Return Of Serve Fundamentals 

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I tried the Djokovic approach today and tried to land while the ball leaving the server’s racquet. I played against a bigger server and it immediately improved the timing of my return. Your instructions have been absolutely excellent so far. Being a high-level player yourself gives your coaching much more credibility.

Im japanese and a recreation level player. your videos help me to understand how to play tennis. and playing tennis is getting more enjoyable. Thank you！ Im looking forward to your next videos.

Best grip for return: Djokovic. Best stance for return: Djokovic. Best approach to split step: Djokovic. Best timing for split step: Djokovic. Why am I not surprised.

It's great how u link your explanation to the pros and show there are lots of different ways to do it, not one sized fits all. Top videos.

Your explanations are so good, not overly complicated and yet you talk about all the important details in your videos in just enough detail so you talk about all the important things.

You are the best instructional tennis RU-vid channel BY FAR! I’m a beginner and your videos have helped me so much!

I've picked up a few bad habits this past summer and while I have viewed many videos on this subject to help me get back on track, this video has been probably one of the best in breaking down the many aspects of returning serves. thanks. Well done!

Best breakdown of the return of serve online.. thank you for your insight and post. Excellent!!

Dynamic footwork while returning is new stuff to me thanks

That was a great presentation. I like your take on the return. As I'm playing in national senior father son events, I've found the serves of the sons to be be extremely challenging, especially on grass. Some of my better returns were when I punched sliced them, early, low and away from the net player. I like the Djokovic wide base, neutral position, and touching down at or even before contact (if the ball is a bomb). Thanks for doing this video! --Kevin Pease USTA High Performance Coach USPTA/PTR

Excellent step by step teaching of strokes and positioning.

Great video, your explanations are very clear. Odličan posao, sve je jasno kao dan!

Niki, thanks for this video! The most interesting part of it was about splitting and controlling the moment when the other player is making a stroke.

Great content, excellent teacher. The students in your videos and how you relate to them make this so effective. Thanks, coach!

First time I have comprehended the cross forward step for the short ball!

Great Nik!

Excellent advice....great video... Thanks for making it so easy to understand.

Great presentation and analysis. Thank you!

Very informative video and well explained. Thank you Nick.

4:26 this is so helpful for me to learn😊😊😊😊

Great and very clear instructional videos! Thank you!!

Very good analysis point by point . Very good depth. Only one needs to remember while practicing. You are wonderful.

Very good and precise instruction . I hope you keep putting out great videos in the future

love the dynamic footwork information. Thank you!

excellent video Nick I will put into practice some of your recommendations Greetings from Guayaquil, Ecuador

Brilliant totally understood. Move you feet to the pitch of the ball. The legs are slightly bent, as you get into position. Excellent detail.

Thanks a lot for these videos. Help me out a lot.

I do enjoy the video so much, thanks excellent explanation that explore my mind

suppperrr helpful cant wait to try this out

I am watching all the videos of this excellent channel! And I always hit that like button before even I watch the video because I am sure that I'm gonna learn cool stuff and plenty of great tips! Thanks a lot Nikola!👍

Good explanation

I implemented the Murray return split step and I feel like my returns are better and more consistent. Thanks for this great video!!!!!

Excellent advice

Excellent explanation of each and every point.👍👍👍

awesome well explained ! Thank you!

Excellent stuff. I do wish you had spoken a little more about grip pressure during the prep and at contact. I remember struggling against a fast server and somebody told me to "think volley, not groundstroke". It got me to block/punch the return a bit and use the server's pace against him.

Loved this. Would like to see more on this topic.

Such good advice for the return 👌🏼

Excellent video.And reading the comments you will make more..It`s a complex topic this serve return.Thanks again.

Beautiful!!!

Fantastic, thank

Thanks Nick for this wonderful lesson of returning service in tennis love from india ❤️

excellent

Nothing like a discussion of what grip to use on the return of serve to start a religious war. One option I think worth consideration is, if you use a semi-Western grip on the forehand, you can easily switch to the Eastern backhand grip by just moving about 1/2 of a bevel IF you also move the racquet head over to the backhand side by keeping the same side of the string bed facing forward. This requires a semi-circular motion akin to the windshield wiper movement rather than keeping the racquet head rather static, the latter technique presenting the opposite side of the string bed forward. The windshield wiper motion used here is quite natural although describing what happens sounds like a quantum mechanics dissertation. lol While this motion is quite simple it may take some time to make it automatic as it's likely the more traditional motion has been used many thousands of times. Of course if you use a full Western forehand grip, absolutely no grip change is necessary to use the Eastern backhand grip. Simply use the windshield wiper motion to bring the racquet head over to the backhand side and your grip will automatically be in the exact Eastern backhand grip position.

Another video on handling the body serve? Thank you. Good video.

Thank you very much very good lesson профессионал logikal

I tried to hold the racquet predominately by my left hand and use my right hand barely hold the racquet in eastern grip. I find it very useful.

Hi Nik. quick question: all good about blocking and shortening the swing? but when do we do chipping and when we just use normal grip but with shortened swing? in what situations we use chipping? what do you think? the harder the serve is? or on certain type of serves? your response is much appreciated.

Great video , great job. definitely worth watch couple of times , one question: if you going to hit a forehand on your opponent serv do you change your grip to a forehead grip or you hit the ball with an neutral grip? Thanks a lot

Very nice video sir with stance and how to use body to hit returns Can you please also share how to judge whether the serve is coming towards backhand or forehand

Excellent video. A question: Do You initiate the forward when the ball bounce?

Hi Nick! Which of the three return styles would you say is the more effective? Thanks :)

Great videos, Nick. On the Murray step forward return method, does Murray start the split before the back foot lands or after?

Just out of curiosity, what return of serve starting grip would you recommend for players with a one-handed backhand? Many coaches advocate starting out in the Eastern or Full-Eastern backhand grip.

Hey one more question coach. The lesson is great, although I find a bit unconfortable staying on the balls of my feet before the split step. Doesn' it have the same effect if I start with the heels on the ground in the sprinter position and I land on my toes ready to react just after the split step? I'm quite sure Djokovic and Murray do this way. Am I wrong? Cheers 🙂👌

Nik, where is Samir? I like the series you did with Samir, very informative.

The thing that makes the most sense to me is to start with my left hand in a backhand position and my right hand in a forehand position. If I get a backhand I have a very minor grip change on my right hand. If it’s a forehand there is no grip change.

Great video! Could you please give me some advice on how to be aggressive on the 2nd serve return? I try to take time away by standing closer but am rarely on offence from the 1st point. Is it more about hitting to riskier targets or trying to hit it harder? For context, I usually return from behind the baseline and take fuller cuts of the ball like Nadal. I return quite consistently but mostly aim deep down the middle for both 1st and 2nd serves. Thank you in advance for your help.

Hey Nik, I was wondering about the split step issue on the return. There are so many types of split step. Sometimes people land with the two feet together, sometimes they land with the inside foot first as they already read where the ball is going while in the air and they try to push from that foot ecc. Is it really worth to train all the various split steps, or the process should be intuitive and whatever comes naturally that would be the right split step to use?

Didn't talk about the Federer return, so non-chalant yet perfectly timed

Would you say that your elbows are more in a forward position compared to the ready position that you have after you hit a groundstroke?

4:37 actually Nishikori way of standing sideways is not new. John McEnroe used that stance too. And he still does it to this day in senior tour.

How do you return a hard spinning serve? They tend spin away from me or I’m too close and miss hit it.

Bro, that is fantastic explanation. I have one query, I am a rock hard server, I sometimes fail to control my shots when I receive a weak return of my serves in my service box, try to punish the return and that mentality flies the ball over the baseline. Can you please guide me. Thank you

I use semi-western for my forehand and continental for my backhand, so should I hold it somewhere in between while waiting to return the serve?

Shouldnt the Djoko serve return grip be used for all strokes and not just service return. That way we are open to both always?

The name of the Djokovic grip for serves is called the Australian grip.

In the return of serve stance, is it important to have elbows in front of the body as well?

Hello if I send you a video of my tennis return or other groundstrokes would you be able to tell me any mistakes you see? I have tried other coaches, which they charged me a lot and didn't tell me anything I didn't know

🕶👍

Nick, where should we be aiming for the return of serve?

Can I please know how to improve my flexibility

Can you also talk about where the returner should stand?

Nice. Thank you for taking the time to make this. My question is how to track and time the ball. In regular ground strokes following a pattern of "hit, bounce, hit" works nicely but I have trouble doing that with the serve. Is there another technique to track and time the ball better for more consistency on the return? Also, is there a way to practice the return of serve without a partner? This is the shot I get to practice the least because I don't always have a partner to practice with.

4:26

Great lesson! Loved the stand position part . About Novak Djokovic actually uses a forehand grip when he waits for the return, he changes his grip just before the toss off the oponent

just be lose on eastern.