G’day from Wimbledon! 🍓
It’s okay to miss returns.
On the surface, the sentence above seems a little out of the ordinary. Wouldn’t we want to put every return of serve back in play?
When evaluating your game, it’s best to deal with reality – not expectations. We would LIKE to put all returns back in play, but that’s far from the reality for players at all levels of our sport. Return errors happen a lot. Let’s face it: the return of serve is an awkward shot. It’s a hybrid groundstroke, but the shot comes at you differently than any normal groundstroke. It’s struck from around 10 feet in the air and comes shorter and harder than any groundstroke you have ever encountered.
Here are the totals so far on Day Two at The Championships.
MEN
- Unreturned 1st Serves = 40% (2634/6513)
- Unreturned 2nd Serves = 21% (712/3470)
- Combined Unreturned = 34% (3346/9983)
Overall, the men have missed one out of every three serves so far at SW19. That may seem like a lot – and maybe it is – but the key here is that this is the reality of these matches. The return goes in. The return goes in. The return is missed. That’s what’s on rinse and repeat on the lush green grass at Wimbledon.
But there is more to these numbers than meets the eye.
Let’s discuss the mental and emotional toll of missing one specific shot out of every three. Most tennis players are on an emotional rollercoaster, which finds them happy when they win a point and sad/upset when they lose a point. If you miss every third return, you can imagine how easy it is to get upset at yourself and keep dwelling on the missed returns.
You have got to let them go. It’s normal.
On day one of the Championships, I watched Jan Lennard Struff defeat Fabian Marozsan 6-4, 6-7(4), 6-2, 6-3.
Jan only put 65% (74/114) of his returns in. Fabian only put 51% (59/115) of his returns in play. That’s a combined 96 returns that were not put back in play. Don’t take that as 96 opportunities to get mad or upset at yourself. It’s 96 opportunities to either learn what you need to do better next time around or 96 times to say, “Good shot, mate,” when your opponent simply hits a serve you can’t handle.
IMPROVE YOUR RETURN GAME WITH THESE INSIGHTFUL PRE-RECORDED WEBINARS
Webinar 4: Return Strategy & Patterns
Webinar 17: Return +1 Strategy
Webinar 33: First Strike Tennis
WOMEN
- Unreturned 1st Serves = 30% (938/3146)
- Unreturned 2nd Serves = 19% (329/1750)
- Combined Unreturned = 26% (1267/4896)
While the men miss around one out of every three (34%), the women are better than that, missing only one out of every four (26%). It’s still a sizeable total, but it can’t be a total that makes you so mad you can’t see straight or so disappointed in your game that you become overly negative and can’t find a pathway to victory.
Let’s talk technique.
The best technique used by the best returners here at Wimbledon is outlined below.
- Start with a small step forward to get your momentum towards the ball.
- Split step when the opponent hits the ball. Ideally, you are coming down from the split step at the same time you see which direction the ball is going.
- Lean on the outside foot and push towards your intended point of contact.
- Now that you have attacked with your feet do less with your racket. A short backswing, contact in front, and short follow-through are all that are required.
- Your primary return target is deep down the middle of the court to your opponent’s forehand wing. Look to rush their Serve +1 error or jump on a short ball on the next shot and attack.
SUMMARY
The men fail to put one out of every three serves back into play. The women are slightly superior at one out of four. Knowing these analytics going into your own matches gives you “permission to miss” while running the right strategy.
Please don’t beat yourself up over it. Returns are tough. Adjust your feet and hands and get to work on the next point.
Be nicer to yourself when you make errors on the court. After all, it’s just a game. 😀
Best,
Craig