↩️Return of Serve Lessons

The return is the second most important shot in tennis, yet it gets a fraction of the practice time. Breaking serve almost always starts with simply getting the ball back deep and in play.

Begin with positioning and timing: stand where you can reach both corners, and land your split step as the server makes contact. Shorten your backswing compared to a groundstroke, because the incoming pace does much of the work. The fundamentals lessons below walk through all of this.

From there, learn to adjust to the serve you face. Against big first serves, step back slightly and block or chip the ball deep through the middle. Against kick serves, either move in and take the ball before it climbs or retreat and give yourself time. Against weak second serves, step in and attack. The later videos cover these adjustments. In doubles, the same principle applies: a low crosscourt return keeps the net player out of the point.