Tennis Tips – Return of Serve
Photo by Tim Schofield
You need to know what to do against a player with a huge tennis serve, or you will just be watching lots of serves go by and not returning many. Some players are going to have blistering fast 135 mph serves, other are going to have huge kick serves, and some might even have both. But, they all have something in common that you can use against them right away. In fact, most players that are playing well have something in common that you can take advantage of once you know how, so the tip I am going to share with you here can be used against just about anyone if you are willing to get a little creative.
All players have a rhythm, and when they serve they have a pattern. Now, someone could probably write a whole book on how to determine the pattern of someones serve in the middle of a match; but I am not sure that it is possible to predict where someone is going to serve because you are playing a human not a robot. But, it is possible to get a player out of their preferred rhythm. This is huge because when a player is in the zone, they are playing in their preferred rhythm. If someone is serving you off the court by hitting aces all day long, they are probably in the zone.
Return of Serve Tennis Tips
There are lots of things that can be done on the return of serve to try to respond, but I have some easy tennis tips that you can use right away. Give your opponent something new to look at on every serve. Once you determine that predicting and returning serve with a high percentage seems impossible; do not stand in the same place twice for the return. Stand out wide, cover the T, move back, or move in closer. Basically, just move around a lot. This will force your opponent to rethink things instead of just flowing into their next serve. Most players have predetermined where they want to serve, so now that they see you in a new spot; they will rethink where they are going to serve which will possibly take them out of the zone. This is because players in the zone have been show to be just flowing not thinking. Make your opponent think!
As With Everything, There Is A Negative to this Tennis Tip
The negative part is that you could over think things yourself and throw off your own rhythm as well. But, you have already determined that your opponent is serving you off the court anyway, so you do not have much to lose at that point.
Now You Know What To Do Against a Huge Serve
Now you know how to handle the return of serve against a player with a huge serve to throw off their rhythm. So, go out and try this on the court the next time you are up against major fire power. You will have a better chance at breaking serve a few times due to changing the rhythm of your opponent. If your opponent’s serve is very good, you are still going to see many aces, but keep standing in different locations for the return because moving around a lot takes a toll on your opponent over the course of the match.
If You Liked My Article About What To Do Against Huge Serves,
You Are Going To Love My Exclusive Tennis Training Tips!
That is a great tip. I would never think to do that but it does seems like it would be a good thing to try out. Thanks Dave for a great tip.
Hi Mark,
Glad you liked this tip. It does work surprisingly well, but make sure you return serve normally at first to evaluate the situation by standing in the best place possible to return a high percentage of serves which is the ultimate goal. If you get aced repeatedly for 3 straight games for example, start moving around to random locations on the court to get the server to think about where you are standing to return the serve.
Thanks, David
Sure wish I would have found your site before yesterday. I got my butt kicked because my opponent had one heck of a serve. Got me about every time. I will take your words and use them against her next time.
Jasmine,
Funny! Yes, you will see that this will help you against people that are serving up aces for sure.
Hope you can get her next time, David
MR DAVID EVANS.. You are the man!!! I used your advice in this article against my enemy, oh I mean opponent, yesterday and walked away with my head held high…. Do you know why? Cause your advice worked and I beat her at her own game.
Jessie,
Glad to hear that you tried this tactic on the court and it worked well for you. But, you need to take a lot of credit for the win because you still needed to get a high percentage of returns back in the court to secure the match. Congratulation, and keep looking for new ways to take down the tennis players that are challenging to overcome. Thanks for sharing with us because it helps others to hear how things are working out on the court helping them to try new tactics as well. Well done!
Thanks again, David Evans
You can definitely overthink things, so be careful with that. You might think you have a plan, but if you aren’t careful, it will backfire on you!
Nancy, You are right. We all over think things at times, so we need to be careful not to fall into that trap as well.
Thanks for stopping by and sharing your feedback about how to deal with a player with a huge serve, David
I’ve tried the moving around and it works. Another trick I’ve used is to choke up a bit on the racket, especially if I am making contact, but no control.
Hi Del, Thanks for the positive feedback and sharing your tip with us about choking up a bit on the tennis racket when being overpowered. I am going to try that next time someone is overpowering me with their serve. Thanks again, David