The Fifth of Six Lessons for Lester Elder
Serve and Return
And Return Plus One
by
Robert J. Ray
Before Lesson 5 rolled around, Lester had a medical telephone chat with his MD in Seattle. The MD switched Lester’s meds to control his BP. So when Lester joined the coach for lesson five, he felt sharper.
Not teenage-wired-up sharp.
But the sharpness of a grateful octogenarian.
Two drills today:
Drill #1. Serve and return and one more—doubles strategy.
Lester served to the Coach in the ad court.
The Coach fed a return.
Then Lester served cross-court, perfect hit, sizzle bounce from the slice.
Drill #2: Coach fed a ball, the metaphoric service return.
Lester let the ball bounce, then hit it deep to the ad court
Why was he missing that third ball?
Answer: Feeling the match-pressure.
Because Lester kept missing, the coach introduced a variation for the second ball:
- After pulling the return guy sideways toward the alley, you hit deep down the middle.
- After pulling the ad court guy to the middle, you hit deep down the line from the ad court.
Body Report: Not as tired today but finger cramps later.
Lesson 5—Part 2: Serve + 1
The serve plus one drill is good for practicing on your own. To start the Coach uses two balls. One ball in his hand. The other ball in his pocket. Lester serves first from the deuce court.
His serve goes in.
Instead of admiring his shot, Lester pulls the second ball from his pocket, drops it onto the court, steps in and hits a forehand.
His forehand tags the tape.
They go through the steps again.
First you serve, then you follow with an aimed forehand.
It takes three serves before the Plus One ball clears the net.
Now it’s flying past the baseline.
It takes seven serves before the second ball clears the net and then touches down inside the line.
Now the coach coaches Lester on control.
After serving, Lester settles down, taking the time to aim the ball. On the seventh serve Plus One, Lester hits his inside-out forehand, aiming for the ad-court corner, and the ball curves—you can see it curving in the soft desert air—and touches down five inches inside the baseline.
Winner, the Coach says. It backs the enemy up.
The serve Plus One drill is for loners who practice alone, snatching time from a crowded day to keep their game in shape.
Back in Seattle, Lester has two courts half a block away from his house. To use the court, he has to get there early, before the pickle-ballers arrive with their portable nets and prehistoric ear-piercing whiffle balls.
One wire-basket of Serve-Plus-One and Lester feels better about his game, his health, his precision.
Thank you, Coach.
Read More about Lester Elder’s Quest for Ultimate Tennis in Robert Ray’s new book called
Play or Die: Senior Tennis and the Art of Spin
