Serve and Return
The serve and the return are arguably the most important strokes in tennis but many times the least practiced. Every single point starts with a serve and a return and in many occasions the point will also end with one of these two shots. The better your serve and return, the better your chances of winning the point.
In this section you will find everything you need to understand, practice and improve these two shots, including technical and tactical advice, drills, methodology and plenty of examples from the pro tour to allow you to form a very clear picture of the ideal way to execute these key elements of the game.
Serving in Balance
Drills, ServeThis is a useful exercise to test the balance and finishing position on the serve. The player is asked to hold the finish. The player should land on the front leg with the back leg in the air. The racquet head should be pointing down in ...
Understanding Spin on the Serve
Instruction, ServeIn this video you will understand how to hit the three different types of serve: flat, slice and kick. The video will use the analogy of a clock to accelerate your understanding.This post is only available to members. Please register or ...
The Backswing on the Serve
Instruction, ServeThe video describes in detail the best way to take your racquet back to serve and emphasizes the importance of getting to a clean “power position.”This post is only available to members. Please register or log in.
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The Correct Footwork on the Serve
Instruction, ServeThe video will describe the two acceptable stances to serve: The platform stance and the pin point stance.This post is only available to members. Please register or log in.
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The Toss
Instruction, ServeA consistent toss is one of the most important aspects of the serve. Here you will find several ideas to help you improve your toss.This post is only available to members. Please register or log in.
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Improving your Tracking Ability on the Return
Instruction, ReturnOne of the most common mistakes when returning is failing to track the ball into the racquet after the bounce. Here is a drill to help you practice this.This post is only available to members. Please register or log in.
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Improving your Serve through the Right Focus
Instruction, ServeEveryone understands the importance of watching the ball in tennis but many people wrongly believe that this does not apply to the serve. Here is a drill to help you improve your tracking ability when serving.This post is only available ...
Return Collection – In the Air
Drills, ReturnAlthough it is widely accepted that the return of serve is one of the most important shots in the game, practicing it enough is difficult since it requires someone to serve a high volume of balls. Here is an alternative, that although no...
Bounce Feeds Return
Drills, ReturnA return is nothing more than a groundstroke with a short backswing. In order to force the player to shorten the backswing it is important to take away time. By standing close to the player and feeding fast bouncing shots, the coach forc...
In the Air Returns Collection
Drills, ReturnExercise 1 Against the Fence A good way to teach players to use short swings and meet the ball in front of the body is by having them stand against the back fence and rushing them with fast feeds that do not bounce. The players against t...
Disguising the Serve
Drills, ServeIdeally the player should learn to hit the serve in any direction off the same toss. The best way to practice this is for the coach to stand behind the player as the player serves. Once the ball is in the air, the coach will yell: T or w...
Minimum Movement Return
Drills, ReturnA common problem on the return is moving too much and therefore loosing precision. In this drill the player works on staying totally still to return using as little body movement as possible. The idea is to work on stability. The player ...
Getting Behind the Ball and Tracking the Return
Drills, ReturnTwo common mistakes when returning are: not tracking the ball to contact and reaching for the ball. This drill attacks both problems by forcing the player to work on catching the ball in front of the body with both hands. In order to cat...
Off the Bounce Returns
Drills, ReturnA good way to practice the shorter backswing on the return is by having the player stand very close to the service line and return from there. From that position the player will not have time to take a large backswing and will get comfor...
Grip Returns – Improving your Tracking Ability
Drills, ReturnIn order to hit a solid return it is very important to learn to track the ball into the contact point. In this drill, the player tries to stop the serve with the grip, forcing the player to practice his/her tracking skills. When using th...
Serve plus 1 Collection
Drills, ServeExercise 1 Self Feed Here is a good way to practice the serve plus the next shot without a partner or in a large group setting where everyone is working on the serve. The player serves, tosses a ball up, gets in position and hits the bal...
Searching for Balance – Ball Between Feet
Drills, ServeThis is a great drill to work on improving toss accuracy and balance. The player stands at the baseline and tries to serve without moving his/her feet, pressing a ball between them. The idea is to help the player find a tossing position ...
Stay Still for a Better Return
Instruction, ReturnIn order to return effectively you need to be able to perfectly time a ball coming at great speed towards you, and the only way to do it consistently is by eliminating any superfluous movement. Stay still for better returns!This post is ...
Track the Ball from the Bounce to the Racquet for Better Returns.
Instruction, ReturnA very common source of mistakes in tennis is failing to track the ball from the bounce to the racquet, and the speed of the serve makes it even more prevalent on the return. Next time you are on the court keep that in mind every time yo...
Eliminate any Tension when Returning
Instruction, ReturnTension is one of the main causes of unforced errors in tennis and the return is one of the strokes where players tense up the most. Improve your return by first recognizing tension and the eliminating it.This post is only available to m...
Calibrating your Serve Long, Short
ServeTennis is all about being able to adjust when necessary. It is not uncommon for players to finish a match and complain about hitting every serve in the net or every serve long. Here is a drill to help them adjust when needed.This post is...
Calibrating your Serve Left, Right
Drills, ServeHere is a great exercise to help you develop precision on the serve. The idea is to purposely hit right of your intended target, then left and then at the target. The small adjustments will make you a much better server.This post is only...
Learning to Serve by Throwing
Drills, ServeServing is nothing else than throwing the racquet at the ball. The building blocks for a great serve are throws. Here are a couple of examples of how one can practice the serve through throwing.This post is only available to members. Ple...
Checking for Balance on the Serve
Instruction, ServeA great way to check if you are serving in balance is by checking the landing. If you are able to land on balance you where most likely balanced throughout the whole motion. Here is how to do this.This post is only available to members. ...
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