Kwong Young, USPTA Tennis Professional

Before a pitcher pitches, before a golfer swings, or a bowler releases the ball, all of these athletes perform one major thing. They all look at their intended target. The same goes for tennis. Before the server serves, they look at their opponent as well as the service box to visualize where they will be sending the serve. These are the ABCs of serving: A) Angle, B) Body, and C) Center.

Many times, servers will come up behind the baseline, bounce the ball, and never look out to the receiver to see if they are actually ready to receive or not. This also pertains to all the players playing if they are all in the “ready position” to play.

In addition, when the serve is long, you should not hit it back. This will add wasted time and, more importantly, your opponent will think the ball is still in play. If the ball is long, simply let it go by you and call it out or tap it into the net. Doing this will eliminate wasted time, and it’s proper etiquette.