I just spent a few hours working with a student who’s been playing tennis for 25 years without ever hitting a powerful serve. Surprisingly, her technique was stuck in a “waiter tray” serve.
If you're unfamiliar with the term, think of a waiter carrying a tray: the racket face is up, and the motion resembles serving a drink rather than propelling an ace over the net.
After just a few targeted drills, we made significant improvements. This wasn’t a sudden burst of strength or athleticism but rather addressing two key, correctable issues.
Identifying the Core Issues
The first problem was a lack of runway. With her original serve, the tip of her racket barely dropped behind her back, severely limiting the acceleration she could generate before making contact. It's simple physics: without the room to build speed, racket head velocity remains low.
The second issue was the absence of proper stretch and release. This flaw is the primary reason so many players rely on the waiter tray serve. Observing elite players, you'll notice their rackets drop into a position that allows the frame (not the strings) to lead into the ball. This positioning results from a stretch in the shoulder that elite players utilize to generate power. They load their shoulder and hand like a coiled spring and then release that energy into the shot.
Consider how a quarterback, like Patrick Mahomes, positions his arm before throwing. The hand and shoulder are angled back, ready to unload at the moment of release — tennis serves require the same principle. By subscribing to a waiter tray serve, players miss this crucial loading phase.
Drills to Break the Old Habit
So how did we address these issues in one session? We took some decisive steps.
Drill 1: Start Without Equipment
Despite years of playing, this drill requires starting from scratch. Without a racket or ball, the focus is on retuning the body to turn and drop the racket while feeling the shoulder stretch. No forcing, just a natural movement.
Drill 2: Position Connection
Next, we connected the stretching position to the racket drop phase, still without a ball. The goal was to create a mental pathway for the proper motion.
Drill 3: Introduce the Racket and a Fake Toss
When she could consistently hit the right positions during a shadow swing, we added the racket. Then, a fake toss to the side followed, encouraging her to maintain focus on the positions rather than the ball.
Here's where it got interesting: the moment a ball—a mere fake—came into play, her hand reverted to the waiter tray position. Old habits can be stubborn; that moment proved that this was more than just a technical issue; it spoke to ingrained habits.
We continued repeating the sequence: shadow swing, fake toss, and back again. Each time her racket came up too early, I'd interject with, “Not yet. Try again.” Gradually, her fake tosses mimicked her shadow swings more closely, indicating that we were making progress.
The Breakthrough
During the session, she still occasionally reverted to her old habits, but the racket consistently dropped lower and followed a more appropriate pathway than before. The breakthrough came when she executed a serve where the racket truly dropped low, transitioned on edge, and engaged her shoulder stretch in a way she hadn’t done in 25 years. Watching this transformation live was exhilarating.
This isn't about perfection or hitting a flawless serve right off the bat; it's about developing a body that knows how to move effectively, even when under stress.
If you're also grappling with a waiter tray serve, here's my advice: resist the urge to hit a ball until your shadow swing becomes second nature. Don’t feel discouraged if you revert to old habits during practice; it happens to everyone working to change long-standing techniques. Understand that this won't be fixed in a single session. Embrace the slow process of refining the basics through shadow swings and fake tosses.
With dedication, the new runway and stretch will transform into your normal serve motion, phasing out the waiter tray approach for good.
Your Coach,
- Ian
