Once you can consistently get the ball over the net and into the court, it is time to work on your placement. A good server can control exactly where the ball lands.
Service Areas
There are six numbered service areas on the court. Your coach or your team may want you to serve to a certain person if they are a weak passer or if you want to slow a player down to make them less available to hit the ball on the third contact. The service areas split the court in to six sections starting with area one in deep left and are numbered counter clockwise. Some coaches may number the areas clockwise, but counter clockwise is the most common.
Deep and Short Serves
Deep serves land in the back half of the court in areas 1, 5 and 6. Short serves land in the front half of the court in areas 2, 3 and 4.
Short serves are the most difficult to handle if they land in front of the 10-foot or three meter line. In order to do that you will need to take some power off the ball and get more of an arc on your serve than if you are aiming deep. A good deep serve clears the net by a couple of feet or less and lands near the back line.
