Tournament players place an enormous amount of importance in getting their first serve in play. You hear the announcers talk about how important is to get the first serve in. You see statistics from matches on television showing percentages and telling you should get 70% of first serves in and when it goes in the players win 80% of first serve points. Second serve winning percentages many times are just at 50% of points won. It is critical for the pros and very important to the club level players. Many club level players foolishly consider the first serve as a free opportunity to try for an ace. Their second serve is the one that actually starts the point.
Don’t get in the habit of trying for aces – it hardly ever pays off. If you do try for an ace make sure you are up 40-love before trying. Take the second ball and put it in your pocket. You won’t need it – the first one is going in.
See the ball going in before you hit it. Look into the court and imagine you just hit a deep, spinning serve to the backhand. Then do just that. It takes real concentration to be a consistently good player. Take your time before beginning that first delivery. The person on the other side has to wait for you – so relax. Be like the basketball player before shooting a foul shot – bounce the ball down a few times to set the environment. Say to yourself as you bounce the ball four times – "I can make it." By bouncing the ball before serving you are helping make every serve like the one before.
Start your motion on balance and relaxed. Don’t serve until you are ready. Make sure you are totally relaxed as you line up your feet, shoulders, arms and racquet. Consciously make your muscles loose and limp. Think jello before you (slowly) begin the motion.
If, by some freak accident, you happen to miss the first serve, take the same deliberate steps for the second one. There is no such thing as a second serve, so don’t treat it any differently. Just hit another first one with a bit more spin. Watch the pros and you cannot tell the difference in the speed of their swing between first and second serve. The ball travels slower on the second serve because there is more spin on the ball.
Remember, you’ll never double fault if you always get the first serve in.