The Return of Serve: A Neglected Shot That Wins Games

Every point you do not serve begins with a return. That is half of every match, and the average club player has never spent a full practice session on it.

The result is predictable: the return is treated as an obstacle to survive rather than a shot with intent.

The backswing problem

Almost every return error at club level traces back to too much preparation. Players take their full groundstroke backswing against a serve travelling at speed, arrive late, and either shank it or make contact behind their body.

A serve gives you a fraction of the time a rally ball does. The backswing must shrink accordingly.

The unit turn, shoulders rotating with the racquet, is the whole preparation. Power comes from the incoming ball and from stepping forward into contact.

Position is a decision

Standing in the same place for first and second serves is the second most common error.

• First serve, big: stand well behind the baseline. Give yourself time. Depth is the objective, not aggression.
• First serve, moderate: on or just behind the baseline.
• Second serve: step in, often a metre inside the baseline. If a player's second serve is weak and you return from three metres back, you have thrown away the advantage their weakness gave you.

Move your position during the match and let them see you move. Stepping in visibly on second serves puts pressure on the server before they toss.

The two-return system

Simplify by having exactly two returns.

1. The block. Short turn, firm wrist, step forward, guide the ball deep and cross-court. Used on all first serves and anything you are rushed by. The objective is depth and neutrality, not a winner.
2. The drive. Compact swing, step in, hit through the ball with intent, usually cross-court or into the server's weaker wing. Used on second serves and weak firsts.

Deciding which one you are playing before the ball is struck removes the hesitation that causes most return errors.

Reading the serve

Watch the toss, not the racquet. Toss position tells you a great deal.

• Toss well to the server's right (right-hander) suggests slice, likely wide in the deuce court.
• Toss further left and behind the head suggests kick, likely to your backhand.
• Toss straight up and in front suggests flat, likely down the T.

Club servers are far more predictable than they realise. Two games of watching gives you most of their pattern.

Drilling it

• Return block ladder. Partner serves twenty at moderate pace; you must land ten consecutive returns past the service line. Score it.
• Target returns. Cones in the deep cross-court corner. Count how many land in the target zone from twenty serves.
• Second serve attack. Partner only serves second serves. You step in and drive. Play out the point.
• Return only sets. Play a set where the returner starts every game at 30-0 up. Trains the server under pressure and the returner in taking a lead.

Ten minutes of returning at the start of every session, before your arm is tired, changes the shot within a month.