How to return FAST serves effectively – five practical tips
Facing someone with a ridiculously fast serve? Never fear, here’s how to handle it…
You’re warming up for a competitive match. You’ve traded forehands and backhands competently, stood up to the volley test at the net. Everything’s going swimmingly until…
“A few serves?”
Your jaw drops as your opponent bombs a couple of serves straight at you, nearly taking your head clean off in the process. How the hell are you going to return this guy’s serve, let alone beat him?
Don’t be intimated! If you practice these five keys to effectively returning a fast serve, you’ll be well prepared for the next time John Isner asks you for a bounce match…
1. Prioritise getting the return back, no matter how
The absolute first rule of returning - make your opponent play!
Even if you’re just scraping the return back into play; if you’re framing it back into the court; if you’re bunting up into the sky as high as you can; whatever your method; get that serve back into the court by any means possible.
Getting your big-serving opponent to play one extra ball is essential to creating pressure. Make the service box shrink and ask them to play their second shot, even if it’s bound to be a guaranteed sitter.
With this ethos in mind, it’s essential to give yourself plenty of margin for error. The return is about transitioning from defence (defending your opponent’s massive serve) to neutral (neutralising the advantage of your opponent’s serve). NOT transitioning from defence straight to offence (expecting to hit a return winner).
Look at the best returners in the men’s pro game, where the serves are nearly all massive. Novak Djokovic, Andy Murray, Daniil Medvedev - they all primarily return down the middle of the court. Rather than looking to put themselves on the front foot, they look for a deep, central return that will get the point back to 50/50, avoiding giving the opponent any angle to hurt them with.
Whether you’re scraping your return into play or you’re positioned well enough to redirect the serve back down the middle of the court, it’s essential you do everything in your power to make your opponent play their second shot!
2. Use the block return
One technique to maximise your chances of controlling a fast serve is the block return.
The block return has very little take-back with a very short followthrough and it utilises continental grip - this prevents any clumsy grip changes to forehand or backhand. Take a look at Roger Federer’s below for a great visualisation of this return
Sound/look familiar? The block return is very similar to the volley!
There are many advantages to the block return:
Absorbs pace. Though it may sound like a disadvantage, the block return will be sent back to the server without pace. Provided the return is deep enough, this will give you enough time to recover to the middle of the court without being attacked on the next ball. For this reason, the block return can be particularly effective off of wide serves when you have to recover further.
Stays low. The block return can be particularly effective in doubles where keeping the ball low and slow can make it difficult for your opponents to attack from the net.
Easier to time. Given the simplicity of the block return, it is generally easier to make a clean contact with the ball than if you are swinging hell for leather.
If you want to make your opponent play, learn how to absorb the pace of a fast serve with the block return.
3. Use an abbreviated take-back
On a high-bouncing, slow surface, the block return can sometimes leave you a little exposed.
So on a slower surface like indoor hard or clay, you can still hit a full-blooded forehand or backhand when returning a fast serve. It is essential however that the take-back on your swings is abbreviated.
We take our racket back on our groundstrokes to generate pace. In the case of a fast serve, all of the pace is generated for us. All we need to is redirect the ball rather than injecting any pace of our own.
An abbreviated take-back will also make the return a lot easier to time. Getting a clean contact in the centre of the racket is half the battle when it comes to returning a fast serve.
It’s important to note that although the take-back should be abbreviated, the followthrough can still be kept long. This will stop the ball flying on you as easily, allowing you to impart some spin and control on the return.
In bouncier conditions and/or against an opponent that is eating up slower pace balls, abbreviate the take-back on your return to send a fast serve straight back to your opponent’s toes.
4. Get your weight going forward
Just like a volley, it is so important that we support our abbreviated return motion with our body weight.
Watch this video of Andy Murray returning serve…
Murray starts further back in the court before stepping forward into the return to ensure his body weight is travelling in the same direction. Standing still will make it harder to absorb the pace of the incoming serve which can lead to a slower return - even whilst maintaining a full followthrough.
One of the best upcoming players at this is Jenson Brooksby. Look at the first point in this highlights reel from his win over Stefanos Tsitsipas last year. Brooksby is moving forward into the return and has his racket out in front of his body on contact with the ball - this cuts off the angle of what would have been an effective wide serve from the Greek.
The advantages are clear watching the pros. Moving forward to the return will…
Provide a strong foundation for an abbreviated take-back on return.
Help you to cut off the angles of wide serves.
Send the ball back to the opponent faster than a block return.
Move forward to meet the serve!
5. Eyes wide for full focus
Ever watched Novak Djokovic return serve?
Wide-eyed Novak. Photo: creative commons
Have you ever noticed how wide he opens his eyes as he goes to return?
You only get as little as half a second to react to some of the biggest serves in the world. Blink and you literally might miss it.
Anecdotally, I’ve tried opening my eyes as wide as I can, fully focussing on the incoming ball… and - who’d’ve thunk it taking notes from the best returner ever to play the game - it actually works! Even if I miss the return, I very rarely mishit even some of the fastest serves I’ve faced (even if I don’t find the court as often as I’d like!).
Full focus maximises my chances of making a clean contact with the ball. Again, a clean contact with a fast serve is half the battle.
Next time your facing a cannon on the other side of the net, try this technique and stay fully focussed for the entirety of the return!
Summary
In summary, my five keys to returning a fast serve effectively…
1. Getting the ball back into play should be your number one priority.
2. Learn how to hit a block return.
3. Abbreviate your usual take-back on your groundstrokes.
4. Get your body weight going forward.
5. Stay fully focussed for the entirety of your return.
I hope these keys help. As always, any questions or thoughts, tweet me @ontheline_jack. Happy hitting!
Jack Edward is a tennis analyst and host of the On The Line podcast, which takes regular deep dives into ATP and WTA tour matches. He’s also a qualified LTA coach and on Talking Tennis he brings his unique analytical insights to help club and recreational players to be more effective on the court.
See also:
Tennis tactics: 5 simple, effective doubles strategies for club players
Tennis tactics: 4 simple, effective singles strategies for club players
Doubles Play: How to stop worrying about your volleys and start loving the net
Tips for playing smart tennis in bad weather and tricky conditions
How to deal with the lob in doubles - 5 simple tactics for club players
