12 year old serving .overhand

Question
i'm 12 years old with a killer underhand. My coach got me started on overhand. i have been using my fist and it goes over just fine. Now, i'm trying open hand. the coach said i'm so close and just swing faster. but how.....

Answer
Good morning!  

You will conquer overhand serving, just like you eventually conquered riding a bicycle! In 23 years, I've only coached 1 girl who wasn't serving overhand by the 10th grade.

Serving with a fist makes the ball go further b/c a fist is so hard.  But do you very good control of where the ball is going?  Maybe.  But when you start serving with an open hand, you'll have much better control.  In fact, that the only reason that vballs are served with open hands.  

Keep working on it at practice and anywhere else you can (without breaking any windows!! haha)  If you're lacking armspeed, then nearly every girl conquers that as she gets older.  

Mishits are hits that miss the center of your hand.  We all mishit some. For some girls, mishits occur a lot!  You can fix some of them by lowering your toss (which requires you keep your hitting hand up -- don't drop it before/during/after the toss!!!) and you can fix it somewhat by watching the ball very closely.

Some mishits occur b/c coaches ask their players to reach high when serving.  I don't ask my girls to reach high on their serve.  (Yes, they must reach high on the spike b/c there's a net in front of them!)  If you toss the ball lower, you'll contact it closer to your face, and thus you'll make fewer mishits.  

I don't let my players serve overhand in games until they can get 90% of them in the court.  (Your coach may think differently, and that's OK!)  If you have a really good underhand serve, then use it until your overhand serve is something that's dependable for you.  If my girls are going to miss 50% of their overhand serves, I'd rather them all serve underhand!  haha  I want us to win!  

At 12 years old, don't worry if your overhand serve isn't what you want it to be.  I imagine at 12, A LOT of things in your life aren't as far along as you'd like them to be.  For nearly all girls, overhand serving will come.  Keep asking older/experienced coaches to inspect your overhand serve and to give you hints.

Review:
* Try to keep the toss low
* Don't drop your hitting hand during the serving process
* Don't worry about a high elbow.  You're serving, not spiking.  
* Keep using your underhand serve in games until your overhand serve can get into the court 90% of the time.

Thank you for the question!
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Have a great weekend!
Coach Houser