Environmental factors:

Environmental factors can often affect the effectiveness of the tennis serve. This is why tennis players must take into account all possible environmental factors before performing their serve, and adjust it accordingly. For example, an accurate ball toss is an essential component to a perfect serve. On a day where there is a strong wind a player must be cautious not to let it affect where they will make contact with the ball. A player must take into account wind direction and adjust, so they are still able to make ideal contact.

Another big environmental factor for players to contend with is the different types of courts. On a clay court the ball is going to rebound off the surface much slower, but bounce higher than it would on a grass court or a hard court (Cross, 2002). In order to achieve ideal accuracy the player must have some idea of the height the ball will bounce to make it more difficult for the opponent to return the service.

Figure 5. This figure shows the differences that can occur of three types of tennis courts; clay, acrylic and grass. From this, it is evident that a tennis ball will bounce highest on a clay court, lower on an acrylic court, and lowest on a grass court. (Image credit: BBC Sport)