The job of the player is to try to allign the strings to the incoming ball placing the racquet head on the path of the ball.
Body-Return Down the Line with Volleys and Groundstrokes
The coach serves into a player’s body, who returns down the line at another player standing at the net. The point is played out.
Improving Footwork on the Return – The Platform
In this exercise the emphasis is on the split step. The player starts on a platform and jumps down to return.
Improving Focus on the Return
Watching the ball to contact is essential when returning serve and the most critical period is from the bounce to contact.
Attacking the Return
Serve to the backhand on the deuce court. The returner approaches the net down the line.The point is played out.
Bounce Feeds Return
A 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 forces the payer to shorten the backswing and work on blocking the ball in front of the body.
In the Air Returns Collection
Exercise 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 the back fence cannot take large backswing so they are forced to keep the …
Minimum Movement Return
A 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 should try to keep the eyes at contact for a second or two before looking up to see …
Getting Behind the Ball and Tracking the Return
Two 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 catch the ball successfully, the player has to track the ball all the way to his/her hands …
Off the Bounce Returns
A 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 comfortable blocking the ball with a compact swing.