Is it really necessary to hit the tennis ball so hard when serving?

Question

in old days when power game is still inexistent, do the players really hit it so hard when serving? i mean is it really necessary or a tennis player can just hit it softly but with more angle perhaps. i mean nowadays it seems to be an advantage hitting the ball so hard like roddick. is this really so?

Answer 1

Well, it is an advantage in tennis if a player can hit the ball with great power just like Andy Roddick (who usually generates the most number of aces in a match)... but it isn't compulsory... You can hit the ball as hard as possible but this can be exhausting ~ you must be aware of your capacity and limitation or else you'll end up losing the match instead.

Answer 2

Nicole as a former big serving power hitter I find that my serve is more effective with more spin or slice than with more power. But that is today. When I was young and foolish the harder the better was the motto. No wonder I had to stop playing with shoulder and elbow problems. When you serve hard it is usually flat and is easier for your opponent to return and look good doing just by blocking it back using your pace. So that is why players hit it harder aiming to hit it by the returner faster so that they can't get a return on it. With a slower off speed serve your opponent has to work harder to return it and must use better footwork and form to hit a winner. A heavy topspin into the body serve can really mess with most players and a nice hook or slice should pull them off the court out of position enough that you should win the point. I still throw the odd big flat in there just to show off and hit an ace up the middle but now am more diverse.

Answer 3

No, different people have different serving techniques. Some people, like you said, hit the ball with angle and spin. Others do hit it very hard, but power is not the ultimate goal... It can be beneficial to winning, but not completely mandatory. Hope this helps! :)

Answer 4

if u look at the ball placement of the guys like roddick, fed, etc in between matches, it's near both corners of the service box and as you said they hit it with a lot of power already, atleast roddick does. So, now both are needed - power and placement.

For the serve up the middle, you can go for full power. However for the serves on the other side, you need to cut off a little power and even get in a little bit of slice (atleast from the deuce court) to keep the ball in.

Answer 5

yes it is, the harder , the better

Answer 6

Play to win.  The harder you hit it off a serve, the less chance the opponent has of returning it.

Answer 7

Well, you can't just hit it softly.  But there's nothing wrong with serving at 75% and playing more with placement than power.  But you'll still want to toss in a high-powered serve now and then to keep your opponents on their toes.

And, of course it's going to be advantageous to serve the ball faster than your opponent has ever seen.  There's really no way to practice returning that 140 mph serve, because there's not enough people who can do it.  

I do agree with you, though, that it's a shame that the whole tennis game has come to revolve around power.  It gets a little boring sometimes to watch pros just power the ball back and forth.  Even wimbledon has become a slug-fest.  The grass at the net used to be worn down very quickly. Now, it barely gets a brown tint throughout the whole tournament.  This is why it was so fun watching Tsonga play.  He actually went to the net on purpose (almost unheard of anymore).

And the real reason that serves are so hard now, is because of the racquets.  Have Roddick try to hit a 140 mph serve with an old wooden racquet.  It just won't happen.  But, I guarantee you that the players back then did go all-out when serving.  They just couldn't serve near as hard with their technology.