Serve & Return
by
Many players focus
on net play in doubles but don’t put enough time into the
two most important shots, the serve and return. Having the ability
and confidence to hit a big serve or return at critical times
during a match can make a tremendous difference in the outcome.
There is a great game/drill I do with some of my players to gain
confidence in serves and returns.
Player A simply
puts the serve into play and gets 1 point for each serve that
is in. The receiver, Player B, attempts to get the return back
crosscourt and beyond the service line. The receiver gets 2 points for each successful
return. Now this may seem very simple but there are several
variations to make it more competitive. How about if you are
working on a slice serve to the backhand? You could divide
the service box in half so that the server only gets credit for
a serve hit into the correct half. You could also force yourself
to hit topspin or flat servers depending on what you need to
improve on. Variations could be added to the receiver as well.
The receiver could be forced to hit all forehands crosscourt
to obtain a point. This challenges the receiver to run around
his/her backhand while the server tries to serve to the backhand.
I always award the receiver more points than the server since
the server should have a definite advantage by starting the point.
Regardless of what criteria you use to win a point, focus on
areas of your serving and receiving game that need work and then
put yourself in a competitive situation where you must use them.
Always have some sort of goal or competition when you practice.
This type of drill gives you a way to evaluate your progress
and is also a lot of fun. |
