1. Drills
  2. Tennis
  3. Serve

Red-Ball Underhand Serve

Start every point on a short court with an easy underhand serve that always goes in.

By Coach Evan Waechtler Youth coach (U11, Cache Valley, Utah) and founder of SSTracker Updated October 30, 2026

Set up

Stand behind the short-court line, side-on to the net.

Core: Medium. Beat your own best out of 10.

Ages
7 and up
Time
8 min
Players
Just you
Space
Gym or court
Bring
Racket, red balls, short court or driveway
Level · skill
Beginner · Serve

The steps

How it works

  1. Stand behind the short-court line, side-on to the net.
  2. Drop the ball and swing up gently from below.
  3. Aim for the box diagonally across from you.
  4. Serve 15 and count how many land in.

Coaching point

Swing slow, aim big.

Safety: Use the ball and court for your age: red ball on a short court at 8 and under, orange at 9 to 10, green at 10 to 12.

Make it fun

Play it, don't drill it

Game version

Target-box serving: two teams of two take turns serving into target boxes. Each team counts only its own boxes hit.

Challenge

Pick a box: Less (big), Core (medium), More (small). Beat your own best out of 10.

Story

You are opening the match with a serve that lands exactly on the line.

My best

Beat your own count

Beat your own best out of 10. Only your own number counts: today against last time.

Practice makes progress

Print it now, or save it free

Free for families and teams

Save this drill to your child or team, free

Sign up and the free tennis week for this age opens in your child's planner, kept to healthy limits. A coach can send this drill to the whole team as homework, and parents see every session logged.

14 days free for a family, no card · Running a team is always free

Does your child's coach know about this?

An email from you to the coach, with the words ready. Nothing is tracked and nobody is rewarded.