Statistically these are the two most common shots, every point begins in the same way, with these two strokes (or one if it's an ace!) Sometimes all that's needed to win the point is a racey ace or a lightning fast cross-court return.
Working in pairs (although this session can be adapted to suit larger groups) players will practice serving to try and hit specific areas before then increasing the pressure on the server by getting them to serve to another player who has to return this shot.
As the session progresses you'll be able to put greater demands on your players, ensuring they hit the ball into the areas you tell them to because these are most high percentage return areas.
A tiebreak is a short sprint where every point is worth the same as a break of serve. The players who win them are rarely the ones who hit hardest. Here is how to coach the patterns, habits and scoreboard thinking that win the big points.
Most club players practise the serve on its own and then have no idea what to do with the ball that comes back. Serve plus one is the pattern that turns a good serve into a won point.
Wimbledon has just crowned another champion, and if you watched closely you saw the same thing every year: the best returners quietly won the tournament. Here is how to coach a return that pressures the server rather than just surviving it.