# @mytenniscoaching on Instagram

- **Type:** Image
- **Original URL:** https://www.instagram.com/p/Dd1WartDrm6
- **Gondola URL:** https://gondola.cc/posts/71072542-mytenniscoaching-instagram
- **Thumbnail:** https://img.gondola.cc/tr:w-,h-,fo-auto/postThumbnails/18d1e9b4fb.jpg
- **Posted:** 2026-09-28T14:00:08.000+00:00
- **Account Owner:** Steve Whelan | International Tennis Coach Developer (@mytenniscoaching) — https://gondola.cc/mytenniscoaching

## Caption

Does your tennis serve routine really need to be identical before every point? 🎾

Same number of bounces. Same timing. Same sequence.

It’s familiar coaching advice. But a study by Carvalho and colleagues (2026) offers a reason to question how rigid that advice should be.

Researchers analysed 611 first-serve preparations from 10 professional tennis players at the 2008 Estoril Open.

Every player showed variation in their preparation time, types of behaviour and number of actions.

Longer rallies were associated with longer preparation. Across the sample, players also took longer after losing a point and before points classified as critical.

Preparation changed with the match situation.

Through an ecological dynamics lens, the authors interpret these adjustments as potentially helping players regulate themselves in response to changing demands.

That does not mean routines are useless—or that changing your routine will improve your serve. This was a small observational study, not an experiment comparing coaching methods.

My takeaway for tennis coaches, players and parents:

A familiar routine can offer structure without becoming a script that must be reproduced perfectly.

In serve practice, make room for the moments between points. Explore preparation after a demanding rally, a frustrating loss or at an important score.

Then ask the player:

“What did you need before that serve, and how did your preparation help?”

Do you teach a fixed serving routine, or leave room for players to adapt? Tell me why below.

Save this for your next serve session.

Follow mytenniscoaching for research-informed tennis coaching and player development.

📚 Carvalho et al. (2026). The adaptive role of pre-service behaviour in tennis’ serve: An ecological dynamics approach to self-regulation.
DOI: 10.1080/1612197X.2026.2716015

#TennisCoaching #TennisServe #CoachEducation #EcologicalDynamics #PlayerDevelopment

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## Tags

ecologicaldynamics, coacheducation, tennisserve, playerdevelopment, tenniscoaching

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