Points of Focus
SHOTS:
- Serve and Return of Serve: Starts every rally
TECHNICAL:
- Aiming to hit the ball high on the front wall and just over halfway across
- Opening the racquet face to hit under the ball to create height
- Open body position to front corner to help with hitting the ball across the court
- Hitting the ball to land in the opposite back quarter
- Aiming to hit the ball onto the side wall on the opposite back quarter if possible
- One whole foot must be in the service box until you have finished hitting the ball
- Follow through to where you want the ball to go
It is important to adapt the serve towards the players and their level.
- Mark out a service box further forward on the court if needed
- Allow serves to land shorter than the short line. Use tape to draw a shorter line if it helps, or allow any serve as long as it hits above the service line ad on the other side of the court
Teaching the young juniors how to hit a simple serve early on is vital. Once a junior can do a simple or adapted serve, they can start to play ‘rallies’, and this is where they usually have the most fun!
TACTICAL:
- Using height and width on the serve to get the ball deep into the back corners, forcing the opponent to volley or get stuck in the back corner
- Start to sometimes vary the serve once more control and consistency is gained
BASIC INSTRUCTIONS FOR THE RETURN OF SERVE:
- Stand approximately 1 racquet diagonally from the corner of the service box
- Racquet needs to be up ready to hit the ball
- Try to volley the serve if the ball is high
- Aim to get the return of serve AWAY from the opponent
- Move to the T straight after hitting the return of serve
