Coming back to tennis after a long time

EDIT: I wanted to start a thread to discuss issues and give about coming back to tennis after a while. Since I had already started this thread and it relates to the topic at hand, I thought we could make this thread about that.

So i've just come back to tennis and i've been playing sets with a guy whose serve is really really unpredictable. Sometimes it bounces short and i find myself having to run to the net just so i can get my racket on it and other times it will bounce deep and high but very slowly and since i'm standing way inside the baseline to receive the short serves i'm caught unawares. He also mishits returns that drop short and i can't get to in time. It's frustrating to lose points this way. What should i do?

move your feet

move your feet
This. Read the racquet and the ball before it land on the ground.

Yeah the trouble is that I've just come back to tennis and my footwork is REALLY poor.

Another thing I forgot to mention is that since I have to stand in really close on the return even if I get a hit on the return deep he's left with the entire court to hit into.

You need to practice than :lol:
if he hit a short serve. hit a short return and make him run.
what level is he anyway..

Yeah the trouble is that I've just come back to tennis and my footwork is REALLY poor.

Another thing I forgot to mention is that since I have to stand in really close on the return even if I get a hit on the return deep he's left with the entire court to hit into.

If you hit the return deep and just stand there, yes. If you come in behind your deep return, he'll have to hit a perfect passing shot or lob to beat you.

I had to deal with this so many times in high school tennis...

My goal was to never return the serve harder than it came unless I knew I was going to hit the outright winner because my return of serve was like Ana Ivanovic's definitely...very good when hitting outright winners but otherwise terrible. So work on placing it in positions where the person is difficult and really move back to the center of the court quickly and on balance. What you don't want to happen is to hit the return and really stand there so that the person can just focus on returning the ball deep into the opposite corner.

Be proactive and get to the middle of the court so that you can cut off any angle and you have the easy set up. Or, if you're comfortable up there, take the return and chip it with a good slice at about mid court and skid it off the court. That's a real awkward shot and you can get to the net behind it for an easy volley.

:sobbing:

One of the kids I play all of the time is this way. I always beat him very easily, because he's not very good :lol: But he has a big first serve, but then just gets the 2nd one in (except when he's goes for it).It's not like I can just stand on the serve box because then he'll just go for it-- and he can hit the big one like 30% of the time. You have to get in the habit of just coming into the net. If he's going to mishit shots and pull you in anyway, you might as well hit the return deep and just stay in at the net. When I have to run forward on his return, I hit a deep slice shot that makes him move and keeps him on his toes, then I stay in at the net. He can hit great passing shots sometimes, but I'd rather be in at the net on my terms then running forward and back the whole time.

If his serves are never with much pace, stand a decent way inside the baseline. If he hits it real short, you'll get there with relative ease, and if he hits it deep and high, you are in good position to take the return early without jamming yourself.

something interestinghttp://www.free123.net/sig/34/smile.gif

Practice is key those legs will start moving.

BTW Thanks for all your advice guys.

It’s really disguising, I’ll prefer not play if it comes to poor serve. Why should I go for a poor performance if judged on the basis of low serve?

So i've just come back to tennis and i've been playing sets with a guy whose serve is really really unpredictable. Sometimes it bounces short and i find myself having to run to the net just so i can get my racket on it and other times it will bounce deep and high but very slowly and since i'm standing way inside the baseline to receive the short serves i'm caught unawares. He also mishits returns that drop short and i can't get to in time. It's frustrating to lose points this way. What should i do?

Stay light on your feet.
You want to have your weight moving forward for a slow serve and 2nd serves in general.
Split-step as your opponent contacts the ball, move forward and drive the ball into a corner. On the ad court, inside out forehand is your friend.

Hitting aggressive returns off slow serves begins with your footwork. You have to get into position, load the legs and launch into the return. If you know your opponent is hitting slow serves you should be standing inside the baseline and moving in more to hit the return.

I agree that you need to practice and get your feet to respond more quickly. Keep playing, play other people too. Play a variety of people with different styles. You will get fleeter of foot and the mishit serves will be cheese for you to smack back.

You need to practice than :lol:
if he hit a short serve. hit a short return and make him run.
what level is he anyway..

That's a good idea. I played a guy ages ago with an even worse serve than this guy and I drop shotted him on a couple of his serves. And it worked fine.


If you hit the return deep and just stand there, yes. If you come in behind your deep return, he'll have to hit a perfect passing shot or lob to beat you.
Um... with my net "skills", no he wont. I'm not very confident at the net and despite the serve this guy has a good forehand passing shot. He gets on balance very quickly and will unload easily. But I guess I can use this as an opporunity to practice.
I had to deal with this so many times in high school tennis...

My goal was to never return the serve harder than it came unless I knew I was going to hit the outright winner because my return of serve was like Ana Ivanovic's definitely...very good when hitting outright winners but otherwise terrible. So work on placing it in positions where the person is difficult and really move back to the center of the court quickly and on balance. What you don't want to happen is to hit the return and really stand there so that the person can just focus on returning the ball deep into the opposite corner.

Be proactive and get to the middle of the court so that you can cut off any angle and you have the easy set up. Or, if you're comfortable up there, take the return and chip it with a good slice at about mid court and skid it off the court. That's a real awkward shot and you can get to the net behind it for an easy volley.

I agree with this, but the trouble with a slow serve is that I end up literally standing straight up waiting for it to come to me because I have so much time to prepare. I end up hitting lazy shots or just generally being to blaze about it.

One of the kids I play all of the time is this way. I always beat him very easily, because he's not very good :lol: But he has a big first serve, but then just gets the 2nd one in (except when he's goes for it).It's not like I can just stand on the serve box because then he'll just go for it-- and he can hit the big one like 30% of the time. You have to get in the habit of just coming into the net. If he's going to mishit shots and pull you in anyway, you might as well hit the return deep and just stay in at the net. When I have to run forward on his return, I hit a deep slice shot that makes him move and keeps him on his toes, then I stay in at the net. He can hit great passing shots sometimes, but I'd rather be in at the net on my terms then running forward and back the whole time.
deep slice :sobbing: I wisheth.
If his serves are never with much pace, stand a decent way inside the baseline. If he hits it real short, you'll get there with relative ease, and if he hits it deep and high, you are in good position to take the return early without jamming yourself.
That's what I've been doing sweet cheeks. :kiss:
It’s really disguising, I’ll prefer not play if it comes to poor serve. Why should I go for a poor performance if judged on the basis of low serve?
Girl, tell me about it.

Stay light on your feet.
You want to have your weight moving forward for a slow serve and 2nd serves in general.
Split-step as your opponent contacts the ball, move forward and drive the ball into a corner. On the ad court, inside out forehand is your friend.

Hitting aggressive returns off slow serves begins with your footwork. You have to get into position, load the legs and launch into the return. If you know your opponent is hitting slow serves you should be standing inside the baseline and moving in more to hit the return.
Will work on that.
I agree that you need to practice and get your feet to respond more quickly. Keep playing, play other people too. Play a variety of people with different styles. You will get fleeter of foot and the mishit serves will be cheese for you to smack back.

That's true, I really should. Right now he's the only person I've arranged to play with. :shrug: But there are other people.

I'm probably going to play him again today... on clay. Will write about it here. :bounce:

good thread. That is very frustrating. Here are my suggestions. Stand in the no mans land to return between service line and baseline. When the toss goes up in the air split step...pay close attention to the height of the ball coming off the strings. If the ball goes up off the hit be ready to move back a little. If the hit looks low off the stings start to move in. Hope this helps...if you would like more tips check out http://www.youtube.com/user/atlantatennisfactory?feature=mhum

good advice!!!

Just make sure you stay light on your feet, keep them moving. My tennis coach always taught us to start to lean forward when the opponent hits the serve. That way you can get a jump on it if its a short serve. Just don't commit too far in case it's deep! Again, stay light.

I had horrendous experiences leaving the game in 2005, 2006 and 2008 onwards, as I had little confidence. Now my old game is clicking and I can make the hard shots I used to, without forcing the play. Still a lot of room for improvement though, but I am getting there.

"**Funny old game, eh!?**"

So what happened the last time you played him? :)

You've already been given some great answers, especially about moving your feet, and trying to read the serve off the racket.

I'm wondering what happens when he hits a high serve. Do you get a high contact point? If you do, I would probably take the ball earlier, but it depends a bit on your skill level.

If you have to hit the ball above your normal contact point, you either have to:

- hit a flat version of a normal forehand swing (so don't drop your racket below the ball too much or it will go out) - start high, stay high, finish high

OR

- hit a chip return, wherer the arm movement resembles a volley. You can hit a dropshot this way, but also an angled return or even a deep shot if you see him coming in anticipating a dropshot.


A really out-of-the-box solution:

Give him some service lessons with a local pro for his birthday. His service will improve, but he might be easier to beat! :p

Gosh, the last time I played him must have been the last time I posted her (October 27).

We played on clay as I mentioned and I have to say he served much better than he usually does. I'm not sure if it was him the surface because the ball kicked really high and it made it really difficult for me to return. Mind you on hard courts I usually stood half way between the service line and the baseline for first & second serves but this time I actually had to stand outside the baseline. Oh and he aced me once... I was so shocked that I pretended it was out :tape:

But yeah, I lost to him that day. I hadn't slept much the night before and I really was not fit at all at the time (those are my excuses :lol:) so I found it extremely hard to execute a lot of the advice give here (I was so unfit that on the return of serve I was literally leaning forward resting on my knees).

After that I went on a fitness rampage for the next time we were scheduled to play, but on the day I ended up playing someone else. I haven't played tennis since.