lesson 1 of 7
Return deep, then get to the line
The return is the receiving team's head start. Hit it deep, hit it to the player who is back, and use the time it buys to reach the kitchen line.
Why getting to the kitchen line wins points
Get to the kitchenKitchen also non-volley zone, NVZThe 7-foot zone on each side of the net. You cannot volley while standing in it or on its line, and your momentum from a volley cannot carry you into it. You can step in to play a ball that has bounced.Glossary line early and you win more points.
That’s true at every level. It’s one of the clearest differences between players: the better they are, the more consistently they get there, and stats apps even track it as a “kitchen arrival percentage”. From the line you take the ball out of the air before it drops, hit down on it, and keep it low so the other team has nothing to attack. A player still at the baseline or in the transition zoneTransition zoneThe area between the baseline and the kitchen line. Players moving through it are easy targets for balls hit at their feet.Glossary is hitting up, from farther away, at a ball that lands at their feet.
Fast, but safely. Arriving with your feet set and your paddle up is what wins points. Rushing in and getting caught moving, with the ball at your feet, gives the point straight back.
The receiving team can get there safely for free, if the return is right. At 3.5 that head start gets given away all the time: a short return, or a returner who stays back to watch it.
Your head start
The two-bounce ruleTwo-bounce rule also double-bounce ruleAfter the serve, the ball must bounce once on each side before anyone may volley: the returning team lets the serve bounce, and the serving team lets the return bounce.Glossary works for you here. The serving team has to let your return bounce, so both of them are stuck at the back for one more shot. You are not. Your partner is already at the line, and after you hit, nothing stops you walking up to join them.
So the return has one job: keep them back there long enough for you to arrive.
Deep beats hard
Depth buys time. So does height: a ball with some air under it takes longer to come back than a flat one.
Aim for the last few feet of the court, not the line itself. A return that lands three feet inside the baseline still pins them. One that lands out is a free point for them.
Where the return goes
Take the pace off. A hard, flat return comes back hard and flat, before you have taken three steps. A slower, deep one gives you the whole walk.
Return to the player who is back
After the serve, look at where they are. If one has crept forward and the other is still at the baseline, the return goes to the one who is back.
Keep the ball away from the net player. Make the third shot come from the worst spot on the court.
If both are back, go deep and through the middle. It takes the angles away, and it gives them a moment to decide who takes it.
- P1 serves. P3 already waits at the kitchen line; P4 receives from the baseline.
- P1 and P2 both stay back during the serve: the return has to bounce before either can hit it.
- P4 returns deep to P1 and walks in while the ball travels. The return is going to P1, so P2 takes a step in.
- P1 hits the third from the baseline, against two players already at the line, and follows it in a couple of steps. P2 watches it: a good drop, so P2 comes closer.
Walk in behind it
- Hit the return, then go. Straight away, not after watching where it lands.
- Walk briskly, don’t sprint. You have more time than it feels like, if the return was deep.
- Split-step as they hit the third shot, wherever you have got to.
- If you are short of the line, play that ball from there and finish the walk in after it.
Being still when they hit matters more than being at the line. Getting caught moving is how you get a ball at your feet.
What goes wrong
- Watching the return. Every step you spend admiring it is a step short of the line.
- Hitting it hard. It comes back before you arrive, so you play the fifth shot from the transition zoneTransition zoneThe area between the baseline and the kitchen line. Players moving through it are easy targets for balls hit at their feet.Glossary.
- Going for the lines. A return that lands out gives them the point for nothing. Aim deep, not wide.
- Returning to the net player. If one of them has crept up, hitting to them lets them play the third from the front of the court.
- Staying back. The serving team has to work to reach the line. You don’t. Take the gift.
check yourself
Quick quiz
4 questions on this lesson. Pick an answer to see if you're right, and why.
The two-bounce rule already pins the serving team back for one shot. The return's job is to keep them there long enough for you to get to the line.
Keep the ball away from the player who is closer to the net, and make the third shot come from the worst spot on the court: deep, behind the baseline.
A higher, slower ball that lands deep takes longer to come back. A hard flat return is back at your feet before you have taken three steps.
Being still when they hit matters more than being at the line. Split-step, play that ball, and finish the walk in after it.
your score
– / 4
Answer the questions to see your score.
take it to the court
Drills
- Serve to the towelA towel in each deep corner of the service box, ten serves at each, and only a ball that lands on the towel counts. Keep your score from session to session.
- Return and runServe, return deep, and the returner races to the kitchen line before the third shot gets there. A point only if you're at the line in time.