused on the toss location just fractions of a second before making that toss. How many juniors, (or club players) simply fling the ball into the air with no thought or plan, and then allow that arbitrary location to dictate the resulting spin? Way too many.
Critically, we train our players to understand that the only way to generate the correct serve motion shape is to extend the racquet to the correct toss location. Once they physically understand this, two things happen. Initially, they have a better frame of reference for judging the quality of their toss and therefore swing at fewer bad ones. And second, with a specific plan for each toss, they are much more likely to correctly locate the toss in the execution of a more thoroughly planned service.
Rushing, especially during pressure moments, is another common problem for servers. Through repetitive training of this specific ritual sequence, we assist the players in taking more time, and completing the plan for each serve. This invariably results in improved serve quality and successful percentages.
So, establish your ritual. It can be as unique and quirky, or as boring and typical as you like. As long as you ensure that you are doing the same thing each time, and you are including the selection of a court target and a toss target, you will be on your way to better serving, higher scoring, and more winning results.
