Described for a right-handed server; the tips on reading and returning speak to the receiver.
How to read it
- The backhand face strikes the ball, but the racket moves from the server's right to their left — the opposite of a normal backhand serve.
- The elbow is up in front of the chest and the tip of the racket hangs down and to the server's left.
- The ball curves to your left, into a right-hander's backhand, like a forehand pendulum.
- Do not judge by the stance: it is the normal backhand-serve stance with the opposite spin.
How to return it
- It kicks off your racket to your right: aim left of the target, toward the server's forehand side.
- Read backspin or topspin from the blade angle and the height of the racket path, as on a pendulum.
- If you misread the first one, play the next safely to the middle and watch the racket direction.
Common mistakes when serving it
- A low elbow, which leaves the racket no room to hang and swing.
- Trying it without a reliable normal backhand serve to pair it with.
- Swinging so far across the body that the ball is hidden at contact.
More backhand serves
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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