Serve Toss Drill
Ages 8 and up · A ball, a racquet laid on the ground in front of the lead foot (head pointing into the imaginary court, slightly right of the lead foot for a righty), serving stance
The serve inherits everything from the toss: a repeatable toss to the right spot makes serving learnable, and a wandering toss makes every serve a new emergency. That is why coaches isolate the toss as its own drill, balls tossed and caught (or left to drop on a target) with no swing at all, until the foundation stops moving.
The drill is humble and mighty: a racquet laid on the ground as the landing target, tosses graded on placement, the tossing arm's slow elevator rehearsed until the ball leaves the fingertips (never the palm) at full extension. Ten minutes twice a week quietly transforms a kid's serving month.
How to run it
- Take the serving stance: sideways to the imaginary net, front foot angled, weight settled.
- The toss motion: ball resting on the fingertips (not gripped), the arm rising SLOWLY like an elevator (straight, unhurried), releasing at full extension, no wrist flick.
- Toss and let it drop: the ball should land on the racquet head on the ground. Ten tosses, hits and misses logged.
- Toss and catch: same toss, caught at full stretch overhead without moving the feet (the height check: a good toss peaks just above the reach of racquet-arm-plus-racquet). Ten reps.
- Finish with toss-into-trophy: toss, and rise into the trophy position (racquet back, elbow high, tossing arm pointing at the ball) WITHOUT swinging, letting it drop to the target. Eight reps. The swing gets added in serve practice; this drill owns the foundation.
What to say
Common faults and fixes
Palming and flicking the toss (spin, wander, chaos).
The fingertip rest checked before each rep and the slow-elevator image: the toss is a lift that lets go, not a throw. Spin on the ball is the tattletale; a clean toss barely rotates.
Tosses drifting behind the head or over the wrong shoulder.
The ground-racquet target makes drift visible instantly: move nothing but the release point until balls land on the strings. Behind-the-head tosses build back-bending serves; catch it early.
Height chaos (some tosses at the reach, some in orbit).
The toss-and-catch height check: caught at full stretch means right, dropping from far above means too high (a timing tax every serve pays). Grade height for a round on its own.
Make it easier, make it harder
Toss-and-catch only, no targets, celebrating consistency streaks.
Smaller targets (a ball can on the strings); toss-to-trophy holds for a two-count; tosses in wind (an outdoor skill worth naming); integrating into full serves with the toss still graded separately; placement variations later with coaches (wide versus body serves start with the toss).
This page teaches the drill. ParentEdge builds it into a plan for your kid.
Built around their game, their goals, and what they’re working on.