Overhand Serve

Articles In This Section:

· The Serve

· Underhand Serve

· Overhand Serve

· Roundhouse Serve

· Comparative Value of the Three Serves

· The Screen for the Server - Part 1

· Strategy of the Serve

· Role of the Serve in National Championships

The overhand serve is a very effective serve and with practice may also be very accurate. This serve is accomplished by tossing the ball easily to a position just above the level of the head and just slightly in front of the frontal plane of the body. The ball should be tossed in front of the right arm and shoulder. The right arm should be in a position so that the upper arm is parallel to the floor and to the frontal plane of the body. The hand should be held in a clawlike manner, close to the head and behind the ear.

In the tossing sequence, Odeneal suggests that the valve of the ball be placed toward the receiving team. This small amount of weight in the valve causes the ball to dip and slide after being hit.³

The ball is hit in much the same manner as a spiker would hit a volleyball or in the same manner as a catcher might throw a ball to second base. Wilson recommends that the ball be hit or batted with a motion similar to a serve in tennis.⁴ The ball is hit with the heel of the hand and slightly capped with the fingers. There is very little follow-through on this service. Capping the ball with the fingers after hitting it with the heel of the hand will give a top spin to the ball, causing it to go at a fast rate similar to a spike. The ball may also be hit in the center and not capped with the fingers. This creates a floating ball that jumps and slides because it has no spin. The floater travels fast over the net and dies quickly, making it difficult to judge in receiving.⁵ Both the capped and the floater serves are very effective and can be used interchangeably.

The most common stance of the server is with his feet in close proximity to and equidistant from the end line. However, some servers prefer to stand several feet behind the end line and/or with one foot forward. It is not necessary to take a step with the overhand service. Here again, this is a matter of preference with the individual player.