Rip the Return (DVD)

Features and Benefits


See a complete teaching and game planning lesson-plan for improving your players serve returns!

  • Receive critically important information on serve returns – including fundamentals, tactical information to improve live-game results and drills/exercises to improve serve-return skill sets.
  • Learn the importance of footwork and technique when returning a serve, as well as the different grips you can use with the racket and the best stances that players can maintain while hitting a return.
  • Watch several returning options for positioning – a neutral position, an aggressive position and a deep-returning position – as well as the different types of returns a player would hit from each position

In this detailed tennis instructional coaching video, Chris Lewit, the highly acclaimed USTA High-Performance Coach, unlocks the secrets to successful and consistent returns. 

Coach Lewit breaks down his video into three parts for how to learn how to rip the return when playing – whether it be in getting extra practice repetitions or in a live-play competitive match.

Breaking down the video into three easily digestible parts, Coach Lewit covers: Teaching, Tactical and Exercises – including information on why the return is the least-practiced shot in all of tennis and how mastering it will provide you with a huge advantage over much of the competition your players will face!

Returns: Footwork & Technique

To begin this video, Coach Lewit discusses the importance of footwork and technique when returning a serve. He talks about different grips you can have with the racket and different stances that players can have when hitting a return. He talks about the differences in utilizing an open stance, a closed stance and a diagonal transfer when hitting the return.

Coach Lewit then emphasizes several points on the importance of not being flat-footed on a return and how to use the split step. 

Mastering each of these stances and grips is critical because a player needs to have proper footwork and technique when hitting a return. Coach Lewit covers a variety of techniques that can be used, but emphasizes how each player has to find what works best for them.

Tactical Positioning & Return Drills

Next, Coach Lewit discusses the importance of tactical positioning when returning the serve. He showcases a variety of different strategies one can use depending on where you choose to return the serve from. He highlights several returning options for positioning – a neutral position, an aggressive position and a deep returning position – as well as the different types of return a player would hit from each position.

This part of the video helps your players to improve positioning when returning a serve and gets them to think about the strategy on the court for the different shots you should hit when returning.