Monday, 11 August 2025 / Published in Australian Open, Roland Garros, Serving, US Open, Wimbledon

Improve Your 1st Serve With This Smart Drill

G’day,

I have been back on court a lot lately, working with players at Roland Garros, Wimbledon, and also the US national junior hardcourts in Kalamazoo.

I want to share with you a first serve drill that I have done at all events that helps players get more first serves in and win more service points as well.

Firstly, here’s the average first serves made for men and women at the last four Grand Slams.

These numbers are the reality of the pro tour. But they are not the reality for everyone on the ATP Tour. Here’s some of the leaders with first serve percentages over the past 52 weeks.

69.9% Alexander Zverev
67.2% Joao Fonseca
67.0% Gabriel Diallo
66.7% Lorenzo Sonego
66.3% Casper Ruud
66.1% Novak Djokovic
66.1% Cameron Norrie
65.5% Ben Shelton
64.3% Carlos Alcaraz
63.8% Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard

Our first serve goal is ambitious, but also realistic.

I WANT YOU TO MAKE TWO OUT OF THREE FIRST SERVES = 67%

But here’s the kicker. If your fault is long or wide, no problem. Keep serving, trying to make two out of three. For example, if you make your first serve in the Deuce court and then miss your first serve LONG in the Ad court, then you are still alive for the third serve. But if any first serve goes in the net, the round is over. No matter how many you have already made.

Here’s the drill

The drill is to obtain 10 points.
To get a point, you must make at least two out of three or three out of three first serves.
Any time you hit a first serve in the net, you automatically forfeit the current round you are in. We don’t like first serves in the net at all!!!!
No second serves.
You always alternate serving once in the Deuce court and then switch to the Ad court, then keep switching back and forth.
You must accumulate three of your points from making three consecutive serves. The other seven points you accumulate can be from only making two out of three first serves.

EXAMPLE 1

Deuce court = you made your first serve.
Ad court = you made the next serve
Deuce court = you missed your first serve long, but overall you made 2 of three, so you win a point (1 of 10).

EXAMPLE 2

Deuce court = you miss your first serve.
Ad court = you miss your first serve. You must now start again, trying to get two out of three.

EXAMPLE 3

Deuce court = you make your first serve
Ad court = you make your first serve
Deuce court = you miss your first serve in the net = no point because of the net error.

EXAMPLE 4

Deuce court = you make your first serve
Ad court = you make your first serve
Deuce court = you make your first serve for a point. You made all three serves = you must do this at least three times out of the 10 points you accumulate.

SUMMARY

The first thing that matters most in this drill is the heavy penalty for missing your first serve in the net. It’s an automatic forfeit of the round, even if you have already made your first two serves.

Secondly, you have to make three in a row three times of the 10 points you accumulate. It sounds somewhat easy, but it’s not.

Lastly, you are now doing so much better in your service games by putting more first serves in play.

I created this drill for two reasons. The players were not cognizant they were missing so many first serves, and too many of the errors were in the net.

Try this drill for your own game and let me know how it goes. Also, if you are a coach, do this drill with your players and share the results with me.

All the best,

Craig

The practice court is clearly broken. Here’s the proof.

Points are "front loaded". By far the majority of the action, and the winning, takes place in THE FIRST 4 SHOTS. The practice court is full of long rallies. Matches are dominated by short rallies. There is a massive disconnect occurring.

We spend too much time grinding, banging balls up and down the middle of the court – that have no real benefit to winning tennis matches.

There are 3 specific rally lengths in tennis. Here is their percentage breakdown of total points.

0-4 Shots = 70%
5-8 Shots = 20%
9+ Shots = 10%

The First 4 Shots is specifically the serve, return, Serve +1 groundstroke and Return +1 groundstroke. Those are normally the shots that get practiced the least, but matter the most to winning tennis matches.

The net is an extremely high percentage place to be!

If you love playing tennis for fun, spend as much time at the baseline as you like. But if you compete – if the score matters – then you must turn your attention to the net to maximize your potential.

The “herd mentality” in tennis thinks it’s too tough to approach the net in today’s game. The conversation starts with improved string technology, more powerful rackets, and finishes with stronger, faster athletes. The herd think approaching is a relic of the past. The herd is WRONG!

AVERAGE WIN %
Baseline = 46%
Net = 66%

Data from ALL Grand Slams provides the facts about approach and volley, and the data is crystal clear – it’s immensely better than staying back at the baseline, grinding for a living.

The baseline is a tough place to create separation. Here's how to do it.

At the 2012 US Open, only 7 men and 14 women had a winning percentage from the baseline. At Wimbledon 2016, Andy Murray won the title only winning 52% of his baseline points - and he is one of the very best at it in the world!

Num3ers deeply explores the data that rules points, especially from the back of the court. Take a "deep dive" into all three rally lengths (0-4, 5-8, 9+), and winner and errors totals from the elite level of our game. The numbers will shock you!

All 4 Grand Slams

Forcing Errors = 41% Men / 37% Women
Winners = 32% Men / 29% Women
Unforced Errors = 27% Men / 34% Women

Num3ers is very much like putting a jigsaw puzzle together. It's about bringing together different data sets together to create the big picture.

Every recorded match from the 2015 Australian Open - Rd2 to the final.

There is a lot happening on a doubles court. Situations and strategies are constantly being adjusted to create mis-matches with court position. It's hard to keep track of - until now. Dou8les Num3ers is the most comprehensive analysis of doubles data in our sport. The focus is on how a point ends, and it's broken down eight ways to Sunday. Specifically, you find critical information on:

Winners rise to the #1 way a point ends (over forced & unforced errors)

- The last shot of the rally is overwhelmingly struck at the net.
- Center Window: the most important part of a doubles court to control.
- Stephen Huss: an in-depth interview on Wimbledon's Centre Court with the 2005 Wimbledon Doubles Champion.

Dou8les Num3ers leaves no stone unturned. Percentage breakdowns of how often the server or receiver hits the last shot highlight the dramatic influence of the serve. The last shot of the rally is significant, and is broken down into the following categories: volleys, overheads, passing shots, lobs and groundstrokes.

When you play a match, you actually play two matches.

When you walk out onto a tennis court, there are two matches that you are about to play. The first is during the point - a part of the match that you have spent a lot of time preparing for on the practice court. But there is a second match, that takes place in the 20 seconds between the points. This is where the mental and emotional aspects of our sport kick in.

Let's face it, there will be adversity in almost every tennis match that you play. The storm clouds are coming. How bug they are, and how long they last for, are up to you.

Between the points is very tennis specific. It provides a roadmap for the 20 seconds between the points, teaching how to handle the adversity that will surely come, and how to build on the successes that will also be present. Your mind is your biggest asset in a match, and Between the Points takes your hand off the self destruct button and stops you beating yourself.

You don't have to be good at everything, but you have got to be good at something.

You can break tennis down into four key elements - serving, returning, rallying and approaching. Each part has specific patterns of play that consistently deliver higher winning percentages than the others. No more guessing. No more opinions. All facets of our sport are covered in this exceptional product, clearly outlining what patterns to gravitate to, and how to best construct the practice court. Data comes primarily from the 2015 Australian Open.

Building Blocks

MEN = 70% errors / 30% winners
WOMEN = 74% errors / 26% winners

Forcing errors is the best way to construct a point.
You can simply break tennis down into primary and secondary patterns of play - and they are all covered here. Primary patterns include serve and return direction, forehands v backhands, and the best way to approach the net. Secondary patterns include drop shots, serve & volley and 1st volley options. If you play tournaments, this product will greatly help you simplify the singles court.

The conversation starts & ends with the Center Window.

The doubles court is like an hourglass. There are two big ends, but a small neck in the middle where all the action happens. Once you learn the power of the Center Window, where you stand to start the point will take on a lot more significance.

Doubles is a lot more about situations, with four people on the court all "dancing" with one another. Learn all the best doubles patterns, broken down for the server, returner, server's partner and the returner's partner.

Doubles Situations

The "J" - the most ideal movement for the returner's partner to attack the net.

The "V" - a better way of understanding where the server's partner should move to.

Volley Targets - there are four main areas to attack. Know which ones are higher percentage. Beach Volleyball - the idea of a "setter" and "spiker" is ideal for the doubles court.

There are certain parts of the court that the ball travels to a lot, and other low percentage areas that you really don't want to cover at all - like the alley! In general, the serving team wants to keep the ball in the middle of the court as much as possible (to help the server's partner), while the returning team benefits from hitting wider and creating more chaos in the point.