Return of Serve

The return of serve seems like a good opportunity to get creative: You can slice, chop, drive, lob, or spin the return and it can land anywhere on the court.

The serving team must allow this return to bounce, which is also a reason that players get relaxed when returning.

With that in mind, I feel that this is an area of the game that often gets overlooked.

I believe that being the receiving team is actually a very valuable advantage in pickleball and should be drilled pretty much to perfection.

Let's talk about the return of serve...

Image credit: Sara McInnes

Goals of the Return of Serve

- As a beginner player, the main goal is to get the return into the court - to miss the return is an unfortunate and very easy way for the serving team to earn a point

- Hit a deep return to keep the serving team behind their baseline

- Apply immediate pressure on the serving team to hit a solid third shot

- Keep the bounce low on the return of serve forcing the opponent to get low and underneath the ball - this could likely produce a higher third shot, giving your team an easier fourth shot

Aiming For the Non-Volley Zone

Although “allowed”, this is a risky option and not one that I would encourage, especially if you’re just starting out in the sport...

- This is a low percentage shot, the higher ‘return on investment' option is to return deep

- It's hard to execute off of a serve, especially if it’s a hard, fast, and low serve

- If the serving team can get to your return, then you’ve brought them to their non-volley line, which is exactly the opposite outcome that most players are trying to achieve

Beginner Tips for Hitting a Solid Return of Serve

- Bend the legs - this is paramount to hitting a return

- On the backhand, drop your shoulder and open up the paddle face 45 degrees to get underneath the bottom of the ball, push forward with the shoulder to move that ball away from you (rather than cutting or slicing the ball)

- Try not to swing too hard before the paddle makes contact with the ball, accelerating on contact will make for a ‘cleaner’ return of serve

Image credit: Sara McInnes

Did You Know…

If the bounce off the serve takes the ball outside of the court parameters you can return the ball as an ATP (around-the-post)? It’s not often that this opportunity will arise, but if it does - and you’re comfortable with ATP’s - it’s not a bad option to go for, it will definitely catch the other team off guard if you do so!

Stacking on Return

In a previous article, I explained what stacking is; Returning your serve whilst stacking with your teammate should be well thought out and executed, otherwise, you’re giving the serving team a big advantage...

- Return to the furthest area of the other side of the court (usually cross-court)

- Keep the ball low, preventing a drive opportunity - With you or your teammate rushing across the court to get to your spot, the serving team often looks to drive the ball into your body or the empty space on the court for an easy winner

- Shift the weight of your body forward into the ball and follow through the swing of the shot, rather than being on the heels of your feet 

Why I like being the receiver: It's the only time in the entire rally that my perspective of the game is the full court. I can see where the opponents are standing and I have a sense that I can orchestrate the rally from the moment I make contact with the ball. 

Why I like being the partner of the receiver: I have the advantage of volleying before anyone else on the court, and therefore feel as though I can provide immediate pressure on my opponents. I also like the feeling of being able to cover my partner by hitting the fourth shot (especially if I am playing on the left side of the court).

Image credit: Sara McInnes

Tips for Drilling

- To increase consistency, have your partner serve fairly easy balls, work on placing your return in a specific area

- Increase the difficulty for yourself by aiming to return the ball to more areas

- Your drilling partner can increase the pace of their serve, the height of the serve, and the depth

- Try standing in various areas around and behind the baseline - most players stand on the baseline to begin and will cheat to one side (to avoid hitting with their backhand)

- Practice returning with the backhand - if this shot feels weak or you really can’t gain confidence returning with the backhand, you can practice a two-handed backhand which provides additional stability and strength

The return of serve really can set the tone of the entire rally; I mean, without the serve, return, and third shot there is no rally, but the receivers have a strong advantage with the return so make use of it.

Oftentimes, players overlook practicing the return of serve, this is because it's a fairly easy shot to learn and incorporate into your game immediately. But as reviewed, there are very effective returns.

If you and your teammate are not already doing so, try to incorporate the return into your practices.

This article was taken from our 'Control the Kitchen' Newsletter, if you're interested in receiving more content like this, please feel free to sign up using the subscribe section located at the bottom left of this page (or underneath the article if you're on mobile), thanks!