The old idea when people began to learn tennis  techniques was that service should never be more than  merely the beginning of a rally. With the rise of American  tennis and the advent of Dwight Davis and Holcombe Ward,  service took on a new significance. These two men  originated what is now known as the American Twist  delivery. Service is the opening gun of tennis. It is much  more than simply putting the ball in play. From the early days when service was a mere formality it  became a point winner. Slowly it gained in importance,  until Maurice E. M’Loughlin, the wonderful “California  Comet,” burst across the tennis sky with the first of those  terrific cannon-ball deliveries that revolutionized the game,  and caused the old-school players to send out hurry calls  for a severe foot fault rule or some way of stopping the  threatened destruction of all ground strokes. M’Loughlin  made service a great factor in the game. It remained for R.  N. Williams to supply the antidote that has again put  service in the normal position of mere importance, not  omnipotence. Williams stood in on the delivery and took it  on the rising bound.  Service must be speedy but speed is not the be-all and  end-all of serving. Service must be accurate, reliable, and  varied. It must be used with discretion and served with  brains.  When serving any tall player has an advantage over a short  one. Given a man about 6 feet and allow him the 3 feet  added by his reach, it has been proven by tests that should  he deliver a service, perfectly flat, with no variation caused  by twist or wind, that just cleared the net at its lowest point  (3 feet in the centre), there is only a margin of 8 inches of  the service court in which the ball can possibly fall; the  remainder is below the net angle. Thus it is easy to see  how important it is to use some form of twist to bring the  ball into court. Not only must it go into court but also it  must be fast enough that the receiver does not have an  opportunity of an easy return. It must also be placed so as  to allow the server an advantage for his next return,  admitting the receiver puts the ball in play.  Just as the first law of receiving is to keep the ball in play,  so of service it is to cause the receiver to make mistakes.  Do not try to simply serve aces, but use your service to  upset the groundstrokes of your opponent.  Service should be hit from as high a point as the server can  COMFORTABLY reach. To stretch unnecessarily is both  wearing on the server and unproductive of results. Varied  pace and varied speed is the keynote to a good service.  The slice service should be hit from a point above the right  shoulder and as high as possible. The server should stand  at about a forty-five degree angle to the baseline, with both  feet firmly planted on the ground. Drop the weight back on  the right foot and swing the racquet freely and easily  behind the back. Toss the ball high enough into the air to  ensure it passing through the desired hitting plane, and  then start a slow shift of the weight forward, at the same  time increasing the power of the swing forward as the  racquet commences its upward flight to the ball. Just as  the ball meets the racquet face the weight should be  thrown forward and the full power of the swing smashed  into the service. Let the ball strike the racquet INSIDE the  face of the strings, with the racquet travelling directly  towards the court. The angle of the racquet face will impart  the twist necessary to bring the ball in court. The wrist  should be somewhat flexible in service. If necessary lift the  right foot and swing the whole body forward with the arm.  Twist slightly to the right, using the left foot as a pivot. The  general line of the racquet swing is from RIGHT to LEFT  and always forward.  At this point let me put in a warning against foot-faulting. I  can only say that a foot fault is crossing or touching the  line with either foot before the ball is delivered, or it is a  jump or step. I am not going into a technical discussion of  foot faults. It is unnecessary, and by placing your feet  firmly before the service there is no need to foot fault.  It is just as unfair to deliberately foot fault as to miscall a  ball, and it is wholly unnecessary. The average foot fault is  due to carelessness, over-anxiety, or ignorance of the rule.  All players are offenders at times, but it can quickly be  resolved. When you begin to learn tennis techniques serving  consistently will seem to be virtually impossible, but as  with all aspects of successful tennis playing it will soon  become second nature to be aware of your service  techniques at all times.