Drills: achieving a good return of serve

An easy way to work on your return of serve?Here are two drills that will help you make steady progress. Listen to the coaches and learn.

If there's one shot that's hard to play, it's the return of serve. It's not all about what you do. You might have a good return, but if your opponent has a strong serve, it may not be enough. So how do you go about improving your return? Here are two drills that will help you make steady progress. Listen to the coaches and learn.

Drill 1

Objective: Cut off the ball/cut the angle/block your return.

Player 1 stands one or two metres behind the service line with a basket of balls.

Player 2 (the person working on their return) stands in the position they normally return serve from.

The server hits first serves into the service box, in different areas.

The returner should aim to execute a good split step so they can drive themselves forward to return the ball.

Ideally, they should be stepping into the court to try to block and cut off the angles open to the server.

Do ten sets of high-intensity serves.

Drill 2

Objective: Work on picking up the line of the ball and your reaction time.

Player 1 hits sets of ten serves.

Player 2 stands in their normal return position but with their back to the server.

The server calls out when they are about to hit the serve.This is the signal for the returner to turn around and try to hit a good return by picking up the flight of the ball and reacting in time.

Feel free to repeat these drills and perform on the court!

Simon

Author

I share tips from the Artengo team to help you up your game.

Tennis Technique: how to hit a cross-court backhand stroke

Everything you need to know about the cross-court backhand stroke! The grip, stances and shoulder position, contact point and shifting your weight. We'll explain it all!

Tennis Technique: Serve and volley

Who among us hasn't dreamed of executing the perfect serve and volley?Here are a few tips to help you master it!

Tennis skills: how to make your serve more accurate

Power is nothing without at least a bit of precision! Here are some tips to make your serve a bit more accurate...

Tennis skills: how to hit a good volley in tennis

Volleys are easy... aren't they? This video shows you exactly how to do the perfect volley so you'll never miss one again.

Tennis skills: The backhand - it's a love/hate thing

The backhand is one of the staples of tennis and a shot you can use to dictate rallies and build points. One hand or two? It doesn't matter. Just get hitting that backhand.