Return of Serve: Solved! [And updated!]

The return of serve is the second most important shot in the game -- right behind the serve itself. And my return has always been pretty lousy. Oh, I've been able to get by, when playing singles against a big server, with a deep underspin block.

But as I've played more doubles (primarily to improve my singles game), I've been doubly frustrated: both by my own poor returns, but also by how some players seem to have my number when returning my serve (which is actually pretty good). The doubles play has improved my return to some extent, but I recently discovered that to really get it right, I needed to revamp my thinking and my mechanics when returning serve.

The service return is not the same as a groundstroke. To boil this down, here are the key differences when returning:

• Stance: the feet should be fairly wide and the body's center of gravity fairly low. This provides for a strong, quick push to reach a wide ball.
• Split step: Required. If you're not making a split step as the server contacts the ball, you're not going to be as ready to hit a good return. Upon landing, the feet should be wide apart -- wider than shoulder width.
• Footwork: when returning a wide serve (either at the sideline or up the middle), the first small step should be with the leg closest to the ball, and the push away is with the leg farthest from the ball. If no small step is required, then the weight is transferred to this leg from the push away. This sets you up for an open-stance stroke for your return. On most serves that are close, this single step will be adequate to get your racquet to the ball.
  [UPDATE: On wide serves, a second step may well be necessary.]
• Racquet preparation: the racquet take back is simplified to a basic unit turn of the shoulders. As described in the previous bullet, your feet and hips will be in an open stance, but you close the take back with your shoulders. The racquet is laid back using the wrist(s), but the arms are not further taken back from the body.
• The forward stroke is essentially an elongated block with a follow through, and though the follow can either be upwards (for topspin) or downwards (for underspin), ideally it is upwards unless you are hitting a chip or drop shot for a specific tactical reason.
  [UPDATE: The ideal follow through for forehands and two-handed backhands is when you touch your back with the racquet. (This is also and especially true on groundstrokes!) Despite Federer, Djokovic, et al and their windshield-wiper follow throughs, for most of us non-touring-pro mere mortals, we don't have the practice time, talent, or racquet speed to successfully AND CONSISTENTLY emulate the top men pros' technique. Touching the back with the racquet helps a great deal to have the proper racquet orientation through the hitting zone.]

Tend to this advice and you'll likely find that you've solved the return-of-serve puzzle.