TENNIS : Orange confuses opponents with ambidextrous serving
Alessondra Parra’s opponents were confused. And they had good reason. As she warmed up across the court for a doubles match with partner Simone Kalhorn, they saw the right-hander take a few left-handed serves.
‘The girls across the net were like, ‘What the hell? What’s going on? Did I just see them hit a left-handed serve?” Parra said.
The Syracuse tennis team’s opponents see left-handed serves often. It’s all part of head coach Luke Jensen’s game plan to have each of his players be able to serve with both hands.
Jensen was the first-ever player to serve with both hands on the professional tour. And so he was given the moniker ‘Dual Hand Luke.’
Jensen’s skill added an element to his game many opponents could not deal with. It was so effective that when Jensen became the Orange’s head coach, he wanted to implement a similar type of creative tennis to the program.
Now, five years later, players know that when they are recruited to play at SU, they will be given the task of learning to serve from both sides.
‘It keeps it fresh,’ Jensen said. ‘It’s not the same old forehand and backhands or the same old practice. You’re learning shots and tactics in a forward movement of the game, so when you leave, you’re armed to play anybody. We’re going to push you and test you with these shots in competition.’
Jensen said the Orange is the only college team he knows of that implements this unique style of play. The learning curve is different for all players, but Jensen explained it takes two or three months on average for players to be comfortable enough to use it in a game situation.
Freshman Eva Raszkiewicz had no idea what she was getting into when she signed her National Letter of Intent merely 24 hours before school began. Prior to her decision, she never thought she would actually be expected to serve with her weak hand by the end of her collegiate career.
‘Even if I joke around with my friends and serve lefty, I’m really bad,’ Raszkiewicz said. ‘I came here, and I started doing it, and it was really bad in the beginning, but I’m getting better at it. Still not great, but my lefty overhead is coming along, so it’s a good start.’
Players such as Parra and Emily Harman, the No. 1 and No. 3 singles players for the Orange, respectively, have already mastered serving with both hands. With three years under Jensen’s wing, Parra and Harman have baffled their opponents with the occasional lefty serve.
Although the tactic is used sparingly during matches, if it is used at the right moment, it can truly surprise an opponent.
‘If you switch between lefty and righty in a match, it totally throws off your opponent,’ Parra said. ‘Mentally, if your opponent sees you throw in a lefty, not only are they confused, but they are caught off guard and they start thinking about it.’
The left-handed serve is effective for many reasons, Harman said. Often, players get in a rhythm with their opponent. They begin to time their swing off their opponent’s toss and motion to strike. But when all that is done with the other hand, that focus is broken and the rhythm is interrupted.
Once the ball hits the court, the ball spins in a different fashion. Since the player sees a slow shot, she feels she can attack the ball, but often the opponent overplays and misjudges the ball, hitting it long or into the net.
The left-handed serve simply adds another weapon to Syracuse’s arsenal.
‘We do this every day, so it’s not a big deal for us to pull out a lefty in a doubles or singles match,’ Harman said. ‘We do it all the time. That’s a scary factor from their point because they don’t see that every day.’
