How to Return Any Pickleball Spin Serve

Ah, the spin serve. Either you love it or hate it. But, regardless of your feelings, you’ll need to know how to return it at some point. Today, we’re going to show you just that.

First, let’s start with a few tips to get you started on making a good return.

Tip #1 - Start With a Good Athletic Stance

Any good return begins with having a good athletic stance. This means that your legs are wide, your knees are slightly bent, and your weight is forward on the balls of your feet. This is a position that allows you to be ready for anything that comes your way, and it allows you to make good athletic movements quickly.

Tip #2 - Make a Good Split Step

Right before your opponent serves, you should perform a split step. A split step means that you kind of hop into the ready position, moving your legs shoulder-width or more than shoulder-width apart and you are prepared for something to come at you.

Tip #3 - Have Your Paddle in Front of Your Body

Keeping your paddle at your side may be less tiring, but it will not help you win many pickleball matches. Your paddle should be slightly out in front of your body, turned at about a 45-degree angle so that you are ready for a forehand or backhand. 

Attacking the Ball

Too often, players sit back and wait for the ball to come to them. This can be a bad idea against a spin serve, where the ball will likely spin away or into you once it touches the ground. Instead, you want to move forward into your return shot and use the momentum of your body to push against that spinning motion. If your paddle simply catches the ball or the ball glances against it, then there’s a great chance of the spin of the ball causing you to mishit or knock the ball straight out of bounds. 

Later, we’ll talk about letting the ball bounce first and what position you should be in for that.

Returning With Spin of Your Own

Just because your opponent is spinning their serve at you doesn’t mean that you can’t spin it right back at them. In fact, if your opponent is putting good pace on the ball with their spin, then you can counteract it by giving either underspin or overspin. By giving it an underspin, you will float the ball up a little bit more and take some of the speed away. This is a great idea if you want to give yourself enough time to get into a better position or run up to the NVZ line. Giving it an over-the-top spin will make the ball die down fast and force your opponent to come forward to hit it.

Notice How They Spin the Ball 

The rules of spin serves have changed over the years. It wasn’t too long ago that players were allowed to use their paddles to help put a spin on the ball, and it was just this past year when a rule was made to disallow two-handed spin serves. Now, in order to add extra spin to a ball, a player can only use one hand.

But, if you’ve never seen a really good spin server, don’t think that means the ball is spinning a lot less or easier to hit now. There are players out there constantly trying to maximize their technique so that their serves are harder and harder to return.

Regardless, you’ll want to pay attention to how they like to spin the ball on their serve. Unless they are really good at it, it’s likely going to spin the same way every time. This can help you anticipate where the ball is going and how best to return the serve back over to them. If they do like to mix it up, it’ll be good for you to know that as well, so that you don’t anticipate too soon and give up some easy points. 

Let the Ball Bounce, Then React

If you are feeling really uncomfortable against the spin serve or you’re noticing that your opponent is getting a lot of movement once the ball hits the court, then your goal should be to get directly behind the ball (as it’s coming to you) and react as soon as the ball bounces one way or the other. 

Some players play off to the side of the ball, expecting it to bounce straight back into where their paddle is waiting. You can get away with this if the person is serving without spin. But, if the ball has a spin on it, then it could spin away from you and cause you to miss completely. 

Make sure to get behind the ball and be prepared to react quickly as soon as you know the direction the ball is spinning to. 

Conclusion

Returning spin serves are tough, but all it takes is a bit of practice, and you’ll soon wonder why you were sweating them at all. Check out the video from Pickleball Journey to see these tips in practice.