Question:

My serve keeps going long.

How can I fix it?

Providing people with coaching tips "online" can sometimes work very well. It allows the questioner to consider the suggested solution before attempting to apply it. Questions like this one, however, demonstrate the limitations! I really need to see your serve!

Could be you're letting the ball drop and then swinging through it, instead of reaching up and using your wrist. Could be you're leading with your wrist and hitting the underside of the ball. Could be your grip or your ball placement. Could be a problem with your balance or co-ordination or rhythm. Like I said, I really need to see it!

And as I can't see your serve, I'm not going to attempt remote surgery! If it's a deep-seated problem and it won't go away, consult a local coach and seek help with your technique. Sorry, but if you want a proper cure, it's the only way. If you tinker about with your serve in an unsupervised way, you may end up introducing even more problems!

However, if it's something that just crops up from time to time, I'll offer you the band-aid solution! In fact, I'll mention a couple of these. You see, it might sound strange, but there's some good news about your problem. And the good news is that it's consistent, i.e. your serve consistently goes long, right? Now, if you're in the middle of a match and you encounter a consistent problem whereby your serve either goes long all the time or you hit it short all the time, you can't wander off and find a coach. But what you can do is stick on one of these band-aids:

SERVE GOES LONG: Place the ball further forward

SERVE GOES IN THE NET: Place the ball further back.

Simple, I know - but don't knock it! We all encounter these little "cuts and scrapes" as we play our matches and it's just sensible to have a couple of band-aids available just in case!