Stand Back on the Return of Serve

Key Points

• Importance of the Return of Serve: Often overlooked but is crucial to success. Second only to the serve. A great return disrupts big servers and keeps you competitive.
• Understanding Positioning: First Serve: Stand further back for more time against big servers; adjust position if struggling. Second Serve: Move forward to attack or stay back for high-bouncing serves.
• Key Techniques: Stay low with bent knees for balance and explosiveness; avoid flat-footed stances. Push forward during the return to start points aggressively.
• Educated Guessing: Anticipate serve direction based on opponent tendencies, toss, and racket motion.
• Mental and Tactical Aspects: Focus on serve patterns, court surface, and ball speed. Use variations to keep opponents guessing.
• Role Models: Players like Leighton Hewitt, Andre Agassi, and Jimmy Connors excelled at reading serves and staying low for strong returns.
• Practice Makes Perfect: Work daily on returns to build consistency. Breaking serve gives you a critical edge in matches.