Tennis Serve – More warm-up time and Psychological effect
More warm-up time
The serve is a complex physical movement. It is one shot where you can’t just stick your racket out in front of you and block the ball back over the net.
But one thing is certain. The serve is easier if you’re warmed up. Letting your opponent serve first (and relatively “unwarmed up”) gives you additional time to loosen up, relax into the match, hit more balls, and get ready to serve up to your potential. You’re stealing just a bit of real match-play time to settle down. This will be an asset when you step up to the line to serve that second game of the match.
Psychological effect
Think about how you’d react if your adversary on the court chose to let you serve first. What goes through your mind? “Hey, you don’t think I can serve? I’ll show you what I can do!” That, or something like it, is a natural reaction. It’s also a dumb reaction.
Trying to serve harder is a big mistake. It’s a formula for faulting. That’s why you want to give your opponents the chance to psych themselves out by having them serve first.