When John McEnroe ruled the tennis world he terrorized his opponents by attacking their second serves and scampering to the net to hit winning volleys. In an effort to fend off these "Mac attacks" the victim hit harder second serves, often double faulting. Then to get more first serves in he would take some pace off the ball giving McEnroe time to tee off on first serves.
     Although McEnroe was a serve wrecker he rarely lost his own serve. He had a superb and unreadable first serve and could hit aces wide or down the middle. But equally important was his very solid second serve, there to save the day if his first serve was a little off.
     So if you've been losing your serve lately, ten to one it's a dainty second serve that hands the initiative and often the point to an opportunistic opponent. The second serve is probably the most overlooked, under-appreciated, and under-practiced (if at all) stroke in tennis. Yet it is so important to your game it can mean the difference between winning and losing.
     To beef up that second serve, grab a bucket of balls and head for the tennis court. A good second serve should be hit with a lot of spin, clear the net by a wide margin, and land deep in the court with a high bounce. We recommend the slice over the American twist because it's easier to hit and easier on the back.
     Practice the ball toss until it is so consistent your can hit serves in the dark. The ball should be tossed in front of you and to your right and just high enough so your racket will strike it at its apex when it's a stationary target. The service motion is similar to that of a baseball pitcher. You "throw" your racquet at the ball snapping your wrist at the moment of impact. If you let go of the racquet as you strike the ball the racquet should follow the path of the ball. So aim your racquet where you want the ball to go. Your racquet should brush across the ball between the two and three o'clock position.
     Place tennis cans or towels in the corners and center of the service courts for aim points. Practice both your first and second serves. Keep adding pace but always give priority to placement over speed. Keep track of your hits and misses. You should be able to land at least seven of ten first serves in the court and 19 out of 20 second serves.
     When you have a match try arriving at the court 20 or 30 minutes before your opponent and practice your serves. In addition to the practice, having your serve warmed up and ready to go when the match starts can give you a big edge. And when the other guy hits wimpy second serves, start getting aggressive a la McInroe.
     Keep Hackin'


(If you have any comments, Jim Swetnam, the Netman, can be reached at editor@AmericaToday.com or directly at jswetnam1@msn.com)