Drill library · Partner

One-Serve Games

PartnerNTRP 3.0–4.020 minservereturnstrategy

Why this drill

Club matches are decided on second serves — the points where nerves live. Playing whole games with only one serve makes that pressure routine instead of rare, and teaches the server to swing up with spin when it matters.

Setup

A normal court and a short set — first to four games. One rule change: the server gets a single serve per point. Miss it, lose the point.

The drill

Play the set. Before every serve, the server silently picks a target — wide, body, or T — and holds to it. The returner's job is to punish anything short. Track double faults across the set; the target is fewer than one per game without resorting to patty-cake serves.

One thought to take on court

Nerves make arms decelerate. Commit to accelerating up the back of the ball on every single serve — spin is what lets you swing brave.