For years coaches have speculated on the advantage of being a lefthanded server. The way the serve moves with slice away from the righthander’s backhand can cause problems, especially because there aren’t many left-handed servers to practice against. This is the key. The lefthanded serve is awkward because it is less familiar.
The wide serve hit from the advantage court is often the most difficult to return. The movement of the ball away from the returner drags her position wide of the singles court, leaving the rest of the court exposed. The lefty server uses this to great effect considering the fact that six out of eight game point situations are played out from the advantage side (40-0, 40-30, Adv-in, 0-40, 30-40, Adv-out). However, she must be careful not to use this wide serve too often as a second serve. If the returner begins to anticipate the direction of this serve, then the server will leave herself open to an angled attack crosscourt or into the space down the line.
Therefore, a good left-handed server should also have the ability to hit the serve down the middle from the advantage court. the left-hander should also practice the flat wide serve from the deuce court. patty Schny- der (an excellent left-handed WTA pro player) does this exceptionally well because she knows that her slice middle serve from this side will not cause the right-handed returner quite as many problems because her court position remains central.
For second serve points, the left-handed server should consider using the serve into the body on a regular basis. As mentioned earlier, the movement of the serve from a left-hander is less familiar. A slice second serve will move in a left to right direction rather than a right to left direction, meaning that a body serve will be hit in the direction of a right-handed returner’s forehand before sliding closer in to her body, compared to the right-handed serve that is hit initially in the direction of the backhand. this difference in direction is crucial because the forehand return usually requires a bigger swing, more space, and more preparation time than the backhand return (especially the double-handed backhand). As a result, the left-handed body serve will often cramp a right-handed returner very effectively, particularly when the returner tries to create space for her forehand. In effect, the ball ‘chases’ in toward the body of a right-handed opponent. For advice to the right-hander on how to counter this advantage, see chapter 2.
