QUESTION 1: How high should the toss be?

ANSWER 1: Toss height and toss location is dependent upon type of serve motion (Full swing, semi-abbreviated, or abbreviated) as well as height of person and leg action used and lastly whether one is serving and volleying etc.

In general for the full swing serve such as we are teaching in this course a 6ft person will toss approximately 9ft high. So with your arm and racquet fully extended above your head one should toss the ball 4-12 inches higher than the racquet so as to account for one's vertical jump off the ground. One should hit the ball optimally on the drop rather than on the way up for maximum power.

The distance out in front will vary between 4-18 inches depending on how much one uses their legs, if one is serving and volleying, or recovering behind the baseline after completing the motion. The higher and more one jumps into the court of course  the ball should be tossed further into the court. If one is approaching the net after the serve they should also toss the ball slightly more into the court. Experiment with different toss locations into the court but the key is to toss into court so that you can transfer your weight into the serve.

In general for the slice or flat serve the toss location in relation to one's body should be approximately in front of the left foot as demonstrated in the video with the racquet on ground toss practice.

QUESTION 1: How often should I do my toss shadow rehearsals?

ANSWER 1: As often as you have time for. The toss truly is the key to consistency on the serve. Anytime your serve goes off or you feel you are missing your serves more than normal go back to this drill. Learn how to relax that arm and hit that same magic height and spot each and every time and your serve will explode with consistency!