Marginal Gains:
Return of Serve Points

Nick Wheatley

Let's now move onto the start of point scenario where you are returning serves. If you read the last article on serving (Click Here), you have an understanding of what an intelligent server is trying to do. This is a great starting point for making marginal gains in return points.

If your opponent makes a first serve, the percentage chance of winning the point is the lowest of the 4 start of point scenarios. But there are still ways to find marginal gains and win a higher percentage of these points. And we know just a few more points won over the course of a match can prove critical in determining the winner.

Ultimately, you want your opponent to have to do more than just make the first serve to earn the point. So getting returns in is crucial. Trying risky returns on first serves can lead to cheap points for the server. Even strong servers will struggle to serve accurately enough that you can't get your racket to the ball a decent amount of the times.

Depth!

Depth is the key to making marginal gains on first serve returns. Positioning can be the difference. If you are struggling to make returns back in play, then take a few steps further back to give you a little more time to see the ball and make your return.

This is a point that sounds simple, but I'm amazed by how often players fail to adjust their positioning when struggling with the pace of a powerful server.

I say keep things simple and move further back. Taking the ball early requires a lot of skill, and is usually too difficult to do effectively as a primary option.

To achieve depth, you are looking to control the ball back crosscourt or up the middle, to land in the back third of the court. This is best achieved by taking a short abbreviated swing at the ball, and trying for a contact point out in front which allows you to use the pace of the incoming serve, and have better control on your return.

In any case, it's better to look for that depth than to settle for simply getting the ball back in. Even if your goal is to make every return, good players will take control of the point if you drop the ball short. If this is happening it's often better to miss a few more returns over the course of the match trying to get depth, than to consistently set the server up with short returns.

Versus the Serve and Volley

If your opponent is following up their serve by coming to the net, then the challenge on returns changes. In this case deep returns will lead to higher shot trajectories that play into the hands of the server coming in. In this case you will be looking to keep your returns lower, and perhaps risk taking the ball earlier to reduce the time your opponent has to close down the net.

In any case, you are always up against it when facing good first serves. The ideas to increase your chances a little are simple ones, but not always easy to execute.

The final piece is to make a well-timed split step your best friend. Couple this with sharp eyes to pick up the direction of the incoming ball as early as you can.

Split step timing is one of the most neglected areas of the game in my opinion, and when I use high speed video to really see how well my students are timing their split steps, I find that they are late.

They are initiating their split too late, landing too late, and losing precious time that often makes the difference between a successful return and a missed one. So when returning fast serves, keep evaluating your split step timing, experiment with starting your split step earlier, and increasing your concentration to pick up the direction of the ball a fraction earlier.

These skills take time to develop, but with a little added concentration you will develop them faster. I promise you'll like the results when you get it right!

That concludes the start of point scenarios involving first serves going in, and they may have provoked a question. What if my opponent isn't skilful enough to trouble me with fast accurate serves? Next we are going to look at second serve returns. And the marginal gains ideas and solutions will also apply to weaker first serves.

Second Serve

When your opponent misses their first serve, this can lead to a world of opportunity, but how aware are you of this opportunity, and how to take advantage of it?

Let's start by thinking about your stronger side, which is probably your forehand. When returning strong first serves, the opportunity to hit your forehand aggressively can be restricted, due to the direction of your opponent's serve, as well as the lack of time you have to make your return. That often changes for second serves, sometimes greatly at lower levels where players may have a bullet first serve that rarely goes in, and a powder-puff second serve.

The first thing to do is adjust your positioning, based on your understanding of your own game, and the game itself. Let's say you're a right-handed player who favours his forehand. On the deuce side, you can afford to move to the left a step or two, and perhaps forwards a little bit too.

This opens up space on your forehand side, and makes getting the serve to your backhand a tougher task for the server. If your opponent isn't highly skilled, they will have neither the confidence or perhaps the skill to send their second serve to the open forehand side in a way that will exploit the space. Y

ou are therefore taking minimal risk in leaving that space open, while increasing the chances that the first shot you hit in the point, will be with your strength. If you also make a run around move for any second serves that come down the T area, you could find you can hit your stronger forehand on return almost every single time your opponent misses their first serve.

As the match goes on, you should keep a mental note of what your opponent does in response to your second serve positioning, if anything? Do he try to exploit the space on the forehand side, and is he at all successful? If you aren't being troubled, then you can stand even another step to your left to return.

Ad Side

Things change a little when you're returning on the Ad side, because as a right-hander, a move to your left to increase your chances of getting to return with your forehand, but takes you further away from the center of the court. The beauty of this move on the deuce side is that you are nicely positioned for an easy recovery after playing the return. On the Ad side, there is more ground to cover to achieve best positioning for the server's 2nd shot.

This is where you would be wise to consider your top shot and other fav shots. Perhaps backhand crosscourt is on your fav's list, in which case there is less reason to move to your left for second serves in the Ad court, as you can trust your skills to make a good return with that shot.

Perhaps your top shot is inside out or inside in? In this case, it may be worth making the move left and hitting a strong enough return with your best shot, that your opponent won't be able to take advantage of the open space you are leaving. Or you will have enough time to recover as your opponent will be forced into a defensive reply from your return.

Down the Middle

If you stick with the 6 main shots that we identified earlier in the series, (Click Here) you will surely enjoy much success returning second serves. But one thing the 6 main shots don't cover is hitting a ball straight up the middle of the court.

When you have time on the ball in a rally, this option isn't commonly used because you are turning down the opportunity to hurt your opponent by running them to one side or the other. However, there are certainly situations where using an attacking shot down the middle could be a wise choice, and returning second serve is at the top of the list!

On the serve, as opposed to a regular groundstroke, it takes a fraction longer to recover your balance. Therefore, the server is vulnerable to being rushed by an early aggressive return. If this return is struck right up the middle of the court, it's also an awkward move to get the body out of the way to make room for your next shot, and an error from the server on their next shot can often arise as a result.

This was the return option that Djokovic intentionally used against Federer, to successfully save the first of Federer's 2 match points in the incredible Wimbledon final of 2019.

Hopefully you can see the advantages of having set plans and ideas in your mind for when your opponent misses his first serve. This is already a favourable situation for you, but by adjusting your positioning based on your understanding of your game, and the game itself, you will be able to use your stronger shots more often for the first shot of the rally. Having further intent in your mind regards where to aim your returns, based on the desired pattern you would like and/or your opponent's weaknesses, will allow you to exploit the second serve return opportunity like never before. Over the course of a match, that can easily lead to quite a few percentage points increase in your success rate.

Finally for returning second serves, what about players who are skilled enough to hit a fearsome kick? These players can often get the ball to kick so much, that aggressive returns are very difficult. With a potent mixture of side and top spin, the ball becomes very hard to read after the bounce.

The answer to this is what we often see Thiem and Nadal doing, as well as many others on tour. When a first serve is missed, they will often adjust their positioning significantly backwards in the court. This is to allow all that work on the ball to die down a bit, and give the returner a bit more time to read the ball.

This tactic may take away the option to rush your opponent with an early hit, but does neutralise the quality of the serve, and allow the returner to hit a strong return that will get them into the rally. This option doesn't have to be restricted to dealing with deadly kick serves.

Your game style may be suited to having more time on the ball, rather than trying to take the ball early, in which case holding back a little more on the second serve return will allow you to use your strengths.

On the other hand, if your skills lie more with early hitting, standing even closer into the court for second serves is a great option, and another tactic often used by tour players. The court surface will also play a factor, with faster lower bouncing courts favouring an early strike, and higher bouncing courts favouring standing even further back.