"granny style" --- that's funny!
yea thats the guy, he made like over 1000 in a row or something.. :), thats what we always called it when we were kids, "granny style"
Q: I have a friend and doubles partner who plays high school tennis with me and he has an amazing and consistent first serve (100+ mph). His serve usually forces our opponents to back up way behind the baseline while returning his serves. However, on occasion when he sees that our opponents are pushed far back behind the baseline, he'll throw in a soft underhand serve with plenty of underspin which usually dies after crossing the net. Since our opponents are well behind the baseline they're unable to reach it. On several occasions our opponents have complained about his trick serve and asked him to stop. We've even had a high school coach tell us that it's illegal. However my friend believes that it's perfectly legal and continues to do so, despite the loud objections of our opponents. My question was whether or not this type of serve is legal or not? And what to do if we're accused of cheating during a match?
Rufus - Salt Lake City, UT
A: As long as the ball is hit out of the air, and not after a bounce, then an underhand serve is perfectly legal. In olden times, players always served underhand. In fact, Tim Henman’s grandmother was the first woman to serve overhand at Wimbledon. In a more recent era, Michael Chang, who was suffering from severe cramps, used the underhand serve tactic to startle the seemingly invincible Ivan Lendl during a crucial stage of their match at the French Championships in 1989. So, yes… while it is uncommon, it is certainly legal.
- Bill