# Serve Grip and Stance(Platform vs Pinpoint) | Tennis coaching in East Coach and Marine Parade

Serve Grip and Stance(Platform vs Pinpoint)

Holding Continental Grip and standing the way that you feel comfortable is very important to a good serve.




There are two main stances ( Platform and Pinpoint Stance)

Platform Stance 

Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic, Pete Sampras, Boris Becker and Tim Henman all use/used the platform stance with slight variations.
In the Platform stance the feet are kept about shoulder-width apart throughout the serve, providing stable support and easy weight transfer from the back to the front foot.
Players will sacrifice some power with the platform serve, but their balance will be better so they should be more consistent. It's still possible to produce good power with the platform serve—Roger Federer uses a variation of a platform stance.
The big advantage of the platform serve is that the player is able to drive up towards contact with the use of both legs.
The other advantage is the variations in the serve's the player can get.
I find that it is easier to teach a player the kick, slice and flat serve from a platform stance rather than the pinpoint.
Roger Federer has probably the best kick (topspin serve) in mens tennis today
Pete Sampras Platform Stance

Pete Sampras Platform Stance


Roger Federer Platform Stance

  Roger Federer Platform Stance



                             

Pinpoint Stance

Maria Sharapova, Rafael Nadal, Andy Murray, Jo Wilfried-Tsonga, Mark Philippoussis, Richard Krajicek and many many more top players use the pinpoint stance.
In the pinpoint stance, the feet start apart, but as the serve unfolds, the back foot slides forward until it is adjacent to the front foot.
Sharapova Pinpoint Stance

Sharapova Pinpoint Stance

Andy Murray Pintpoint stance

Andy Murray Pinpoint Stance 



As a result, the feet provide a very small base of support and balance may be a problem.
However if you can hold your balance well, the pinpoint serve provides better velocity, since the feet come together as a single unit, allowing them to push harder against the ground. However, the center of gravity moves more than in the platform stance, so the player must have good body control in order to contact the ball consistently.