Hi! My name is Malia Bailey and today we are learning about the fundamentals and basics of racquetball. Right now, we're going to talk about the return of serve and this is Kilonie Bailey, my daughter. She is going to help us with that.
As the receiver, the return of serve is your most important shot of the rally, because if you can get a good return of serve, you can catch your opponent off balance and more easily when they serve back and that's what our goal is.
Well, when we get into position for the return of serve, what I like to do is start positioning myself about a racquet length or an arm length from the back wall, about mid-court. Stand nice and comfortably, we're bending the knees, racquet in ready position. It should be in the middle of your stance, so you can easily go to your forehand or your backhand, as necessary.
Our first drill is returning a drive serve drill. What I'm going to do Kilonie is going to stand in position and I am going to step out of the way. I am going to toss the ball to her backhand and she is going to return down the line with her backhand. As you notice, she crossed over with her right foot to give her balance and power with her legs. That would be simulating a return of serve on a drive.
Practicing, returning a lob serve. We'll start again, basic return of serves. What I am going to do is toss the ball high, so that Kilonie will have to return the ball high and she is going to return it with a ceiling ball.
Now we're going to return the Z-serve. There are two ways to do it. You can cut it off early, before the ball reaches the side wall, or wait until it gets deep and comes off the side wall. If you choose to cut it off, you need to be fast and make up your mind quickly.
So when you are first starting to learn to return Zs, it's better to let it go, so you can read the ball and get into position. Here is a good drill for that. Just by standing a little deep, tossing the ball into the side wall, letting it come to you, moving your feet, getting into position, racquet prep and swinging through. When returning a drive serve, what you want to do is cross-over to face the side wall, just using one foot as a pivot foot and the other foot as a cross-over foot. This will help you to gain more power and more control with that return.
Always remembering that when your racquet is in good position, so when you crossover, it will automatically be ready to swing. Staying low is key, when you contact the ball on a drive serve. When you are returning the Z-serve, you really need to watch where the ball contacts the front wall. So you can get a good beat on the angle of the ball as it's coming at you, so that you'll know how to move.
Always move in the direction to face the side wall, whether the Z or any serve is going to your forehand or your backhand. If you face the front wall, you are not going to get a good stroke on it. You are going to get jammed. Facing the side wall, give yourself good extension and you'll be able to get a better return of serve.
Coming up next, we're going to talk about various shots and we're going to go over some of those drills for those shots.
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