It’s absolutely vital that you become a return of serve specialist in doubles.
If you and your partner are true threats to return serve away from your opponent at net, not hit winners, but simply get a ton of returns back in play and away from that net player, you two will create all kinds of trouble for your opponents and make holding serve a nightmare for them.
Most players don’t practice their return of serve enough.
I highly recommend everyone who plays doubles practice their return of serve at least 30 minutes each and every week.
In this video, we’re working on 3 key elements to becoming a consistently good returner of serve.
Soft hands, shoulder turn, and then attention to moving your feet so you’re always getting the right spacing to the direction of the incoming serve.
You always want to give yourself a chance to play your return as an approach shot.
Big winning returns of serve are a by-product of those 3 keys. You won’t always hit a winner, but the pressure you put on your opponents will be even better than trying to always hit an outright winner.
So, don’t disappoint me this week. Get out your schedule right now, call up your favorite practice partner, and go have it for at least 30 minutes this week working on those 3 keys to becoming a better returner of serve!
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Return Serve So Well You Create
Double Faults From Your Opponents…!
Claim Your Copy of Brent’s Downloadable or DVD Detailed Lesson
On the Fundamentals of The Return of Serve
PLUS, You’ll Also Receive a BONUS Lesson on ½ Volleys
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About Brent
Thanks so much. My temperment makes me want to KILL that second soft serve leading to many errors. This should remove those mistakes.
No question that a slow soft incoming serve can send our brain into a frenzy!
Training a different response takes some focused practice. Not always the most fun thing to spend time practicing, but the payoff is big time.
Brent’s Detailed DVD & Downloadable Lesson on The Return of Serve
FAULT! No apostrophe, please, in the “servers” in the last graphic.
Okay, beyond that trivia, thanks for reminding us that’s to set up the play and not try to crush the return.
Not exactly sure what you mean by “soft hands.” Relaxed arms and grip???
thanks again,
David Levin
I shoulda spent more time in those grammar classes. Shoulda…
Anyway, thanks for your feedback. Soft hands refers to having a light grip tension with your hands on your racket just prior to the server making contact so you can more efficiently turn your shoulders in reaction to the direction of that incoming serve.
Tight hands generally inhibit that quick and decisive shoulder turn.
Brent’s Detailed Lesson on the Return of Serve Fundamentals
Brent,
As a tennis instructor, the hardest thing I find is for beginners to reach & hit upwards on hitting a serve. Any suggestions?
Thanks,
That can be a tough concept to get across where you want the player to understand that the ball has to leave the contact area at a slight upward trajectory if true spin is going to have any effect.
Check out my detailed lesson the serve.
Brent
Hello Bret,
Thanks for all the tips. I’ve started implementing your top 10 doubles tips and they really work. Understanding 80% rule on court coverage, the primary role of serving, returning and controlling the net are fantastic. You don’t need to go for huge winners, consistancy wins out for sure…at least at my level.
I look forward to your weekly emails.
Hey Steve and thanks for your kind words and feedback.
Glad you’re figuring out that court positioning in doubles is in the end the #1 priority.
All things being equal, a good court positioning team will almost always beat a hard hitting go for broke team.
We’re a little disillusioned by what we see sometimes on the tour these days with the baseline doubles stuff, but for the rest of us, consistent court positioning is the name of the game.
Brent’s Detailed DVD & Downloadable Lessons
Brent
I’ve been following you for a while, Brent. Thanks for constantly reminding us about “soft hands”. That tip has turned my ROS (especially backhand) from a liability to a threat. I rarely go for the “kill shot” anymore. I find that ROS consistency wears down your opponent faster than the occasional “ripped” winner.
Hi Ian and thanks for your comment.
I have to really discipline myself also to make sure I’m not going for too much on my return with that slow incoming 2nd serve.
As much as we want the glory from time to time, the reality is that we make an unforced error on that slow serve way too often.
Return of Serve Lesson
Hey Brent,
It’s funny that you should mention the doubles return of serve as this is what I am working on at the moment, getting that first serve back and if not picking up that second serve high and absolutely smashing the living daylights out of it, especially if the second serve is coming from a female, as the ball tends to stay up in the air longer and is easier to pick of for a winning shot.
I think most of the principles you point out for doubles return are readily applicable to singles, too. The desire to hit a winner in singles is perhaps more enticing because it’s only you out there. But I have learned more from playing doubles and applying it to singles than the other way around. The tips you bring re: consistency are critical to 3.0 players like me who face a variety of skill levels and ages in that band (up to 3.5). So being consistent esp. with service return is a key ingredient to staying in the point let alone winning it! Thanks.
This is such a great observation and I couldn’t be more pleased to read your comments.
I remember way back when another player telling me that in singles (and this also really applies in dubs), there are times when you’ve simply just got to make that opponent play.
You have to allow your opponent to feel the pressure by having to make that volley, ot 1/2 volley, or groundies, whatever, but you have to give them the chance to feel the pressure.
Especially if they’re facing break point. I see this way too often, and I’m guilty myself more than I liked to be, but when we get up break point against the server, we tend to want to really rub it in and go for the glory. And what happens most of the time? Another unforced error on our return of serve.
Make them play…
As you may know, I’ve put together a series on the fundamentals of the strokes that I believe are common to all strokes.
That series focuses more on stroke & footwork mechanics, but another set of fundamentals that needs to be added are the strategies that are common to all strokes.
One of them is that it’s OK to stay in the point. You don’t have to be thinking that every shot has to be hit so well that it’s going to be a winner. With this thread we’re talking about here with the return of serve, the common theme is that we’re trying to be consistent, meaning that we’re not going for winners, but in fact hitting shots where the chances go way up that are opponent will be able to get to our shot.
That in no way means that the chances go up that are opponent will have a set up to put away. Just because my opponent can get to my shot doesn’t give him/her/them any advantage.
If my shot is down at their feet and forces them to hit AND I’ve improved my court position geometerically, guess what, I’ve put pressure on them to play a shot that won’t set me up.
Same applies for you. There are times such as the return of serve where geometrically you just don’t have that greatest court position, so whether it’s singles or doubles, the value goes way up if you can consistently get your return of serve back in play and in such a way that it doesn’t give that server a clear advantage.
Thanks again BGF for your great comments.
If you haven’t yet signed up for my comp tip series on the stroke fundamentals, go on over to:
http://www.webtennis.net/tennis-fundamentals-subscribe.htm
I think I need to do some more detailed blog tips on each one of those 7 tips in that series…
Brent
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