any tips for returning kick serves

[Arbartrator]

when my friend does a kick serve it is kind of hard to return it

any tips

[split-step]

Do you have a 1HBH or 2HBH?

I have a 1 hander and there are some kick serves that I sometimes find hard to hit driving returns off of.
For these I will resort to slicing them back, if my opponent is not coming in.
It is much easier to slice these back since you are not reversing the rotation of the ball like with a topspin return.

[Arbartrator]

i have a 2 hander backhand

[lilminihorse]

depends on your opponent but I find it easier to step in and catch the ball on the way up,,, pretty much like everything else

[Sgv10sPlyr]

I have a 2hbh. The trick is to learn to read the serve before the impact. A right hander will usually toss the ball to the right and directly over their head. If your opponent has a crazy kick serve with lots of junk, you almost have to cheat by moving into the court before the ball is struck. There are times where I am only about 5-7 ft away from the service line when I make the return. I also sometimes jump to make sure I can get on top of the ball.

I hope that helps.

[Sgv10sPlyr]

I have a 2hbh. The trick is to learn to read the serve before the impact. A right hander will usually toss the ball to the right (sorry, I meant left) and directly over their head. If your opponent has a crazy kick serve with lots of junk, you almost have to cheat by moving into the court before the ball is struck. There are times where I am only about 5-7 ft away from the service line when I make the return. I also sometimes jump to make sure I can get on top of the ball.

I hope that helps.

[CAM178]

For me, it depends. If it's a s'n'v, then I will catch it on the rise. If it's a baseliner, I like to catch it at about 4-6' of bounce, as that is my strike zone (I get off the ground on high BH's). Another thing I do with these is to slice, as you can slice some nasty angles with a kicker. I love the slice down the line on a kicker, too.

[don_nguyen11490]

You're better off taking it early than staying all the way back. Try to brush it back than taking a full whack at it, since it'll be safer and you'd be likely to get caught off-guard by the bounce if you hit it normally.

[vndesu]

if his k ick is easy to read by his form you should take the advantage and attack the kick.
you still want to step in but maybe get the jump just in case it kicks too high.
for me its different bc i use 1hbh but from watching my teamates play they really get up on the kick and gets it back

[tfm1973]

i hit mostly kickers and they are impossible to stop. you should just concede the point willingly and let the server hold without putting up a fuss. :P

aight fine. i practice with teammates and help them return kick serves. as others have told you - identifying WHEN you're about to get a kick serve is STEP 1. sometimes you'll see the server with a grip closer to a backhand grip before toss. otherwise you'll see a toss usually directly above or to the left (of a righty) server.

STEP 2 would be to split step or hop forward and pounce on that kick serve and take it on the rise.

now having said that - not everyone is comfortable with hitting on the rise so it's something you definitely may want to practice. or just treat it like a half volley. or just concede the point and let me . . . i mean the server have the game.

[LuckyR]

depends on your opponent but I find it easier to step in and catch the ball on the way up,,, pretty much like everything else

This is the best tactic for me personally on really great kick serves (which most are not). For most kickers I return them normally, charging those would just increase your error rate.

[FH2FH]

Step in (or step back) and just hit a normal (topspin) stroke. Trying to chop down on it with slice can be harder because your racquet is going down as the ball is going up. If your timing was good enough to make clean contact on a slice every time, you probably wouldn't be asking for tips, right? ;)

[fuzz nation]

Whether or not you know that the kicker is coming, it's harder to handle from your typical returning position. It makes sense to try moving in and dealing with the ball before it freaks out, but that can be tough to time well and if you do it too much, the server may decide to sneak a heater on you and blow your socks off.

You can also resign to backing up, but you have to be ready to go after the ball and run it down after it freaks out (yes, kick serves are freaky). If the server is trying to follow the kicker in to the net, it's a good idea to just drop the ball back over onto his/her feet - forcing a net attacker to hit up is a wonderful thing. It pretty much hands you all the initiative, so move in for that one if you can. If the kick server isn't coming in, you can back off and get better control of your return. Remember that even though you are returning, you can try to vary your tatics and positioning to make the server react to what you do.