Landing after the serve: on the front foot, in balance
Checkpoint 9 of 9 Measured by Serve Scan
Landing on your front foot inside the baseline shows your weight went up and forward into the serve.
Landing on your front foot inside the baseline shows your weight went up and forward into the serve. Landing on the back foot, or not leaving the ground, means the energy stayed behind you.
What good looks like
- Land on your front foot, inside the baseline
- Back leg swings back for balance
- Ready to move for the next shot
Common faults
- No jump, both feet stay planted
- Back foot lands first
- Falling sideways after contact
Drills to fix your front-foot landing
- 1
Step through first
If you don’t jump yet, start here: serve and let your back foot step through into the court as you hit, finishing on your front foot. Then add the jump.
10 serves
- 2
Front-foot finish
Serve and freeze on your landing foot for 2 seconds, back leg kicked back. If you can’t hold your balance, your weight is going sideways or back.
10 serves
- 3
Land past the line
Put a marker half a metre inside the baseline. Serve, drive up and land on your front foot past it.
3 sets of 6
What your body is doing
Front-leg quads, glutes and calves absorb the landing. The core keeps you balanced.
Watch Pavel explain it
Plays from YouTube.
How to practise it
- Watch the video first. Then copy the drills slowly, without a ball.
- Practise little and often. Five to ten minutes before each session, for two weeks.
- Add the ball at half pace. Keep the feeling for 10 to 20 serves before you build up speed.
- Check your progress. After two weeks, film one serve side-on and scan it again to compare.
Is your front-foot landing right?
Film one serve on your phone. Serve Scan tracks your body, scores your front-foot landing and the rest of your serve out of 100, and shows where it leaks power. Free, and your video stays on your phone.
Questions
What is the front-foot landing in a tennis serve?
Landing on your front foot inside the baseline shows your weight went up and forward into the serve.
What are the most common front-foot landing mistakes?
No jump, both feet stay planted. Back foot lands first. Falling sideways after contact.
How can I check my front-foot landing?
Film one serve side-on with your phone at hip height and your whole body in frame, then run it through Serve Scan. It measures your front-foot landing with body tracking and scores it, free.
How long does it take to improve?
Practise little and often. Five to ten minutes before each session, for two weeks. Check your progress. After two weeks, film one serve side-on and scan it again to compare.