The Serves of Serena Williams and Martina Navratilova

These two all-time greats came up in different eras, but their deliveries have a lot in common.

1. EXTENSION
   Williams is hitting a ?atter, harder serve with just a little topspin. Navratilova is hitting a kick serve. Yet there are many common elements between these serves. Extension is the most important thing to notice, and I don’t just mean the full extension of the hitting arm, but also the hitting shoulder and the legs. Some recreational players believe that extension should change from serve to serve, but it shouldn’t. The way a player hits the ball does change—as you can see here, Williams meets the ball more squarely while Navratilova brushes up on the back of it. But if you start from the tip of either racquet and trace a line straight down to the lead toe (left foot for Williams and right foot for Navratilova), you’ll see that both players have extended upward as far as possible to hit the ball. Without extension like this, it’s impossible to generate power and spin consistently.

2. TOSS
   I don’t want to emphasize the position of their tosses, but rather the fact that both these women can place them perfectly. Though I always had a fast serve, it wasn’t until I improved my toss that I cracked the Top 10. Sometimes my coach and I would stand at the baseline and practice tosses for 20 minutes. It’s always best to do so while going through the ?rst part of your motion, as if you were going to serve. Anyone can toss well when standing still, but you need to toss well while serving. Sometimes the movement of your hips can cause you to hook the ball. The best servers, like Williams and Navratilova, are smooth and can adjust their tosses for different serves. In this case, Williams’ toss is at about 12 o’clock, which is good for a ?rst serve that is not entirely ?at. Navratilova’s is closer to 11 so she can hit up on the ball.

3. GRIP
   A lot of people ask me, “How can I get more power on my serve?” Then they proceed to hit with a frying-pan grip. You can see from these photos that a Continental grip is a must (to ?nd this grip, hold your racquet with the head perpendicular to the ground and grab the handle as if you were shaking someone’s hand).

4. HEAD

You’ve probably been told countless times to “keep your eye on the ball.” I prefer to tell people to keep their heads up. You can see that Williams’ eyes are right on the target. Navratilova, who made contact a moment before this picture was taken, is looking forward as she plans to rush the net. Still, her chin hasn’t dropped down or jerked forward. If you keep your head up and still, you’ll watch the ball long enough. Also notice their expressions. Williams has her cheeks puffed out as she prepares to release a lot of air when she hits the ball (she’ll be making some noise soon). Navratilova, who is slightly past the point of contact, has just exhaled. I mention this so you don’t forget to exhale when you serve. It will keep you loose.

5. TORSO
   Because Williams is hitting a ?atter serve, her torso opens up and faces the net sooner than Navratilova’s. On a kick serve, you need to stay sideways slightly longer so you can brush up on the ball rather than hit through it. Notice, though, that Williams doesn’t rotate too far (her shoulders are parallel to the baseline, but not past parallel).

6. OFF HAND
   Williams and Navratilova tuck their off hands into their bodies around their waists. Why? You don’t want to put your nonhitting arm down as you swing. If you do, your head may follow and you might make contact while slumping forward rather than with your body at full extension.

7. LEGS
   Power on your serve begins with your legs. Williams and Navratilova have healthy knee bends on their serves. Each woman leans her lead hip (Williams’ left and Navratilova’s right) toward the baseline while rotating her upper body back. If you don’t coil like this, your serve will lack potency.

8. FEET
   Both women are off the ground in these pictures. I like the shoulder-width distances between their feet—that’s excellent balance. As their front legs move forward and land on the ground, their rear legs will kick back to maintain this balance.