Serving in to the Sun
Tennis Director, JJ Mahony, provides his tip to help players transition to outdoor tennis.
When players are transitioning from playing indoor tennis for 10 months of the year to playing outdoor tennis, the sudden change can causes emotional and technical issues with their game. One of the big adjustments is not only playing in the wind, which takes great footwork, but serving in to the sun!
When serving in to the sun, players should look to lower their ball toss and keeping the ball toss further out in front to prevent the strain of staring directly up in to the sun. At the start of the match, when spinning the racket to see who will serve or receive first, a lot of players do not know that if they win the toss they have the option to defer the choice to serve, return, or choose a side. Deferring the decision to your opponent when playing outdoor tennis is a very good move. If they choose to serve first, you can choose to take the side which forces them to serve in to the sun first. If they choose to receive first, you can look to serve on the side not looking in to the sun. Lastly, if your opponent elects the choice of side first, you can elect to receive first if you do not wish to start the match facing the task of serving first, as well as dealing with the sun.
All these little things can give you an edge and a helpful start to your match, providing that you do not fall behind early. Always remember, outdoor tennis is fun but because of the natural elements it can be more challenging. Do not forget you towels, water bottles, hat, sunscreen, and some healthy snacks to help you get through those long matches out in the sun!
Enjoy the outdoor tennis season!
– JJ Mahony