Q&A for How to Serve a Tennis Ball

Hit the ball with the middle of the racquet so the strings make a 'ping' sound. If you don’t hear the sound, you likely haven’t hit the middle, and your shot will reflect that. Hitting the ball correctly is all about practice, practice, practice — there’s no shortcut to success.

The score for each game goes 15-30-40-game. However, if both players get to 40-40, then it is called deuce. On deuce, if the server wins the point, it is called ad in, but point it lost, it is ad out. The same player must win an additional point after receiving the ad in order to win the game.

There is no such thing as a 'perfect' serve. However, if you make a proper serve and your opponent is unable to contact the ball, it's called an ace.

A good way to keep the ball from going crazy is to hold it with the fingertips instead of the entire hand. Hold the ball so just the first sections of your fingers are touching it.

Try to hit the ball at the peak of the toss and make sure to follow through. If your ball toss isn't good or if the ball drops, you don't have to hit it -- just catch the ball and try to find a more suitable toss for your serve.

If you're talking about simply hitting the ball as it approaches you, practice by hitting it against a wall over and over again. Keep your eye on the ball all the way to your racquet. As much as possible, swing the racquet parallel to the ground so that you're reaching out a little to contact the ball. Hit it gently at first and harder later as you improve. It takes practice.

You don't have to hit it at its highest point, but the higher the ball is when you hit it, the better your chances of hitting a hard serve over the net and into the service court.

Yes, usually you have to time your swing to make sure to make contact with the ball.

As soon as the ball leaves the racquet.

If you're a beginner then use the beginner grip and do the patty cake, but if you're advanced, its upsetting, but toss the ball high and pronate your wrist and keep working at it.

The first thing you should focus on is getting good accuracy. Without that, a hard hit won't do any good. If you can serve with good accuracy and just want to improve, I'd suggest doing some simple arm workouts. It doesn't have to be anything hard core.

A serve must land in the "service court." That's the rectangle just beyond the net and to the left of the center line (from the server's perspective).

These serves are unreliable. Ask an instructor how you can change your serve entirely.

You may need to correct the timing for when you make contact with the ball. If you are hitting the ball too far back, you will need to hit the ball slightly later than you are currently doing so. Time exactly when you hit the ball currently, and then count and add a half second to it.

When I was young I also wasn't very tall, so my Coach taught me that instead of using arm power, I should use my body. So you can bend your knees and then lunge towards the ball and hit it. The more powerful jump you have, the more powerful your serve will be.

As many times as you like if you don't swing at it. If you swing and miss, it will be ruled a fault.

Not if it's the first serve of a point. If you fault on the first serve, you get a second try. Faulting on the second serve does give your opponent a point.

You are right. In two of the videos above, the demonstrator does commit a foot fault. Let's be clear: a foot fault occurs when (before the ball is struck) either of the server's shoes touches the ground on or inside the baseline (or on or on the wrong side of the center line or its extension). The shoes may be above or beyond these lines as long as they do not touch the ground before the ball is struck.

International Tennis Federation rules state that (in serving) the ball must be hit before it touches the ground. This rule is relaxed for young children.

The trick is in the position of the ball when you hit it. You need to adjust your toss of the ball so it is not in front of you, but directly over the shoulder of the hitting arm. You should make contact with the ball just above the center of the racket.

If you call the ball out, play should stop. You could then admit your mistake and play the point over again or just give the point to your opponent.

The umpire has the final say on whether it's a let or not, but these days they have got special technology on the net that tells the umpire if it's a let.

Wait till the ball is at its highest peak, so basically wait until it's just about to come down and then hit the serve.

Tennis helps a player to deal with physical, mental, social and emotional challenges, which increases the capacity to deal with stress. Tennis is a sport that is based on evaluating angles, geometry and physics to get the best result, which translates into better problem-solving off the court. It is also fun to play.

One of the main ways to not miss the ball is to practice often. But always watch the ball and watch where it's going. Don't hit it if it's out or too high because it will most likely be out.

Yes, it was. And that would be called during a game. If that happens, it will count as a missed serve.