What not to do over Thanksgiving: eat three plates of
turkey. As I am slowly getting back to normal functioning after
Thanksgiving, I am thinking of what kiddies on the court shouldn’t do on their
serves. Here’s what I came up with:
1. The butt out serve- as if the ball and your butt are
polar opposite magnets, one must never toss the ball and then promptly stick
out one’s butt. This causes pancake serves, which is when the arm goes at an
angle parallel to one’s shoulder and the resulting racquet head looks like said
pancake.
2. The pancake serve- see above. One must always reeeaccch
for the ball up, not forwards.
3. The swinger- As if, momentarily, all bodily functions
stop as the serve is hit and the person is no longer in control of their body,
the swinger serve does not quite stop. Instead, the swinger server contacts the
ball, and then swings their racquet past their legs and then again up to their
heads. You think I am making this up? Alas, I am not.
4. I don’t know what to call this one, other than for what
it is; a foot fault. One must never cross the line with one’s feet before the
contact of the ball is made. This happens more often with the right foot that
comes towards the left foot when stepping in, but then awkwardly passes this
point, thus stepping over the line. Step towards your foot, not past it.
5. The dreaded toss. Tossing is hard. You’ll be surprised at
how seldom you’ll toss the ball exactly where you want it. For a kick serve, it
should be slightly to the left of your head. A flat, right above your head
about three inches in front of you. A slice, to the right of your head about a
foot in front of you.
