Most club players have 2 types of serves – long ones and short ones.

In this blog, I’m going to talk about 2 different types of short serves – fast short serves and slow short serves.

A fast short serve is impacted very close to the server’s end-line, travels over the net and quickly hits twice on the receivers side.  This serve is very difficult for the receiver, because he needs to quickly decide if it is long or short.

A slow short serve is lofted from the racket very close to the net, travels over the net and slowly hits 2-4 times on the receivers side.  This serve is much easier to keep short, but it can be slightly more difficult to keep low.

Watch the video of these 2 serves: 

It is good to use a blend of both types.  When playing tournaments, I will often serve the slow one first.  Although my opponent might receive it fairly easily, the variation gives them trouble.   Next, I’ll serve the fast short serve.  My opponent will often take a big backswing seeing the ball coming faster, then he will be surprised when the second serve also double bounces.

Against opponents who want to flip my serve, I often serve the fast short serve while keeping it low and fairly deep while still maintaining 2 bounces on my opponent’s side.

Against opponents who want to loop my medium-long serve, I often serve the short slow serve while keeping it very short to make sure they can’t loop first.