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Watch a tennis player. They go on the court once or twice per week with a bucket of balls and hit serves. Racquetball players should do the same and practice their serves weekly. I suggest borrowing an idea from Tom Travers, U.S. Team Coach, who practices sets of ten and charts the successful shots.

Although a player can do this with any shot, it works great with serves. The goal is to make 80% of your serve attempts successful. Your drive serves should bounce twice before the back wall and your lob serves should not hit the side wall or come off the back wall.

Drive Serves - Hitting a good drive serve takes two things, consistency and deception. Deception comes from the elbow on the racquet hand. Pull your elbow back and up as you start your service motion. Make sure your front hip pocket is pointed toward the front wall. Step with your drive foot first (right handers, right leg). Keep your weight back as much as possible on the leg as you step with your lead foot. Drive off the back leg into the ball and extend the torse and hips toward the front wall. Now, let the racquet arm extend naturally through the ball. The ball should be contacted about ankle height and your follow through should continue to your shin. The target area on the front wall should be a direct line from the server's hips to the front wall if the ball is going to be to the left side (assuming the player is right-handed). A direct line from the off-hand to the front wall puts the ball in the right corner. All of your weight should be transferred to the ball or instep of your front foot. Your weight should then shift slightly back so you can relocate out of the box and play for the return of serve.

Dropping the Ball - The ball drop is extremely important to a good serve. Consistency comes with a proper ball drop. This point varies from person to person. Watch the pros hit a drive serve and you will notice that the feet are almost parallel to the side wall. This makes it easier to release the hips, the number one power source. That means the ball drop should be where the racquet and arm are extended or "an arm and racquet" away from the ball. Staying low while driving through the ball will ensure a great drive serve. To get the ball just over the short line, without coming of the back wall, time after time takes practice and remember to chart those percentages