Underarm Serves

Some see the underarm serve as an underhanded maneuver.  Others see it as lazy and a sign of weakness.

Do you teach the use of an underarm serve? How about using it to teach a student how to respond to one. 

 

I believe it has a place in tennis, simply because it offers variation, the keystone of effective serving.   Sure, if you have a monster and bulletproof serve it seems pointless to work on such a shot, but what about if you sustain an injury that limits your ability to perform or you are exhausted?   Generally, it should be used sparingly or not at all if your main serve is taking care of business.

 

Then there is the final justification for developing such a skill, you'll become an old tennis player someday and at that stage, anything goes within the rules.   Most older players rely on slice serves almost exclusively as their strength dissipates

 

Murray used an underarm serve as his first shot at Wimbledon this year thanks to a stomach muscle injury. Here is Bublik using six of them in one game against Tiafoe at Wimbledon 2022. I presume he resorted to this because his opponent was easily handling his regular serve. 

Serving Underhand - is it a good strategy

It is legal and it can be effective.  Is it ethical?  Back before the '80s it was often considered disrespectful to use it and I  never saw it on TV in Professional Tennis until the '80s.  The first time I remember seeing it was Chang using it on Lendl in a final.  He so flustered and angered Lendl that he ended up winning a match that he didn't look likely to win.

I used it in High School against those opponents standing back at the fence to bring them back in. I'd only resort to it if they were effectively soaking up my serves by backing up to the fence. I usually only employed it once a match and asked the opponent if they were ready before announcing the score and serving. I made the announcement so they couldn't claim that they weren't ready. 

Now as a senior, it's almost like going nuclear if you use it against another senior.  If you play someone younger and they use it, well they really want to win.  If you use it first, then expect treatment in kind.

The better your slice serve and accuracy, the less you need this trick. It's good to have in your tool box though.