Learning Tasks for Teaching Tennis Serve at a Beginning Level

Abstract

Tennis has been one of the most popular sports among people of all ages. Since the Covid-19 pandemic broke out in the United States, the number of tennis participants has significantly increased due to it being one of the safest sports to play (USTA, 2021). Tennis has also been identified as an important net/wall game to learn in schools (SHAPE America, 2013) and recreationally. The serve is one of the first techniques to be introduced when teaching or coaching tennis, and it may be perceived as the hardest technique by most learners. Having a solid serve can have a big impact on game performance. Without a doubt, the serve is one of the most important skills in tennis. This article aims to present a comprehensive step-by-step guide on how to teach the tennis serve to learners at varied skill levels, with a focus on the beginning level. Specifically, a sequence of learning tasks is introduced to teach the tennis serve using a content map. Implications of the content map are also discussed.