My Pre-Serve Routine

Here’s my pre-serve routine that became refined over the years:

Once the point ends, I go through a checklist.

• Was i watching the ball?

• Did i have a target?

• Did i have the right strategy?

If the answer to any of those questions is no, then I know what to fix for the next point.

Then I go to get all three balls.

I liked to spin all three balls in my hand so i can’t tell what ball I just played. I used to think that playing a particular ball would give me luck. But I want to remember that the ball doesn't have memory and I want to make sure I'm playing in the present. Spinning the balls makes it so for me.

So I have three random balls.

I then look to see which ball I want to serve. I choose the cleanest, newest ball if im serving a flat serve, or the fluffiest one if I'm gonna be trying a big spinning kick serve.

I throw away the third ball back to the fence and put the second ball in my pocket.

Then, while looking at the ball I picked out I start to plan my point.

• Where am I serving?

• Where is my 2nd serve going?

• What pattern am I going to attempt to implement

Once I have those questions answered I'm ready to walk up to the line and only then am I ready to start the point.

Then it's time to go full out. Game on!

You have 20 seconds between points. Use them wisely...