The return of serve
Return of Serve: what good form looks like, and the 8 faults you can see on your own video
What good form looks like
The return decides more points than it gets credit for. You start two to three feet behind the baseline, split step as the server contacts, let the ball bounce, then set your feet and move forward into it. Short takeaway, long follow-through, contact out in front, and the paddle finishing over your opposite shoulder. You aim deep, and the shot and the run to the kitchen line are one motion rather than two.
The fundamentals
- Start two to three feet behind the baseline, ready before the serve is struck
- Split step as the server makes contact
- Set your feet first and swing second, contacting out in front while moving forward
- Short backswing, long follow-through, finishing over your opposite shoulder
- Aim about two to three feet inside their baseline, with height to buy yourself time
- Treat the return and the run to the kitchen as one motion
The camera angle that shows the most
Film this shot from the side. Of the faults below, most reveal themselves in profile: weight transfer, swing path, contact position and balance are all things you see from the side and miss from anywhere else. Each fault below is tagged with the angle that reveals it, so you know what a single clip can and cannot show.
The 8 common faults
Each fault is named by multiple independent coaching sources, tagged for whether it shows up in your body or in the paddle, and mapped to the camera angle that reveals it. Green means the skeleton can see it. Read how to spot it, the fix, and one drill.
Standing too close
Visible in the skeletonFilm from the sideSpot it
Deep serves jam you. You are hitting while moving backward, weight on your heels, and you never get to the kitchen in time.
The fix
Start two to three feet behind the baseline so you are moving forward into contact instead of retreating from it.
Drill it
Have a partner serve twenty deep. Return each one starting two full steps behind the line, finishing every rep with your weight moving forward.
Backswing too big
Visible in the skeletonFilm from the sideSpot it
Your paddle disappears behind your body. Returns sail long, or you arrive late and catch the ball off-center.
The fix
Shorten the takeaway to about your back hip and lengthen the follow-through instead. Depth comes from the finish, not the takeaway.
Drill it
Return twenty with a fence or wall a half step behind you as a physical limit on the takeaway.
Hitting off your back foot
Visible in the skeletonFilm from the sideSpot it
You fall away from the shot, the return lands short, and you are still behind the baseline when the third shot arrives.
The fix
Set your feet, step into the ball, contact out in front, and let your momentum carry you toward the kitchen.
Drill it
Ten returns where your front foot has to land inside the baseline after contact. If it does not, the rep does not count.
Short return
Visible in the skeletonFilm from the sideSpot it
Your return lands mid-court, they are already at the kitchen, and you get attacked on the next ball.
The fix
Aim two to three feet inside their baseline with real margin over the net, and finish the swing over your opposite shoulder.
Drill it
Lay a towel across the court three feet inside their baseline. Twenty returns, and count how many land past it.
Flat and low
In the paddle and handFilm from the sideSpot it
You are caught in the middle of the court with your feet still moving when their third shot arrives.
The fix
Give the return arc as well as depth so you can walk in behind it. Height buys you the time to get to the line.
Drill it
Twenty returns that have to cross the net at least three feet above the tape and still land deep.
Watching your return
Visible in the skeletonFilm from the sideSpot it
You are still standing at the baseline, or barely inside it, when the third shot comes back.
The fix
Contact, then go. The return and the move forward are one motion, not a shot followed by a decision.
Drill it
Ten returns where you have to touch the kitchen line before the ball crosses back over the net.
Chopping at it
In the paddle and handFilm from the sideSpot it
You swing high to low, the return floats and sits up, and your opponents feed the spin straight back at you.
The fix
Flatten the swing path and drive through the ball. Short, solid contact instead of a carve.
Drill it
Twenty returns where the paddle has to finish above the height it started. No exceptions.
Driving topspin on the return
Visible in the skeletonFilm from the sideSpot it
Your return dips down and lands short even when you hit it hard.
The fix
Use a flatter swing path than you would on a drive. Depth first, spin second.
Drill it
Alternate ten drives and ten returns back to back so you can feel the difference in swing path.
Reading about it is not the same as seeing it
You can know every fault on this page and still not know which ones are yours. That is the whole problem with technique: it is invisible from inside your own swing. Dinklix draws a pose skeleton on a ten-second clip of your return of serve and names which of these your body is actually doing, in order, with one thing to start with.