The return of serve is probably the most neglected shot in pickleball. I have spent the last six months attempting to perfect this shot. Similar to the serve, it happens in every rally, so we might as well master it!
The game is getting faster. With advancements in paddle technology and more talent entering the game, the serve is being hit deeper, harder, and with more spin.
According to pros Zane Navratil and James Ignatowich, one should be hitting their serves hard, with 1 in 10 serves flying out as an acceptable error rate. These serve strategies require us all to up our return game; otherwise, we will fall victim to missed returns, short returns, or being stuck in mid-court defending drives at our feet.
The Basics
As Flo Rida emphasizes in his debut hit single, you got to “get low, low, low, low, low, low, low, low.” Think of yourself as an offensive lineman or a sumo wrestler in a battle for leverage. In most cases, you should set up at least four feet behind the baseline or as far back as space allows with your paddle down at knee level, as Dylan Frazier shows, and your weight forward on the balls of your feet.
The goal is to take one step to either side and meet the ball in front of your body while moving forward. Then, with a short shoulder turn and minimal backswing, you should produce a contact that feels more like a push than a full swing, as Dylan and Dekel Bar show below.
Hitting the ball while moving forward or “on the run” to the kitchen adds some risk to your return, but taking a short swing mitigates that risk.
The spin you put on the ball should be minimal, and the trajectory should give you enough loft to make it to the kitchen line before your opponent makes contact with the ball. Like a kickoff in football, you need enough hang time for your players (in this case, you) to get downfield.
Pick a target above the net that gives you the time to get to the kitchen line. It may be a foot or so above your partner’s head as a visual. The faster you are, the lower your trajectory can be, but regardless, it needs to land deep in the court just like that kickoff.
Pro Level Focus
In a hitting session back in Kansas City, the site of this past week's PPA tournament, I met with pro Phil Locklear at his home court at Chicken-N-Pickle, Overland Park. We discussed his philosophy on how to take your return and almost any shot to the next level.
Phil is one of the best minds in the game. He marries an All-American D3 tennis background and a knack for analytics with a degree in biochemistry, biophysics, and molecular biology to inform his pickleball strategy and technique. His resume speaks for itself: Phil and Ben Newell pieced together a plan to take down the formidable Johns brothers in an epic battle in 2023.
Phil strives to find a simple focus point that takes all of the basics of a shot and distills it down to one concept. That concept for Phil is to watch the ball disappear.
You have probably seen this concept in action when watching the best tennis players in the world. Take a look at Roger Federer below as he hits his signature forehand. His eyes stay locked in on where he just made contact with the ball.
I know, I know, it’s tennis, not pickleball, but take a look below as Ben Johns demonstrates a similar stillness with his head, as his eyes remain focused on his contact point well after the ball has left his paddle.
Phil suggests that we “watch the blur of the ball [at contact], and remain in the present moment and trust our swing and the ball going where we want it. When a player is too concerned with where the ball is going is when they start looking up too soon.”
So when it’s time to hit the court, know the basics but maintain only two focus points in your mind. The first is to listen to Flo Rida and get “low, low, low . . .” on your set-up a few feet behind the baseline, then listen to Phil and watch “the blur of the ball” as you trust your swing and your execution of your desired ball flight.
These two instructions will have you returning the serve like a pro in no time, and with those pro tournament winnings, you too can afford those ”boots with the fur!”
Bonus Video: A Singles Return
(Note Federico’s low center of gravity and forward momentum. He takes one step to the ball before contact. Even with his aggressive swing (as it’s singles), he still holds his eyes on his contact point past impact.)
John is a PPR Certified Instructor, a professional rec player known by his pickleball friends as “The Professor.” He aims to help players navigate their pickleball addiction with weekly tips from etiquette to technique to injury prevention. He can be reached at ThePickleProf.com.
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