Described for a right-handed server; the tips on reading and returning speak to the receiver.
How to read it
- It is a pendulum: the same cues apply — tip down, racket moving from the server's right to left.
- The high toss means more speed on the ball and usually more spin than the server's normal pendulum.
- Do not follow the ball up: keep your eyes on the racket and the contact.
- The long wait is meant to stiffen you — keep your feet moving until contact.
How to return it
- Read it as a pendulum with extra spin: more racket angle than you think you need.
- It kicks off your racket to your right, so aim left, toward the server's forehand side.
- If the server mistimes it the serve comes high or long — be ready to attack.
Common mistakes when serving it
- A toss that drifts forward or sideways, so you have to chase the ball and lose the brush.
- Meeting the ball too high because you did not wait for it to fall.
- Projecting the ball forward out of the hand instead of near vertically upward, which is a fault.
More forehand serves
- Pendulum Backspin
- Pendulum Side-Backspin
- Pendulum Side-Topspin
- Pendulum No-Spin (Float)
- Reverse Pendulum
- Tomahawk
- Reverse Tomahawk
- Hook Serve
- Shovel Serve
- Fast Long Serve
- Squat Serve
Learn to serve it
The step-by-step technique — grip, stance, toss, backswing, contact and finish — and a 3D demo you can turn and slow down are in Trainoro’s Service Drills, along with 12 ways to receive. To practise serving with a partner, see the serve and return drills.
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