Return of serve - Fionn Donnelly
Return of Serve
Overview - The return of serve is one of the most important shots in tennis and also one of the least practiced. In women's tennis it is often considered more important than even the serve itself.
The return of serve generally has two goals:
1. When returning a first serve getting the ball back in court and getting yourself into a neutral position is often all we need to do.
2. Off of a second serve we want to be able to find a way to get ourselves ahead in the point, by attacking the return.
We can use the phrase “make em play, make em pay” to remember the differences.
Technical- Our returns should differ technically from regular groundstrokes in our footwork and backswing.
Footwork- Against a faster serve it is important we get our bodyweight moving forwards into the court so that we have more than our arms doing the work. To do this we should:
Try taking a step and then a split step forwards into the court
Then move towards the ball to cut off angle and send it back with venom
Our first step should be just after they have tossed the ball, and our split step will be just before they make contact so that we are balanced and ready to push off as soon as we recognize where the ball is going. Check out the video of Novak below to see how the best in the world do it. The timing on this is somewhat difficult when you're starting off and it may feel rushed as you're taking time away from yourself. To make up for this difference you can start a little bit farther back so that you're in the same area of the court when you connect with the ball.
Racketwork- Our racket should be doing less on a return than normal, we only need to redirect pace most of the time. This means:
A shorter backswing, often only a unit turn with our shoulders
A long follow through after contact
On a second serve we can add pace with a bigger backswing as we gain confidence.
Tactical- Our goals on return of serve differ from player to player and also from serve to serve depending on how clean you are able to connect with the return, but here's a good rule of thumb:
1st serve- When returning the first serve we should aim straight down the middle 3-4 feet inside the baseline. This gives us a large margin for error inside all lines and hits over the lowest part of the net. It pushes your opponent backwards as they recover after serving and takes away angles so that they can't attack you with width off their first shot.
2nd serve- Second serves give us more freedom to work with. Try to gain the upper hand by:
Taking a bigger swing at the ball and adding more pace and width to your returns
Aiming towards the corners more often
Going back behind your opponent is often a good strategy
Stepping farther inside the court to return this can really take time away and pressurise your opponent, and it also makes the target look small from their side.
By being more aggressive here the server will feel more pressure, causing them to slow their first serves to make a higher percentage, and speed up their second serves to make them less attackable, drawing more double faults. Both big positives for you.
Mental- On the mental side there are a few things to look out for:
The first being are we ready for the point to start?
Are you bouncing on your toes?
Are you in the ready position?
Are you focused on just this point or even better just this shot?
Do you have a plan?
Intentionally pick a spot to aim for instead of just hitting the ball when it arrives even if the ball doesn't always go where you want it to! Use the information you're being given and adjust accordingly.
Some examples of this might be:
If they are a lefty you should stand farther left than if you were playing a righty to compensate for the slice difference.
If they have a favorite serve (T or wide) then take it away and see if they can hit the other one (especially on big points), to break or hold.
Stand back if they serve it too fast or spinny for you, and stand in closer if they beat you with angles.
Change where you stand for first and second and even randomly just to disrupt their flow by changing visuals for them. (Check out Nick Kyrigos or Federer's SABR for a great example of this.)
Finally- Information is good, practice is better. You won't be able to change things in a tight summer league match if you haven't practised it on a Wednesday/Saturday morning or practise sets. Get out there and play with the purpose of getting better and changing things. It may be uncomfortable and you will miss… but if it's too comfortable it won't ever get better, and mostly enjoy the process. Fionn
Novak practicing returns- https://youtu.be/4wXKFZJ0WAM